There are several years of promotion, product creation, public relations, experience, and commitment behind any famous and widely known brand. All companies are working closely to create brand awareness under the corporate umbrella and to grow the products. Creating a popular brand is quite a long and arduous process that is both difficult and rewarding if done correctly.
You can earn profit after filing your trademark(s), which will expand over time as you develop your market name, popularity, and credibility. Given the enormous work involved in creating a brand and the interest it generates, it is only reasonable that businesses should make every attempt to provide security for the online brand identity (the primary reason why the Amazon Brand Protection was created).
Your brand is very vulnerable to threats in different ways. Domain hijacking, intellectual property theft, hacking, and cybersquatting are some of these threats that can be a barrier to your online business. Nevertheless, you need to have a well-planned brand protection strategy.
Product infringement and illegal selling are scattered all over the globe, using social networks and tons of e-commerce platforms, and they employ several languages to do so. They can sell fake goods, which means fakes, replicas, or knockoffs of the product(s).
They can also resell your legitimate items as grey market commodities (also called parallel imports) without your permission. These might also be unauthorized dealers selling off territories or in breach of the company’s MAP agreements or other promotional practices. It causes a not fair competition, missed sales, and other problems such as a damaged brand.
Amazon Brand Protection: Combatting Online Brand Infringements
Below is a guide on how to help protect your brands or products in Amazon.
1. Trademark the brand
Trademark registration is required. The name and trademarks of a business can be powerful properties. Customers remember them and can choose not to buy the rivals’ goods or services. Preventing other firms from trading under your good name will shield you from unfair competition. It can ensure that the trademark is licensed everywhere – it can be produced, advertised, or sold online, and even anywhere it is intended to extend or in places where you do not want to sell your goods. A licensed intellectual property right offers more rights for the name. Enrolling in Amazon Product Register, for instance, is required.
2. Use the Amazon brand registry
Amazon Brand Registry provides a greater degree of identity protection and power of the online presence of the goods. The Brand Registry allows you to suggest that Amazon integrate other product lists under your listing, use the product specifics you find appropriate, the pictures you have selected, etc. It would result in a more credible image of your company, in accordance with the high branding expectations.
Amazon Brand Registry
Requirements:
a. Brand name corresponding to an active trademark
b. The number from a government-registered trademark
c. The product category list.
d. A list of countries where the company produces and distributes its products.
Benefits:
- Brand protection
- A support team that answers questions
- Search tools
- Control on the listing of the product
3. The use of MAP (Minimum advertised prices)
Even though this action has its pros and cons, it will result in a more organized and disciplined price range for the product if done correctly, instead of the current price jungle that most successful brands have to deal with repeatedly. It will be better able if you will be able to protect the reputation of the goods by yourself or with the aid of an online brand management company
- Policy Statement – notes that this proposal is a unilateral decision, not an agreement. State what happens if this policy is broken, and explain the market(s) the policy applies to if you are operating internationally.
- Include a brief introduction – add a brief overview of your business and the intent of the MAP policy.
- List of rates. Putting it on the website, guide customers to go there, and at the discretion, let them know it prices will change.
- Guidelines for the summary-Indicate precisely what the strategy refers to. If the product is advertised or the rule applies to discount codes.
4. Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA)
Inventory storage and distribution service offered by Amazon. 87% of Amazon are made directly from the buy box. Using the FBA will dramatically improve the chances for Amazon to pick the listing like the one that will feature in the Buy Box. Buyers would also have to make an effort not to buy the product directly from your company.
The cost of Amazon’s fulfilment varies depending on several factors, such as product size and weight.
When a consumer returns an FBA product, it is delivered to an Amazon Fulfilment Center. Amazon then tests it, and Amazon checks that it will refund the merchandise and market it again as a new item if the recall happens. When this is not necessary, the merchandise will stay in your portfolio as inventory but will not be available for new purchases.
5. Make sure the product is unique
To begin with, make sure that the packaging is hard to replicate. Another way to make copying more difficult for your products is to bundle them, making it less possible for the infringers to threaten the listing of the company.
All in all, this brief step-by-step guide to creating an Amazon brand protection plan will significantly boost your Amazon visibility and sales, and allow you to report Amazon’s trademark infringements.
The problem is that on Amazon, continuous defense of intellectual property takes both time and energy. Your brand is likely to be advertised on or infringed on other blogs, marketplaces, and social media channels that you may not even have heard of.
Of this purpose, you need an online partner to provide you with qualified web brand security tools to secure your rights and profits quickly and efficiently. Your company would have an entire intellectual property security claim when you work with someone that is knowledgeable with this. They will be able to help you out from identification to compliance of the IP rights.
