Do I need to register a brand to sell on Amazon?

When selling on Amazon, having your brand registered is not essential. However, doing so will bring you multiple advantages in the marketplace, since Amazon gives preference in a series of things to sellers that are part of the Amazon brand registry. However, the process is tedious and expensive, so if you are just starting out, you may not need to register your trademark at this time. Below we explain in detail in which cases it is convenient.

For many who want to start selling products on Amazon, registering a trademark seems like a daunting task, which is why so many sellers look for ways to skip this step. The truth is that if you are starting your business from scratch, it may be a good idea to acquire some inventory, put your product up for sale to test the market and put aside the trademark registration.

Advantages and disadvantages of registering a brand to sell on Amazon

The first thing we must do is analyze the advantages and disadvantages of registering a brand within the Amazon Marketplace, so you can make an informed decision. Let's start with the disadvantages:

• High costs. It will depend on the market you choose. It is not the same to register a trademark in a single country than globally. Therefore, you should first think about where you intend to sell now and in the near future. Remember that if you do not register your brand in a certain market, someone could take away your rights in it. Depending on the territorial scope of the brand, the cost can range from $150 to thousands of dollars.
• Long procedure. Registering a trademark is a process that takes weeks, maybe months. In addition, if the institution in charge of the registry rejects your application, you will have to start the process over again and you will have lost the money invested in the first procedure. To this delay we must add the process of signing up to the Amazon Brand Registry.
• Complexity. It is a process that involves many legal details. You can carry out the process yourself, but if you want to be completely sure that everything goes well and avoid future problems, it is advisable to have a lawyer, which will, in turn, increase the costs.

That being said, and knowing that downsides are a major barrier for any Amazon beginner, it's hard to think of a business that thrives long-term on the marketplace without having their trademark. These are the advantages of doing registering your brand:

• Avoid hijackers. If you list an item without being part of the Amazon Brand Registry, anyone can join your listing. This means that other competitors will benefit from your reviews, your marketing, etc. and, with all certainty, they will lower the sale price of the product. This is a situation that you should avoid at all costs, as a price war will kill your profit margin and you may end up selling your stock at a loss. If you want to know how to remove hijackers from your listing, we published this article where we explore it in detail.
• More advertising tools on Amazon. Only registered brands have the ability to run Amazon Sponsored Ads campaigns. Additionally, Amazon continually adds new advertising functionality only available for registered trademarks. Keep in mind that, while not openly stated by Amazon, advertising does affect your Amazon Seller Rank, which will cause your product to appear higher in search results.
• Search engine positioning. It is not public what criteria Amazon uses to rank products in the search engine, but it almost certainly gives priority to those that are part of the Amazon Brand Registry.
• Ability to create A+ content. This will give you the freedom to go beyond plain text in your product descriptions. You will be able to add multimedia content and multiple formats, which will improve the shopping experience and the conversion rate.
• Access to fundamental Amazon tools:
  • Amazon Store Builder. This tool allows you to create your store within Amazon, where you can view all the products you have for sale and it will act as your own website within the marketplace.
  • Amazon Vine Program. Vine is a program that allows you to get reviews from qualified customers, which in turn attracts new buyers.
  • Amazon Live Creator. Contact consumers directly by chat. Answer questions, offer additional services, etc.
  • Amazon Virtual Bundle. It allows you to offer your products in a pack so that users do not have to buy them separately.
  • Other tools such as Amazon Project Zero, Amazon Attribution Tool, the Amazon Transparency program...
• Advanced analytics. The analytics functions for registered sellers are substantially more extensive than those for non-registered ones.

As we said, the advantages of registering a trademark far outweigh the negative aspects. For this reason, we recommend that, as soon as you are sure of your adventure on Amazon, you get to work and register your brand as soon as possible.

Where to register your trademark

This, as we said at the beginning of the article, will depend a lot on each individual case. There will be sellers who have an exclusively national ambition, while others will try to sell in various international markets. It is advisable to register the brand in all those places where you plan to sell, either now or in the future. You may have the idea to start selling only in your country and, once you are sure that the product works, expand to another. In this case, registering only the brand in the initial market is valid, but keep in mind that during that time you will be taking the risk of someone else registering your brand in their territorial area, thus being able to sell your products there.

The good thing is that within Europe it will be enough to register the brand in EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) to have the rights of the brand throughout the EU. This procedure costs €850. In the US, the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark's Office) is in charge of this process in the North American country. The cost of registering with the USPTO is $250, although if you live outside the US you must add the cost of a lawyer to present the case for you, something mandatory since 2019.

Conclusion

Brand registration is a laborious but highly beneficial process, both for selling on and off Amazon. Therefore, if you need advice with this procedure or you are looking for a way to grow your business, remember that you can contact us through the contact form or by sending us a message to contact@soemlabs .com.

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