Key takeaways: Brand Registry is free to join and requires an active registered trademark, or a pending application filed with certain trademark offices, that matches the brand name on your products. Enrollment unlocks most of what separates a brand from a reseller on Amazon: A+ Content, Brand Story, Brand Store, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display, Brand Analytics with Search Query Performance, Vine, Manage Your Experiments, and the Report a Violation and Transparency tools. Enroll before you spend on creative or advertising, because most of both depend on it.
What Brand Registry is
Brand Registry is Amazon's program for verified brand owners. It links your trademark to your seller or vendor account, gives your contributions priority on the listings that carry your brand, and opens a set of tools that are closed to everyone else. It is not a selling plan and it does not cost anything beyond the trademark itself.
Its two purposes are protection and presentation. Protection covers listing control, violation reporting and, optionally, Transparency and Project Zero. Presentation covers every branded content format on the platform, from A+ Content to the Brand Store, plus the advertising types that carry your logo.
What you need to enroll
- A trademark. An active registered text mark, or an image mark that contains words, in a trademark office Amazon accepts for the marketplace you sell in (the USPTO for the United States, UKIPO for the United Kingdom, EUIPO for the EU marketplaces, and the national offices for others). Pending applications are accepted from several offices, including the USPTO, so you can enroll while registration is in progress. Amazon's IP Accelerator connects you with law firms that file applications Amazon recognizes early.
- The mark must match the brand on the product. The brand name in your trademark must appear on the products or packaging, and Amazon asks for images showing it.
- A seller or vendor account in good standing, and a Brand Registry account, which uses the same login.
- Product images and details for the enrollment form: the trademark registration or serial number, product categories, and whether you manufacture or distribute.
Enrollment itself usually takes a few days. Amazon verifies the trademark record, then sends a code to the trademark office's contact of record, which is why the email on your trademark filing must reach someone who can forward it to you.
What it unlocks
| Area | Tool | What it does for you |
|---|---|---|
| Listing content | A+ Content and Brand Story | Rich below-the-fold modules; Premium A+ eligibility follows for qualifying brands |
| Listing content | Manage Your Experiments | A/B tests of title, main image, bullets, description and A+ |
| Listing content | Virtual Bundles | Bundles of your own FBA ASINs without new inventory |
| Brand presence | Brand Store and Amazon Posts | A multi-page storefront with its own URL and analytics |
| Advertising | Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Brands video, Sponsored Display | Formats that carry your logo, drive to your Store and target audiences |
| Advertising | Amazon Attribution and Brand Referral Bonus | Measure outside traffic and earn a bonus on the sales it drives |
| Data | Brand Analytics: Search Query Performance, Search Catalog Performance, Market Basket, Repeat Purchase | Amazon's own search and buyer data for your ASINs |
| Reviews | Vine | Early reviews for ASINs with fewer than 30 reviews |
| Reviews | Customer Reviews contact tool | Compliant contact with buyers who left critical reviews |
| Protection | Report a Violation, Transparency, Project Zero | Remove infringing offers; serialize units so diverted stock cannot ship |
| Protection | Listing contribution priority | Your title, images and attributes prevail over other contributors |
| Promotions | Brand Tailored Promotions | Discounts targeted to your own audience segments |
Several of the topics on this site assume Brand Registry: A+ Content vs Premium A+: What Is the Difference and Which to Use, Amazon Storefront Best Practices: Pages, Tiles and Traffic and Amazon Hijackers: How to Remove Unauthorized Sellers all start from an enrolled brand.
The enrollment path
Read this flowchart as text
- Brand without Registry
- Registered or pending trademark in an accepted office?
- File a text mark; consider IP Accelerator for early access
- Brand name visible on product or packaging?
- Add branding to packaging before applying
- Apply in Brand Registry with registration number and photos
- Verification code sent to trademark correspondent
- Enrolled: add user roles, connect the advertising account
- A+, Store, Sponsored Brands, Brand Analytics live
After enrollment: the order we work in
Registry opens a dozen doors at once. The order that pays back fastest in most accounts:
- Brand Analytics. Open Search Query Performance on day one. It changes the keyword list, and everything downstream depends on that list.
- Listing control. Reclaim any attributes other contributors have overwritten and clear the Fix Your Products warnings.
- A+ Content and Brand Story on the top-selling ASINs, measured on conversion before and after.
- Brand Store, at least a home page and one page per category, so Sponsored Brands has somewhere to land.
- Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display, in the structure the PPC plan calls for.
- Vine on any ASIN under 30 reviews.
- Manage Your Experiments once the ASIN has the traffic to run a test.
Protection tools sit in parallel: set up Report a Violation access for whoever handles operations, and evaluate Transparency if you have had diversion or counterfeit problems.
Because so much depends on it, Brand Registry status is one of the first things we ask about before an engagement starts, and enrolling a brand that qualifies is part of the setup work rather than something we wait for.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need Brand Registry to sell on Amazon?
No. You can list and sell without it. You need it for A+ Content, Brand Store, Sponsored Brands, Brand Analytics, Vine and the brand protection tools, which is most of what a brand uses to compete beyond price.
Can I enroll with a pending trademark application?
Yes, for applications filed with certain offices including the USPTO. Amazon accepts pending applications from those offices, and your Registry access continues once the mark registers. If the application is refused, access can be withdrawn.
Does Brand Registry stop other sellers listing on my ASINs?
Not by itself. It gives you tools to remove counterfeit and infringing offers and to control the listing content. Genuine resellers can still sell your product. Transparency, available to enrolled brands, is the tool that blocks unserialized units.
Is Brand Registry per marketplace?
Enrollment is per brand and per trademark office region. A USPTO mark covers the US store; selling in the UK or EU needs a mark from the UKIPO or EUIPO, respectively, added to the same Registry account.