The online market is in motion. Doing business online is becoming more and more popular with sellers and consumers alike. The German Retail Association (HDE) expects to see revenues of EUR 88.3 billion in 2024, up 3.4 percent on last year. The main revenue drivers are sales platforms like Ebay, Zalando, and so on. But the increasing use of these platforms also raises their appeal to all kinds of sellers, thus increasing the risk of counterfeit products and fraudulent items. Anyone trading online should therefore take extra care.
Amazon has responded to this trend with a service of its own: the Amazon Brand Registry is intended to help brand owners better assert and enforce their rights on the platform. This measure was most likely introduced partly because of the “ASIN,” or Amazon Standard Identification Number, which is a unique number assigned to every product for sale on Amazon. The problem is, other companies can offer cheap imitations under the same ASIN and thus harm the original manufacturer.
Amazon’s own Brand Registry now turns this annoyance into a promise of quality, which aims to make it easier to monitor and report IP infringements on the platform. For this purpose, Amazon provides all registered participants with appropriate tools to strengthen their trust in the platform.
However, the Amazon Brand Registry cannot and should not replace official trademark registration. Quite the opposite: for its own Brand Registry, Amazon requires companies to provide proof that a registered trademark already exists with an authority such as the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) or the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). These trademarks are registered national German trademarks and EU trademarks as well as some other foreign national trademarks. To qualify for brand registration with Amazon, trademarks must be word marks or combination marks, and they must be protected in countries accepted by Amazon.
The Amazon Brand therefore merely complements the protection already in place. Brand owners must continue to monitor their rights themselves or commission external service providers to do so. This is especially the case if the company is active globally or if they use other types of trademarks, such as color or 3D trademarks. The latter play a particularly important role in the packaging sector, for example when it comes to specially shaped drink bottles, perfume bottles, or other containers protected by a trademark right. Some well-known examples include the Capri-Sun stand-up pouch or the Coca-Cola contour bottle.
Even companies who do business exclusively on Amazon should be aware that, although the Amazon Brand offers additional protection against counterfeiting and misuse on the online platform, it is only available in certain countries and for selected types of brands. Companies should therefore not let this service lull them into a false sense of security. It is still imperative that trademarks are registered with the relevant trademark authorities and monitored continuously, irrespective of the Amazon Brand. This is the only way to protect trademark rights comprehensively and for the long term.
Published in issue 7/2024 of the magazine creativ verpacken.
Picture credits: doganmesut_AdobeStock.com
