Category: Amazon

What are Trademark Assignments? How can I transfer my trademark to somebody else?

Posted on by trademarkangel

When assigning US trademark applications and registrations you must take into consideration many potential issues that may arise. There are critical requirements for trademark assignment that must be met for an assignment to be legit. This article, hopefully, will give you insight and factual advice applicable to all trademarks. Also included are special requirements for assignment of US and other trademarks.

You must know that it is of the utmost importance that US trademark assignment filings meet these specifications. Anything else can open an assignment to legal challenge. This cannot stand and any third party can challenge the trademark in court and invalidate the registration.

“Goodwill” is the key to US Trademark law. Goodwill is defined as “The desirability of the goods or services which are identified by the trademark or service mark.”

A trademark is worthless without its goodwill representation. Section 10 of US Trademark Act (otherwise known as the Lanham Act) establishes that all trademark applications must include a written description of the trademark that establishes the goodwill intent of the trademark. Included with this requirement is a foreign registration under Section 44 of the Lanham Act.

It should be noted that to avoid discrepancies or any doubts, the word “Goodwill” must be included in all written trademark assignment of US trademarks.

Vital to this process is if the trademark owner has begun to use the trademark or not. If so, this person must file a “Statement of Use” with the US Patent and Trademark Office. You can use the “Amendment to Allege Use” form or a “Statement of Use” form. Once these have been filed, the rules of assignment are the same as those for use-based trademark applications and registration. See 15 U.S.C. 1060(a).

Now the rules are different if you have not begun to use the trademark. If this is the case, then US Trademark Law mandates the assignment be given to a successor to the applicant. This means a trademark follows a business if it is sold. This is called “Intent to Use” provision of 15 U.S.C. 1060 (a)(1).

When it comes to challenging the validity of a trademark assignment it is not contemplated by the USPTO. This is left to the courts and case law. Hence why it is so important to have your paperwork up to par.

If no transfer of trademark occurs with the sale of a business, this is called “Assignment in Gross” or sometimes, a “Naked Assignment”.  This can lead to a new owner losing their rights to a trademark. In addition, a buyer’s business must be related substantially to the goodwill of the trademark’s intention. The whole idea is to prevent consumer confusion. See Sugar Busters LLC v. Brennon (5th Cir. 1999).
Assignment in Gross

This “Assignment in Gross” can also occur when a seller abandons a trademark before the assignment takes place by lack of use either purposely or mistakenly. Most importantly, an assignment or trademark application can be voided if the trademark is sold without the business itself. A business and trademark are forever linked by law. If not, a third party may sue to obtain the trademark if a business is sold apart from the trademark.

It’s all about maintaining the integrity of what the trademark symbolizes. Imagine a Coke logo being used by Pepsi to promote its products.

This is why when we are asked: “Can I just buy a trademark?” we usually advise against it, as you can’t simply buy a trademark without an associated business. You can do this, but your trademark may be challenged and invalidated so we recommend filing your own trademark instead of trying to buy somebody else trademark, unless you buy the associated business and line of products as well.

ingredients for an assignment

Now, we’ll talk about the necessary ingredients for an assignment:

To record an assignment, we will need to prepare an assignment document that will have to be signed by the assignor. We will then file this assignment document with the Trademarks Office. It will take approximately 2-3 weeks for the Trademarks Office to record the assignment. In most countries (USA, Canada, UK, Germany) it takes only a few weeks for the assignment to be recorded.

In order to prepare an assignment document, we need to know the following information:

– name and address of the assignor (who transfers the mark)
– name and address of the assignee (to whom the mark is transferred)
– name and serial numbers of trademarks that are being assigned
– full name and title of the signatory for the assignor

The assignor will need to sign the assignment document once it’s ready. In some jurisdictions, like the EU, the assignee also needs to sign the assignment document.

An assignment may be necessary if you are an Amazon seller and you registered trademark in your personal name (Joe Dones, for example), but your Amazon seller account is opened in company name (Dones Food LLC). In this case, you may have difficulties getting approval to Brand Registry as Amazon may see your own trademark as not belonging to the same entity as the Amazon seller account and they may see as you trying to use “somebody else’s” trademark when you apply. Therefore, one of the solutions will be to transfer your trademark from your personal name to your company to avoid problems with Amazon Brand Registry.

In conclusion, if you own a trademark or desire one, it is vital you get proper advice and legal representation to walk you through the process.

For our other article about trademark assignment including assignment costs, please check our newer article.

TIPS To Remove Hijackers On Your Amazon Listing

Posted on by trademarkangel

After you have spent considerable time and effort to launch a product on Amazon, the last thing you need is for someone to come along and sell a cheap knockoff of your product and hijack your listing. There are ways how you can prevent others from hijacking your Amazon listing and what you can do to remove hijackers from your listings.

What Is A Hijacker (Piggybacker)?

A hijacker or a piggybacker is another Amazon seller who has listed their product under your listing. You can find hijackers by visiting your listing and finding the area where it displays other buying options.

A hijacker will usually attempt to sell a fake version of your product by replicating the packaging to make an exact copy. Other times, the product will be totally different from yours.

The problem with hijackers is that they typically list their products at a cheaper price, which effectively steals the buy box from you. This means that you no longer get any sales from your listing.

The situation is made even worse by the fact that not only are you losing sales to the hijacker’s product, their product is also usually of inferior quality, prompting dissatisfied customers to leave bad reviews under your listing.

This why it is extremely important for you to take steps to remove hijackers on your Amazon listing and to remove them as quickly as possible when they appear.

Note: There is a difference between a reseller and a hijacker. A reseller is someone who has purchased a product from you at some point and has decided to resell it on Amazon. While this can be annoying, they are actually selling your real product and are technically allowed to this. Unless you are brand registered, there is little you can do to have a reseller removed from your listing.

Preventing Amazon Hijackers

Most hijackers are lazy and will only hijack a listing when it’s easy to do so. Therefore, the best way to prevent others from hacking your Amazon listing is to make it as difficult as possible to copy your product. To this end, here is what you can do to prevent having your Amazon listing hijacked:

Brand Your Amazon Product

Your first line of defense against hijacking is to put your brand and/or logo on your product and its packaging. You should also have your brand and/or logo clearly evident on your listing, along with photographs showing the products being sold.

By branding your products with unique designs and unique packaging, you make them distinguishable from other seller’s products and harder to be copied. Many Amazon sellers attempt to save money by not branding their products. But when they do so, they eventually have issues with hijackers and have very little recourse against them.

Bundle Your Amazon Products

Again, you can prevent hijacking by making it as difficult as possible to copy your product. Another way to do this is by bundling. Bundling essentially requires you to package and sell different complementary products together to create one unique product.

Differentiating your products with unique bundles makes it more difficult for hijackers to copy them since they would have to go through the trouble of sourcing all of your bundled items. What’s more, if someone lists a product under your listing that does not match your bundle exactly, Amazon will remove it immediately.

Trademark Your Amazon Products

Another way to prevent others from hijacking your Amazon listing is to trademark your brand. This gives you actual legal protection against the unauthorized use of your trademark, as well as, added protection against hijackers through the Amazon Brand Registry.

When you register a trademark for your brand name in the country or jurisdiction where you are doing business, you can prevent others from copying or using your brand name with their own products. You can get a trademark and be brand registered in the US in 9-18 months, or the UK in 3.5-4 months.

Note: A UK or German registered trademark WILL remove a hijacker on amazon.com with our help. However, if you simply ask Amazon for help with a UK or German trademark, they will not help you unless you have a registered US trademark. The ability to report violation on Amazon’s platform is only available for US registered trademarks.

Create A Website For Your Amazon Products

You can also protect your listing from hijackers by creating a website with your brand name in the URL and then listing your products along with their UPC, EAN, and/or FNSKU barcodes. This doesn’t need to be a very elaborate website. Just a web page where your brand and products can be published. This web page can then be used to verify that you are the owner of the brand or product and/or prove that the hijacker’s products are counterfeit.

Offer A Money Back Guarantee

Finally, you can offer your customers a Money Back Guarantee to entice them to only purchase products where your brand name or trademark is visible.

How To Remove Hijackers From Your Amazon Listing

When you discover hijackers on your Amazon listing, it is important to have them removed as soon as possible. This way, you can avoid 1) having money literally stolen from you and 2) being punished with one-star reviews from customers who unknowingly purchased an inferior product and are disappointed with what they think was purchased from you.

Here are a few ways to remove hijackers from your Amazon listings:

1. Rely on your registered trademark

The easiest way to remove a hijacker is to report a violation by relying on your registered trademark in a country where you report violation. So if you want to remove a hijacker on amazon.com, you will need to have a US registered trademark. And similarly, if you want to remove a hijacker on amazon.co.uk, you will need to have a UK registered trademark.

2. Send a Cease and Desist Letter

The very first thing you should do when someone attempts to hijack your Amazon listing is to send them a cease and desist letter. You can use an attorney if it gets complicated. Otherwise, you can write a strong cease and desist letter on your own, or download one here. Many times, this will be enough the scare the hijacker off.

The hijacker’s contact details can be found on their Amazon store page and can be used to contact them through the Amazon system. In fact, you should only contact a hijacker through Amazon in order to ensure that Amazon has a record of the correspondence.

3. Perform A Test Buy

If the hijacker persists and your brand is not registered, you can perform a test buy and report it to Amazon. To do this, purchase one of the hijacker’s products and take pictures of it alongside yours. Note all of the differences between the two and report the hijacker to Amazon using the Report Infringement form. You can also use the report infringement form to report IP infringement when, for example, you find someone using your photos or copying your listing.

4. Apply For The Amazon Transparency Program To Prevent Counterfeits

The Amazon Transparency Program was established to fight counterfeiters, issue unique UPC codes, and protect brands. The transparency program does this by allowing you to buy 2D UPC codes from Amazon that you can attach to your products.

Each code is a unique, individual code assigned to a particular item. So, for example, if you have 100 watches, each watch will have its own 2D UPC code. This means 100 unique UPC codes.

Each product is also linked to Amazon’s Brand Registry, which means that in order to take advantage of the Transparency Program you have to be enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry which, in turn, means that you must have a trademark.

5. Apply For The Amazon Brand Incubator Program

Once you have joined the Amazon Brand Incubator Program, they will remove hijackers all from your listings within 60 days. Again, to join the Amazon Brand Incubator Program you will need to be registered with Brand Registry and have a trademark.

6. Apply For The Amazon Project Zero Program

Amazon wants to cut down on fake listings. Previously companies had to submit a request to Amazon to have a fake version of the product removed. Now and going forward, companies that are part of the Amazon Project Zero Program will have the ability to remove counterfeit products themselves without waiting for Amazon to take it down.

Currently, this program is only available by invitation but you can get on a wait-list https://brandservices.amazon.com/projectzero/waitlist

7. Contact Trademark Angel For Assistance With Hijacker Removal On Amazon

There are many advantages to obtaining a trademark for your Amazon brand. However, mistakes made in the trademark process can cost you thousands of dollars.

Because of this, you need an experienced trademark expert to shepherd you through the process from the start to finish. Trademark Angel provides assistance with trademark registration in Canada, US, UK, EU, Australia, China, and other jurisdictions.

What’s more, Trademark Angel now offers Amazon hijacker removal services as well. Call Trademark Angel in Canada at 226.246.2979, or visit our contact page to book an initial consultation.

Amazon Trademark – Trademark for Amazon Brand Registry

Posted on by trademarkangel

Finding the Fast-Track to the Amazon Brand Registry

                    Tips from TRADEMARK ANGEL

What every Amazon seller (current and prospective!)

needs to know to make the most of their online brand

 

[Important! If you’re reading this and thinking, “I’m already registered on Amazon,” please note that Amazon Brand Registry 1.0 Holders (the first iteration) will be phased out in the near future to make room for the introduction of Amazon’s new Brand Registry 2.0. This means that some (if not all) of your trademarks might need to be re-registered!]

Updated on October 23, 2020.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Amazon’s Trademark Registry, it allows Amazon sellers (with registered trademarks) two distinct benefits while working under the company’s online umbrella: brand protection and brand support. This brand protection gives you the power to legally identity counterfeit or deceptive sellers that are encroaching upon your trademark(s), and brand support means that your inquiries and filings are completed with minimal effort on your (the brand owner’s) end, all while doing service in Amazon’s online marketplace.

To be eligible for these benefits, of course, you need to have a registered trademark (either a standard character mark or a logo with words). But many new owners (and first-time trademark registrants) are surprised to learn that getting a trademark successfully registered can take a substantial amount of time! For example:

  • Canada’s trademark registration process takes an average of thirty months
  • The US’s trademark process takes roughly eight to nine months
  • The Australia’s process takes about six to seven months
  • The EU and UK’s process takes only three to four months
  • The German registration process takes one to three months

So, our first tip of finding the fast-track to Amazon’s Brand Registry is to consider filing in a foreign country (like the UK or EU) to ensure the fastest return on your investment and getting into Amazon Brand Registry.

If you’re a US seller, you’ll still need to file in the US to receive full trademark protection and to have the ability to remove hijackers. But for the purposes of getting into Amazon Brand Registry and A+ content, it benefits you and your business to consider filing in the UK, EU or Germany. 

Amazon Trademark – Amazon brand registry trademark

We at Trademark Angel have come up with a few more ways to speed up the trademark registration process and get you on the Amazon brand registry trademark more quickly:

  1. One of the most common issues with new and prospective trademark owners is foregoing a trademark search, even a basic one, that ensures you’ll be safe from Trademark Office objections (which delay the processing of your trademark!). Doing an Amazon trademark search also reduces the risk of opposition from holders of similar trademarks, which happens more often than new owners realize. We think this step is so vital to getting one’s brand recognized that Trademark Angel offers a free trademark search with no obligation. We also recommend doing some research on your own to see if there already exist any iterations of your proposed trademarks (either online or through social media).
  1. Choose a strong and unique amazon trademark! Resist picking a name that merely describes your products, or their characteristics. A trademark that is merely descriptive may disqualify you from getting onto the Amazon brand registry trademark, and it can even keep you from getting registered at all. If you’re wondering whether your proposed trademark is strong enough, Trademark Angel can help in determining whether your brand is merely descriptive, and more importantly, what to do if this is the case (good news: it’s easily fixable!).
  1. If you file in the US, only include in your trademark application products that you are realistically going to sell within the next year. There is no point in filing for hundreds of products if you have little intention of selling them within the year. Often, trademark registrants who “overfile” their products end up having to delete many of them from their application before it’s accepted, and this guarantees delays in the registration process.
  1. In fact, if you already sell branded products in the US, you may consider including in your application only those products, which means that a Statement of Use won’t be required later on in the registration process (this Statement is required for all prospective products or products that are not yet being sold). Again, this speeds up the time it takes to successfully register.
  1. When filing your trademark application, consider using the pre-approved “pick-list” to find the products that you plan to include in your trademark application (if you don’t know what this is and you’re in the US, look up the TEAS Plus filing method. If you’re in the EU, consider filing for a fast-track application).
  1. The US Trademarks Office (and the Amazon Brand Registry, since October 7, 2020) will require photographs of your products with the trademark clearly shown and/or visible on the products themselves or on the products’ packaging. There is no need to prove use in Germany, the EU and the UK. These photos can’t be photoshopped or digitally altered in any way, as any suspicion that the photos do not reflect the actual product (even something as minor as removing the photos’ background or including explanatory text) can delay or even reject your trademark application. For the Amazon trademark make sure to submit photographs of your product and your packaging. Both should clearly show your trademark exactly as registered. Branding should be done in a permanent manner, meaning that temporary stickers will not be sufficient.
  1. It’s no secret that Amazon likes to see a functioning and active website which showcases your products and brands. However, this is no longer a requirement. We get it: many Amazon sellers are just fine operating through Amazon’s marketplace and have no desire to run or operate their own website(s). However, having a functioning website not only provides more trademark validation that can expedite your entry into the Amazon Brand Registry, it also convinces prospective buyers of your products’ value! Many “on-the-fence” buyers will search for your trademark and/or website before committing to a sale; operating a clean and professional website can secure those buyers’ confidence. This doesn’t necessarily need to be an e-commerce site (although it doesn’t hurt!). But even having a streamlined and simple website that showcases your products can go a long way. It also serves as a source for your business’ contact information!
  1. To speed up your acceptance into the Amazon brand registry trademark, it’s good to have a domain-branded email (i.e. not Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo). Amazon will also look for your brand’s social media presence. Even something as simple as registering an account for your product(s) on Facebook or Instagram will do the trick. But this is a requirement to be accepted into the Amazon Brand Registry.
  1. Make sure that the Amazon Seller account has the same name that is (or will be) on the Trademark Registration certificate. You’ll need to prove that you’re the owner in question of both the Amazon account and the registration certificate on file.
  1. Last but not least, consider filing in the UK or the EU to speed up the process of getting into Amazon Brand Registry. Amazon.com will accept a German, EU or UK trademark. A German, UK or EU trademark is not a substitute to the US trademark, but at least it will get you in the Amazon.com Brand Registry in 1-3 months instead of 8 months (or longer). Also, the registration process is much easier in the European countries since objections based on similarity with another mark will not happen.

As of October 2020, Amazon currently only accept trade marks that have been issued by government trade mark offices in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Australia, India, Japan, Turkey, Singapore, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

We hope that the tips above will expedite your entry into the Amazon Brand Registry trademark 2.0! If you have any questions for us, or you’re still unsure of what might be required for the protection and support of your brand, please don’t hesitate to ask us at Trademark Angel. We’re a team of trademarking and filing experts that are passionate about seeing new brand owners thrive in the online marketplace. And we’ve got the tools necessary to see your brand protected at prices that keep your company’s overhead to a minimum. Talk to us today!

Update (October 23, 2020): Please check New Amazon Brand Registry rules here.

Update (June 2022): Please consider registering a German trademark for quicker access to Amazon Transparency Program (this program applies Transparency codes to your products, the codes are scanned by Amazon to ensure only authentic units are shipped and allows your customers to use the Transparency app to authenticate units).

If you want to read an in-depth article about A+ content and how to use it effectively to increase sales on Amazon, please read: A+ Content in Amazon Brand Registry – Learn How to use it effectively

Amazon Trademark – Amazon brand registry trademark

Steps To Follow When Starting Your Online Business

Posted on by trademarkangel

You’ve grown weary of attending to your 9‑to‑5 job as you do not foresee any prospects of career progression. You are very keen to go it alone by starting your online venture as you have seen many of your colleagues and friends strike gold by following that route. However, you have absolutely no idea on how to get started.

Since the time Internet emerged, online technology has progressed by leaps and bounds (and still continues to), rendering the process of incorporating a web‑based startup, remarkably easy. Nowadays, corporate organizations, as well as big and small brick‑andmortar businesses, need to have an online presence (read website) in order to be viable and competitive. Regardless of whether you want to turn your online venture into your chief source of livelihood or wish to develop the Online Business business as a secondary source of income, you can achieve success if you follow specific steps. 

A typical web‑based online business has some inherent advantages over an offline or physical commercial establishment that makes the former more lucrative than the latter. For instance, your incorporation and overheads costs are lower, you can make do with less staff at least in the initial years, and overseeing the entire setup is more manageable. Abide by the steps outlined below if you are sincere about beginning your online undertaking, increasing its visibility across the web, attracting niche traffic, and raking in the moolah which is what ultimately matters.

1. Company formation and registration with IRS/Canadian Revenue Agency

The entire process of registering and incorporating a new online business has become much easier in the present times. You do not have to fill up endless forms and documents, make endless visits to the respective authorities for submitting the transcripts, pay a small fortune as registration fees, and finally wait for the approval‑these formalities used to be de rigueur in the past. Though you can hire an accountant or solicitor for entrusting them with the formalities of opening an online startup, you can also do the work of the consultant yourself as the rules and regulations are easy to follow.

First of all, you’ll need to decide whether you want to opt for a partnership or sole proprietorship mode or wish to fulfill the obligations of a public or private limited company. Each and every form of business has its own advantages and disadvantages. At the end of the day, it is completely up to you to decide which route you will take depending on your preferences and requirements.                      

Once you are through with the first step, your next task will be to decide upon a company name. Make sure the name is something that has a good recall value. In other words, it should be one that you or anybody else for that matter can easily remember.

Thereafter, you will have to accumulate all the details required for registration including company name, business address, and nature of the online business, share capital details, shareholder(s) details, and company director details. The next step would be to prepare the Memorandum and Articles of Association (a must if the venture is a public limited or private limited company). Thereafter, you’ll have to register your business with the IRS for which you will have to log in to its official site www.irs.gov.

You will receive an online business registration number for the state you are based in. Once you click on the link for your respective state, you’ll be taken to the portal of the state from the IRS site. You get a registration number for your state and if you want you can also a federal EIN (Employer Identification Number).                         

In order to obtain both the numbers, just follow the steps listed below: 

  1. Click on your state’s link
  2. Furnish the relevant information as outlined in the application form for your state
  3. Thereafter, you will be landing at the IRS’s online application page for EIN registration
  4. Give additional info (if required) to apply for your EIN number
  5. Once you receive your EIN, check out of the IRS site
  6. Key in your EIN number in the application form for your state

In case you are a Canadian citizen (naturalized or residency), you’ll have to register your company with the Canadian Revenue Agency. There are four distinct CRA program accounts and you will have to apply to anyone for registering your startup by fulfilling BRO (online business registration) formalities. Once you are through, you’ll receive a business number which will lend a legal sanction to your venture. 

BRO can connect you with the sites of provincial programs for Nova Scotia, Ontario, and British Columbia. Log in at www.canada.ca for taking advantage of the BRO for registering your startup as a: 

  • Proprietor or owner
  • Third party petitioner
  • RepID or GroupID representative
  • Domestic worker, caregiver or babysitter employer 

2. Picking up a domain name and registering it

Once you decide on the commercial segment you wish to enter and are through with the company’s incorporation, your next response would be to register record your online firm’s domain name. Your sites URL (uniform resource locator) is its domain name which is unique as no other site owner can stake claim to the web address once you have registered it. Registering or recording the domain name of your web‑based venture is similar to patenting an offline business‑you become the sole owner of the online platform and enjoy specific intellectual property rights. 

You can apply for a domain from any of the several firms dealing with online domain registration. Many of these firms that are termed as domain name registrars run promotional offers from time to time that let you have a domain or several domains free of cost if and when you opt for a web hosting package. It is also recommended that one should avoid purchasing a domain from the hosting provider. It is better to have the hosting and domain account separated. However, always make sure that the domain or web address is registered under your name and not in the name of the registering company. 

If the domain is not registered under your name, you may not be able to lay claim to it in case you shift to another hosting firm in future. Alternatively, if you are entrusting the creation of your site to a professional web designer and developer, ensure that you buy out the sites domain and the hosting account. Much before you register the domain, you’ll need to select a title or name for the same. 

See to it that the domain name you eventually choose is unique and distinctive or in other words, no other site should have the same name. You can opt for your name if you wish to lend a personal touch to the product or service you would be promoting. However, if you find that somebody else already owns a domain by that name, you can tweak the name a bit by prefixing or suffixing another word, for instance, simongarfunkeltrainer.com in place of simongarfunkel.com 

Your other option, when it comes to choosing an exclusive domain name, is to base it on the purpose that the product or service is going to serve. A domain name that mirrors your online business niche will go a long way in attracting the customer segment you are targeting.

3. Website hosting

Once your web‑based startups’ domain name has been registered, you will have to book space on the servers of the hosting firm in order to host your e‑commerce site. Though many individuals register the domain with one firm and books server space with another, you are better off entrusting the tasks to one company. That way, you’ll be able to keep a leash on your overall costs as many firms offer free domain names when you subscribe to their web hosting packages. 

Before you select a hosting firm, check out the background of at least 4‑5 such companies. Also, compare and contrast the different hosting features they are offering like uptime scalability percentage, disk storage capacity, drag and drop site builder, subscription periods, optimization for email, and so on. Alternatively, find out if the firms are providing SSL security, e‑commerce and online marketing tools, feedback forms, and most importantly, round‑the‑clock customer support. 

There are many well‑established companies that provide a high quality of service with respect to website hosting like GoDaddy.com, Bluehost.com, JustHost.com, iPage.com, and WebHostingHub.com. Cloud servers or hosting has recently been popular for their security and ease of use. So exploring the hosting services provided by Linode or Cloudflare can be one of those options. Cloudflare also offers a free SSL certificate with each hosting account. 

4. Filing Your Trademark

Applying for a trademark should be your next step. Registering the brand’s trademark is essential not only because you invested so much time, effort, and resources to conceive a distinctive name, logo, and slogans but also to protect it from infringement by competitors.

If most of your business is done in the US, then protect your brand name in the US by registering your trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). 

If most of your customers are in Canada, start with registering your trademark in Canada. 

You can file your trademark yourself or ask for help. Hiring a trademark professional will help you to increase the chances of successfully registering your trademark while minimizing the stress. 

Remember: trademark registration is the cheapest form of protection you can get for your brand. 

5. Check to make sure you are not infringing on anyone’s intellectual property rights

If you are about to sell products, make sure that you are not infringing on anyone’s patent rights. Likewise, for literary, musical and artistic works, it’s useful to make sure that there is no copyright infringement.  If you are the creator, then you will own copyright, however, if not, make sure you have rights to sell these products.   With a name you give to your products, check to make sure you are not infringing on anyone’s trademark.

Very often people overlook intellectual property aspect of opening a business, which can cost them dearly.

6. Website design and development 

After your website has been hosted, your next response would be to design and develop the online business website that will be the firm’s online face. You can either build the portal yourself or outsource the project to a webmaster. In case you take the DIY route, you can take advantage of the multiple design and development tools (that are provided by numerous hosting companies free of cost) for creating your portal. 

There are many open‑sourced website building and blogging CMS platforms including but not limited to WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Magento that you can employ as well. WordPress is by far, the most popular CMS platform as it is not only remarkably easy to set up but also offers near unlimited templates that are compatible with customization as per your preference. You can also employ Adobes Dreamweaver for website creation but then you will have to be mentally prepared to devote the time necessary for mastering this tool which might take months. 

However, outsourcing the website design and development project to a professional design company or webmaster will ensure that you have an advanced as well as the user‑friendly portal. With so many design companies competing with each other for clients, you can get the job done without having to spend a ton. And if you can get your site designed and developed by a learner, a college student, for instance, you may have to pay even less.

While you get your site developed, bear in mind that both the visual and textual content of the portal equally matter. Also take note that if you entrust the project to a designer, you automatically own the sites hosting account as well as its domain name. Also before launching a website, it is a good idea to know where exactly its files are located. For easier management and understanding, WordPress is the best platform to build your site on. It is pretty easy to manage and make changes. Hence, it will be a lot easier for you to make new blog posts, change prices, add photos or changing sections without even asking a developer to take care of those. 

7. Promoting your site via online advertising and by hiring freelancer

Following the hosting of your online business website on the net, your main thrust obviously will be to amplify its visibility across all online platforms, including the automated social networking sites. Formulating an SEO strategy would be indispensable if you want to divert a high volume of traffic to your site. Search engine optimization would imply creating original textual content that elucidates the nature of your business and should be punctuated with relevant keywords that will be preferred by search engines crawler bots. 

SEO would also require you to take care of lots of other aspects including but not limited to uploading fresh blogs, PRs, guest blogs, creating profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, podcasting, advertising on Google, Bing, and Yahoo. A robust SEO plan will be instrumental in popularizing your site in a short period of time since it will be wishful thinking to expect users to log in to your site within a few days of its hosting. 

The focus should be on content marketing with the ultimate objective of publicizing the portal on social media. As you may not be in a position to invest in Google PPC of Facebook advertisements initially, you can hire freelance content writers. Another good strategy is to get popular bloggers write positive reviews in exchange for a free product or tickets to a movie. There are lots of online platforms where you can hire great freelancers at a fraction of the cost.

Online Business Conclusion: 

Once your Online Business business portal is up and running i.e. it has been hosted, there are several steps you can take to amply its footprints in the online realm. For instance, you can titillate users with a white paper imprinted with rebate coupon codes, freebies on purchasing a specific value of products, and so on. You can keep track of your site’s performance and growth by using analyzing tools like Google Analytics which is available for free. 

To say the last but not the least, you’ll have to give due consideration to aspects of taxation, accounting, legal matters, and banking.

Are you an Amazon seller? It’s time to register your trademark!

Posted on by trademarkangel

Amazon Brand Registry & Cost – Trademark Registration for Amazon

Amazon Brand Registry program requirements were released in May 2017, meaning you need to register your trademark to have full control over your products and services!

Wait, what exactly is Amazon’s Brand Registry program?

Amazon’s Brand Registry program is described (according to Amazon) in the picture below:

“Amazon Brand Registry 2 helps you protect your registered trademarks on Amazon and create an accurate and trusted experience for customers. Your enrollment in the Amazon Brand Registry provides access to powerful tools including proprietary text and image search, predictive automation based on your reports of suspected intellectual property rights violations, and increased authority over product listings with your brand name.” (Amazon.com Registration Page)

In other words, the program is designed to make managing your brand easier. This includes important tools like A) retaining control over product titles, images, and descriptions, B) reducing matching errors with similar companies that can occur when items are listed, C) effectively listing products and/or services with high volumes, and D) flagging and removing counterfeit (or copycat) items within the Brand Registry amazon that decrease the visibility of your own products and services.

So, what does Amazon Brand Registry program have to do with registering my trademark?

The program only allows brands that already own a registered trademark. Please note that you need to have a “standard character” trademark, so registering a logo will not allow you to enroll in the Brand Registry 2.

Trademark for Amazon brand registry and cost:

This is the notice that you’ll get if you submit an unregistered trademark:

Is it really that important to sign up for Amazon’s Brand Registry program?

You know your business needs the best, but the following benefits ensure that your products and services remain competitive in the Internet marketplace. (And these benefits require a registered trademark!)

For manufacturers: your brand becomes fully integrated into the Amazon standard. This also benefits you if you are a distributor of hand-made products because it allows for the creation of product IDs (which keep your products organized and easy to find) in a cost-effective and standardized way.

For private-label and white-label sellers: If you distribute your products exclusively through Amazon, the Brand Registry program gives you the inventory tools needed to run a professional, high-volume business from an online storefront. It also allows you to customize the product IDs of your goods and services.

Amazon brand registration

So, if I want to sign up for the Amazon Brand Registry program…what should I do?

In addition to successfully registering a trademark, you’ll want to provide the following:

  • Image: a clear, professional image of your goods and/or products, with the trademark visible
  • Website: the link to an active website that shows evidence (photographs and/or videos) of your products and/or services
  • Key attribute: An attribute that makes your products and services distinct; it often comes in the form of a catalog number, a model number or a manufacturer part number

Is there a fee to join Amazon’s Brand Registry program?

There is no fee for applying and being accepted into the Amazon Brand Registry. However, you can only apply if you have a paid professional account.

In short, registering your trademark allows access to Amazon’s extensive Brand Registry program, which includes the necessities for a thriving business to grow in the competitive e-marketplace:

  • Protects your registered trademarks
  • Further legitimizes your business to consumers and clients
  • Provides access to new Amazon tools that keep your business visible
  • Supports predictive automation based on reports of suspected IP rights violations
  • Allows for proprietary text and image search
  • Increases your control over all listed products with your brand name

What does Trademark Angel have to do with Amazon’s Brand Registry program?

Trademark Angel is here to make the first step (registering your trademark) an easy one! That way, your business can enjoy the full benefits of Amazon’s services without the hassle of a traditional, expensive trademarking process.

Trademark Angel offers the following benefits related to Amazon brand registry trademark to all growing businesses that want to stand out in the hectic, and always competitive, online marketplace:

  •  A professionally registered trademark, guided by experts in trademark services
  • Competitive and flat fees, compared to the hidden fees and rising costs of other trademarking services
  • A completely free no-obligation trademark search to determine if your trademark is available for registration

Please don’t hesitate to contact Trademark Angel to get this process started! The sooner you begin, the closer you’ll be to a thriving e-business capable of taking on the world.

Get Full Control Over Your Brand on Amazon with Easy Trademark Registration

If you are serious about growing your business online, joining the brand registry on Amazon is a must. Having a registered trademark gives you complete control over your product listings, helps you fight copycats, and lets you create a trusted shopping experience for your customers. Without it, you risk losing sales and seeing your products mixed up with others.

Trademark registration for Amazon is no longer just a formality. It is a smart step to protect your brand’s future. With a registered trademark, you can access powerful tools like image search, predictive protection against fake listings, and full authority over your brand content.

At Trademark Angel, we make getting your trademark for the Amazon brand registry affordable and straightforward. Our team helps you from start to finish, so you do not have to worry about long forms or confusing rules. We even offer a free trademark search to check if your brand name is ready for registration.

Do not wait for problems to come your way. Get your trademark today and enjoy Amazon’s benefits for strong brands. A small step now can save you from big problems later.

Amazon brand registry cost