Amazon Brand Registry With a Pending Trademark: What You Get

By Paul S. Rafelson, Founder, Rafelson Law PLLC

Can I enroll in Brand Registry with a pending application?

Amazon states that a brand can enroll with a fully registered trademark or a pending trademark. Its enrollment process offers a “trademark pending registration” option, where the applicant gives the application number in place of a registration number. Amazon also says a brand must own the rights to the brand name or logo, and that the name or logo must be permanently affixed to the products or packaging.

Eligibility is country-specific. Amazon looks for an active registered mark in each country where the brand sells, and accepts pending applications from specific trademark offices. For the U.S. store, a pending USPTO application filed by any lawyer qualifies. You do not need IP Accelerator. For other stores, the enrollment screen for each country shows the accepted offices.

What can a pending-mark brand use?

Brand-building tools (A+ Content, Stores, Brand Analytics and the rest) open with a pending application. Automated protections open too. Amazon ties trademark-based reporting, Project Zero and Transparency to a registration. Amazon treats a pending mark as a brand for building and a registered mark as a brand for enforcing. A pending-mark brand reports copyright and patent infringement through Report a Violation, and we confirm the current scope inside your account. Project Zero asks for more than a registration: a compliant reporting history and a six-month Report a Violation history for registered trademark infringement with at least 90% of reports accepted. Amazon’s guides lag the product. The tool descriptions inside your account are current, and we check them for each client’s countries before advising.

What does a pending application change about timing?

Amazon says approval times vary. In our experience, a pending U.S. application enrolls quickly once the USPTO assigns a serial number. For a new brand, a pending application opens Brand Registry many months before a registration issues. It does not change what a court will recognize. See what a pending mark cannot do.what a pending mark cannot do.

What should I check before I enroll?

A pending application is only as good as the application. A mark filed in the wrong name, for the wrong goods or over a conflicting mark gets the brand into Brand Registry and then out of it. We review the application before the brand builds on it. Our Brand Registry overview covers why enrollments fail.

What happens if the application is refused or abandoned?

A pending application is not a guarantee of registration. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office can refuse an application, for example because the mark is likely to be confused with a registered mark (15 U.S.C. § 1052(d)) or is merely descriptive (15 U.S.C. § 1052(e)(1)). Amazon’s terms address what happens to an enrollment that depends on an application that does not mature, and those terms change. Plan for that outcome before building a store, advertising and listing content around the enrollment.

How do I get started?

Contact us. Tell us the brand, the application status and the marketplaces where you sell, and we will tell you whether we can help.

Frequently asked questions

Related pages

Sources and notes

• Amazon Services, “What is Amazon Brand Registry?”
• Amazon Transparency page (brandservices.amazon.com/transparency).
• Amazon IP Accelerator page and guide (sell.amazon.com).
• Amazon Project Zero page (sell.amazon.com).
• 15 U.S.C. § 1052(d), (e)(1).