Amazon Brand Registry: An Overview for Brand Owners

By Paul S. Rafelson, Founder, Rafelson Law PLLC

Amazon Brand Registry is Amazon’s program for brand owners. A brand enrolls with a registered trademark or a pending application, and an enrolled brand gets automated protections, the Report a Violation tool and a set of brand-building tools. Enrollment does not create trademark rights and decides nothing in court, and Amazon decides every report. What follows describes Amazon’s program as Amazon publishes it. Amazon sets and changes the terms.

What does Brand Registry give a brand owner?

Brand Registry offers two groups of benefits. The first is protection: automated protections built on the brand, product and IP information the owner provides, the Report a Violation tool for IP infringement, store policy violations and regulatory concerns plus a neutral evaluation process for utility patents (see Patent and Amazon APEX). The second is brand-building: A+ Content, Stores, Sponsored Brands advertising, Brand Analytics, Manage Your Experiments, Virtual Bundles, Vine and Live. Each tool has its own access requirements.

A seller can sell on Amazon without enrolling. Enrollment matters when the brand needs to report infringement, wants the brand tools or needs to show Amazon that it owns the brand.

What does enrollment depend on?

Only the owner of the rights to a brand enrolls it, and the brand needs a registered trademark or a pending application. Eligibility is country-specific. Amazon looks for an active registered text or image mark in each country where the brand will enroll and sell, and accepts pending applications from specific trademark offices. The USPTO is one of them, so a U.S. application with a serial number qualifies for the U.S. store. Enrollment asks the brand to prove two things: a qualifying trademark in the right name and the mark on the product itself. Most rejections trace to one of those. The form changes. The two requirements do not. Amazon says approval times vary. In our experience, a pending U.S. application with a serial number usually enrolls quickly.

Whether a pending application is enough for a particular tool is a separate question; see what a pending trademark gets you.

Which page answers which Brand Registry question?

Your question	Where to go
My trademark application is still pending. What can I use in the meantime?	What a pending trademark gets you
What are the limits of a pending application, on Amazon and in court?	What a pending mark cannot do
A listing copies my trademark, my photos or my product design. How do I report it?	Reporting infringement through Brand Registry
Amazon will not act, or the infringement needs a court. What does registration change?	Trademark vs. copyright in court
A utility patent is involved.	Patent and Amazon APEX
My listing was removed after someone else’s complaint.	Amazon IP claims

What does Brand Registry not do?

It does not create trademark rights. Enrollment is Amazon’s program decision. Rights in a mark come from use and, for the added benefits of federal registration, from registration at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A court looks at the mark and the law, not at Brand Registry status.
It does not make Amazon’s decisions for you. Amazon reviews each report and decides what to do with it. An enrolled brand can still have a report rejected.
It does not cover every right the same way. A copyright takedown request can go forward without a registration, a lawsuit generally cannot, and a design patent report turns on the drawings and the product. The reporting page covers each one.
It does not protect a brand the account does not own. A brand held by a former co-owner, a manufacturer or an agency, or a mark filed in the wrong entity’s name, can block or complicate enrollment.

Why do enrollments fail?

The trademark sits in the wrong name. The mark on the product does not match the mark on file. The goods in the application do not cover what is sold. An agency holds the keys. The application stalls and the store was built on it. Each is cheaper to fix before enrollment than after a listing is at stake, and we check all five before a client files.

Where do Brand Registry matters go wrong?

The common problems are practical. The trademark was filed by an individual or an earlier entity, so the enrolling company does not own it. The designer, photographer or manufacturer had not signed an agreement, so ownership of the logo or photos is unclear. A report names a right the brand does not hold, or reaches genuine resale, and is rejected or draws a dispute. Control of the account sits with an agency that has left. Each is easier to fix before a listing is at stake, and some are matters for a contract or a court rather than for Amazon’s tools. Our advocacy and contracts pages cover those routes.

How do I get started?

Realistic expectations

We cannot guarantee that Amazon approves an enrollment, accepts a report or removes or restores a listing. We also cannot guarantee that a trademark application is registered or any particular outcome.
Amazon’s Brand Registry eligibility, tools and country rules are set by Amazon and change; Amazon’s current program terms control.
Past results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Frequently asked questions

What is Amazon Brand Registry used for?

Brand Registry gives an enrolled brand automated protections, the Report a Violation tool, a neutral evaluation process for utility patents and brand-building tools such as A+ Content, Stores and Brand Analytics. Each tool has its own access requirements, and Amazon sets them.

Do I need a trademark to enroll in Brand Registry?

Yes, but you do not have to wait for registration. A brand needs a registered trademark or a pending application, and only the owner of the rights to the brand enrolls it. In the U.S., a pending USPTO application with a serial number qualifies. The enrollment form has a “trademark pending registration” option for the application number. Requirements are country-specific. We file the application and enroll the brand once the serial number issues.

Does Brand Registry give me trademark rights?

No. Enrollment is Amazon’s program decision and does not create or prove trademark rights. Rights in a mark come from use and, for the added benefits of federal registration, from registration at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A court looks at the mark and the law rather than at Brand Registry status.

Can I sell on Amazon without Brand Registry?

Yes. A seller sells on Amazon without enrolling a brand. Enrollment matters when the brand needs the reporting tools, wants the brand-building tools or needs to show Amazon it owns the brand. Which of those matters depends on the products, the marketplaces and the risk of copying.

How long does Brand Registry approval take?

Amazon sets the timing and says approval times vary. In our experience, enrollment with a pending U.S. application usually moves quickly once the application has a serial number. A clean application with the mark already on the product moves faster than one Amazon has to query. Amazon decides each enrollment, and we make no promise on timing.

What if someone else already controls my brand in Brand Registry?

That is usually a question of who owns the trademark and who the account belongs to. Ownership records, agreements with the agency or manufacturer and Amazon’s own dispute process all matter, and some cases need a letter or a court. Bring the account details, the trademark records and any agreements so we can tell you whether we can help.

Is Rafelson Law affiliated with Amazon?

No. Rafelson Law PLLC is an independent law firm and is not affiliated with Amazon. We do not speak for Amazon. We do not control how Amazon decides enrollments or reports. We represent our client, whether you own the brand or face a report.

What a pending trademark gets you

What Amazon’s published materials say a pending application can use.

What a pending mark cannot do

The limits of a pending application, on Amazon and in court.

Reporting infringement through Brand Registry

Design patents, copyrights and trademarks.

Trademark vs. copyright in court

What registration changes when you sue.

Sources and notes

Amazon Services, “What is Amazon Brand Registry? How does it work?” (sell.amazon.com/blog/what-is-amazon-brand-registry), June 5, 2026.
15 U.S.C. §§ 1057, 1114, 1125(a).

About the author

Paul S. Rafelson is the Founder of Rafelson Law PLLC, a law firm for eCommerce and online business owners. The firm’s practice focuses on Amazon account issues, eCommerce mergers and acquisitions, Proposition 65 and related corporate work. He holds an LL.M. in Taxation from NYU (2017). He founded the Online Merchants Guild in 2018, a volunteer-led trade association run by and for Amazon sellers. He taught state and local taxation as an adjunct professor at Pace Law School. Katherine (Katie) Dariano is a Senior Counsel at the firm. Full biography.

Background

Founder, Rafelson Law PLLC; office at 2255 Glades Rd, Suite 319A, Boca Raton, FL 33431.
Admitted to the bars of Florida (2005) and New Jersey (2006). Katherine Dariano is admitted in New York (2021).
LL.M. in Taxation, NYU (2017).
Before private practice, Paul was in-house counsel at Microsoft, Walmart and GE.
Paul founded the Online Merchants Guild in 2018, a volunteer-led trade association run by and for Amazon sellers. More on the Guild's About page.
Paul taught state and local taxation as an adjunct professor at Pace Law School.

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