How to Protect Your Brand on Amazon: A Comprehensive Guide
Amazon’s marketplace has become a global retail giant, with a projected revenue of $700 billion in 2025.
For brands, it represents an unparalleled opportunity to reach a massive customer base of over 310 million active users. However, this vast and open marketplace also presents significant risks. The very accessibility that makes Amazon attractive to sellers also makes it a fertile ground for counterfeiters, hijackers, and other bad actors who can damage a brand’s reputation and erode its profits.
Protecting your brand on Amazon is not just a defensive measure; it’s a critical component of a successful e-commerce strategy. In 2024 alone, Amazon invested over $1.2 billion and employed more than 15,000 people to combat fraud and abuse on its platform. These efforts, combined with proactive brand protection strategies, are essential for any business looking to thrive in the competitive Amazon ecosystem.
This in-depth article will explore the various threats your brand may face on Amazon and provide a comprehensive guide to the strategies and tools available to protect it. We will delve into the specifics of Amazon’s Brand Registry, the importance of trademarks, the role of programs like Amazon Transparency, and the steps to take if your brand is targeted.
The Growing Threat to Brands on Amazon
The open nature of Amazon’s marketplace, where third-party sellers account for over 60% of all units sold, creates a complex and often challenging environment for brand owners.
While the majority of sellers are legitimate businesses, the sheer volume of transactions and listings makes it difficult to prevent malicious actors from exploiting the system. The consequences of brand abuse can be severe, ranging from lost sales and reputational damage to legal battles and customer safety issues.
Types of Threats to Your Brand on Amazon
As an Amazon seller and brand owner, you must be aware of scam tactics that third-party sellers may use to steal your product idea, capitalise on your existing customer base, and infringe on your rights under Amazon’s TOS.
Here are the different types of threats you may face as an Amazon seller:
Hijacking
Listing hijacking occurs when an unauthorized seller lists a counterfeit or imitation product on your official product detail page. This can lead to a number of problems, including:
- Loss of the Buy Box: Hijackers often offer lower prices, which can cause you to lose the Buy Box and, consequently, sales.
- Negative Reviews: Customers who unknowingly purchase counterfeit products from hijackers may leave negative reviews on your listing, damaging your brand’s reputation.
- Listing Sabotage: In some cases, hijackers may even alter your product listing, changing images, descriptions, or other details to mislead customers.
Copyright and Trademark Infringement
Copyright and trademark infringement are common on Amazon. This can involve:
- Unauthorized Use of Brand Name and Logo: Counterfeiters may use your brand name and logo to sell fake products, deceiving customers and infringing on your trademark.
- Copying of Product Images and Descriptions: Other sellers may copy your product images, descriptions, and other copyrighted content to create their own listings for similar or counterfeit products.
Patent Infringement
Patent infringement occurs when another seller makes, uses, or sells a product that is protected by your patent. This can be particularly challenging to combat, as it often requires legal expertise and a thorough understanding of patent law.
False Reviews
Malicious actors may use fake reviews to either damage your brand’s reputation or artificially boost their own. This can involve:
- Negative Review Bombing: Competitors may post a large number of fake negative reviews on your listings to lower your product’s rating and deter customers.
- Positive Review Manipulation: Some sellers use fake positive reviews to inflate their own product ratings and gain an unfair advantage.
False IP Infringement Claims
In some cases, bad actors may file false intellectual property infringement claims against you in an attempt to get your listings taken down. This can be a disruptive and costly tactic, as it can lead to account suspension and lost sales.
These scam tactics can result in varying consequences for your Amazon brand. In many cases, they can hurt your sales, destroy your reputation, and steal the branded products you worked so hard to create.
Strategies to Protect Your Brand on Amazon
Whether you’ve fallen prey to Amazon brand theft or are trying to prevent future infringements, implementing Amazon brand protection strategies is essential. Here are a few key things you can do to protect your Amazon account and maintain more control over your products.
Strategy #1: Join Amazon Brand Registry
Joining the Amazon Brand Registry Program is one of the strongest tactics you can use for brand protection on the platform. Here, we’ll explain how to register a brand on Amazon and what protections doing so gives you.
Amazon’s Brand Registry enables you to protect your intellectual property, build your private label brand, enhance your customers’ experiences, and manage your listings. With this programme, you can benefit from the following features:
- Automated protections against duplicate listings based on information you provide about your brand’s products
- Neutral patent evaluation that bypasses court settlements to remove inauthentic products from Amazon’s store
- Easy violation identification and reporting
- Assistance from support staff to resolve listing issues and marketplace policy violations
To join the Brand Registry programme, you must have a pending or registered and active image-based or text-based trademark. You can apply for a trademark through the UK trademark office.
The trademark owner must submit the application to the Brand Registry. As part of the application, you provide the following information:
- Your brand name on the trademark
- The trademark registration number
- The product categories in which to list your products
Amazon will then verify this information to complete the enrolment process. Once you have your brand registered, you can gain full access to this powerful tool.
Note that Amazon Brand Registry does not provide brand gating or prevent other Amazon users from adding fake products to your listing. You may want to join the Amazon Brand Gating programme as well.
Strategy #2: Use Your Logo & Trademark It
Before you can join Amazon Brand Registry, you must trademark your brand. We recommend trademarking even if you decide not to join the registry, as it can provide brand protection on Amazon and other marketplaces.
Once you trademark your logo, you should include it in every product detail you can. If any other sellers start selling products with your logo, you may be able to sue them for trademark infringement.
Strategy #3: Use Amazon Transparency
Amazon Transparency is another protection Amazon provides for sellers. This programme can give you unique barcodes to include on your products, preventing counterfeit product from reaching customers.Amazon Transparency is especially helpful if you’re selling through the Amazon FBA Program, as your products risk becoming lost in the Amazon Warehouse.
You must have a trademark to prove you’re the brand owner before applying for Amazon Transparency.
Strategy #4: Use Sponsored Brands and Brand Analytics to Grow Your Brand
Aside from utilising Amazon’s protection programmes, you can also take measures to boost your brand’s credibility and reach more customers. Establishing yourself as the go-to brand for your product can limit the impact of other sellers trying to sell the same products.
For example, when you enrol in Brand Registry, you can apply to become a Sponsored Brand on Amazon. You can also review your brand’s analytics frequently and make changes to boost sales.
Strategy #5: Work with an Amazon Agency
The best legitimate sellers on Amazon work with qualified marketing agencies to promote their products and prevent hijacking and brand theft.
At Push-Pull, we know the industry’s top strategies to make brands best in class on Amazon. We have helped many brands reach more customers, resist Amazon attacks, and grow their businesses on the Amazon marketplace.
We can work with your existing Amazon team or provide full-scale services to enhance your Amazon presence and boost sales.
Contact us today to learn more about protecting your brand on Amazon partnering with our agency.
