Amazon Brand Registry is the closest thing a fashion label has to a set of keys for its own shelf on Amazon. Without it, anyone can attach themselves to your listings, rewrite your product pages and sell lookalikes under your name, and your only tool is a slow complaint form. With it, you get a dedicated reporting system, more control over listing content and, if you keep your reports accurate, the right to pull counterfeit listings down yourself. What Brand Registry does not do is replace a trademark, act as your lawyer or guarantee that a fake will never appear. This guide sets out what Amazon actually requires in 2026, which trademark offices and statuses it accepts, and how a takedown moves from your report to a removed listing.
Short answer: Amazon Brand Registry is free. To enrol, you need an active registered trademark or a pending application from a government office in a country with an Amazon store, your brand name or logo permanently on products or packaging, and you must be the trademark owner. Takedowns run through the Report a Violation tool; self-service removal through Project Zero needs a registered mark and a strong reporting record.
Key takeaways
- Brand Registry costs nothing to join, but you need a trademark first, either registered or pending, and the text must match your brand name exactly.
- Amazon accepts both word marks and design marks containing words, letters or numbers, and it publishes accepted statuses for each trademark office.
- Infringement reports go through Report a Violation; Project Zero lets brands remove listings directly, but only with a registered mark and an acceptance rate of at least 90 per cent.
- Brand Registry sits on top of the law, not instead of it. Court cases such as Louboutin v Amazon and rules such as the EU Digital Services Act still shape what platforms must do.
What is Amazon Brand Registry?
Brand Registry is Amazon’s programme for brand owners, as opposed to resellers. It is free, and once you are in, Amazon links your trademark to your account so that the platform treats you as the rights owner for that brand. According to Amazon’s Brand Registry page, the protection side includes Report a Violation for infringement and policy complaints, Project Zero for removing counterfeits, Transparency serial codes for authenticating units, and a neutral patent evaluation process for US utility patents. Amazon also describes “automated protections” that use machine learning to stop suspect listings before they go live.
There is a commercial side too. Registered brands get A+ Content, Brand Stores, Sponsored Brands advertising and Brand Analytics. For a fashion label those extras matter, because a strong product page and a branded storefront make it harder for a copycat to pass as the real thing. But the legal value of Brand Registry comes from one thing: it ties your trademark rights to a system Amazon has promised to act on.
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What are the Amazon Brand Registry requirements?
Amazon’s own requirements page lists what you need before you apply:
- A trademark. Your brand must have an active registered trademark or a pending application. Amazon accepts a text-based word mark, or an image-based design mark that includes words, letters or numbers. A pure symbol with no text will not do.
- The right office. The mark must come from a government trademark office in a country that has a corresponding Amazon store.
- Ownership. The applicant must be the trademark owner. An agent or licensee should have the owner enrol and then be added as a user.
- An exact match. The brand name you enter must match the trademark record exactly, and you need the registration or application number in the format the office uses. For a design mark, you upload the image as it appears on the record, not the whole certificate.
- Branding on the goods. You need a photo of the product or packaging showing the brand name permanently affixed. A removable sticker or a printed swing tag is risky for this reason.
- Product categories and, where relevant, your website and manufacturing and distribution details.
The exact match rule trips up more fashion brands than any other. If your mark is registered as a stylised logo but you sell under the plain word, or the record spells the name differently from your listings, expect questions. It is one reason FLJ recommends filing the name and the logo separately, as explained in word mark vs logo mark.
Which trademark offices and statuses does Amazon accept?
Amazon publishes accepted statuses office by office on its Global Selling brand protection page. The table below covers the US, UK and EU offices most relevant to FLJ readers. Amazon’s list also includes offices in Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan. Its general rule is that the office must be in a country with an Amazon store, so check the live list inside Brand Registry before you rely on a particular office.
| Office | Accepted as registered | Accepted as pending |
|---|---|---|
| USPTO (United States) | Live registration, issued and active | Live application awaiting or under examination, published for opposition, opposition pending, or appeal of refusal pending |
| EUIPO (European Union) | Registered; registration cancellation pending; international registration accepted | Application filed, awaiting or under examination, published, opposed, appeal of refusal pending, or registration pending |
| UKIPO (United Kingdom) | Registered; protected (for WIPO international marks) | Application received, examination, pre-publication, published, or opposed |
Two practical points follow. First, an international registration under the Madrid system works once the designated office has accepted or protected it, which is why the EU and UK lists include those statuses. Second, a pending application gets you in the door, but it is a weaker position. An application can still be opposed or refused, and some tools, Project Zero among them, require a registered mark. If you have not filed yet, start with a clearance search; our guide on how to run a USPTO trademark search walks through it, and how to trademark a clothing brand covers the filing itself.
How do you enrol your brand?
- Sign in to Brand Registry with your Seller Central login, or create an account.
- Enter the brand name exactly as it appears on the trademark record, then select the office and enter the registration or application number. If you applied through Amazon’s IP Accelerator, choose the pending option and give the application number.
- Upload the logo image if your mark is a design mark, plus photos showing the brand permanently on the product or packaging.
- List your product categories and, if asked, manufacturing and distribution details.
- Watch for Amazon’s confirmation email. Amazon says the confirmation must be completed within seven days, or the application is declined and you have to start again.
A single Brand Registry account covers several countries, but you can select only one country’s office at enrolment and add other marks after approval. Amazon says approval can take several weeks with a registered mark and longer when the mark is still pending.
How do takedowns work through Report a Violation?
Once enrolled, you report problems through Report a Violation, which Amazon describes as a single guided tool for intellectual property infringement, store policy breaches and regulatory concerns. You search for the listings, pick the right type of complaint, attach your rights, and submit. A Submission History tab shows the status of each report as Amazon reviews it.
The type of complaint matters. A trademark report fits a listing that uses your brand name or logo without permission. A copyright report fits stolen product photos or copied prints. A counterfeit report is for goods that pretend to be yours. What Report a Violation will not fix is a legal lookalike: a product that copies your aesthetic but carries no mark of yours is a dupe, not a fake, and Amazon will usually leave it alone. FLJ explains where that line sits in dupes vs counterfeits.
Accuracy is not just good manners. Rejected reports pull down your acceptance rate, and that rate decides whether you can graduate to self-service removal. Over-reporting resellers of genuine goods is also a bad idea, because reselling genuine goods that were first sold in that market with the owner’s consent is generally not trademark infringement in the US, UK or EU.
What is Project Zero and who qualifies?
Project Zero lets a brand remove counterfeit listings itself, immediately, without waiting for Amazon to review each report. Amazon’s seller forum sets out two conditions: a Brand Registry account with a registered trademark and a Rights Owner role, and reports through Report a Violation with an acceptance rate of at least 90 per cent over the previous six months. Meeting them does not guarantee entry; Amazon decides at its discretion.
Transparency is the companion tool. The brand puts a unique serial code on each unit, which Amazon uses to authenticate items and stop counterfeits reaching customers. Amazon’s 2025 Trustworthy Shopping Experience Report, published in April 2026, says more than 90,000 brands have enrolled in Transparency since 2017 and more than 2.7 billion units have been verified as genuine.
How effective is Amazon’s brand protection?
On Amazon’s own figures, quite effective. The same report says Amazon identified, seized and disposed of more than 15 million counterfeit products worldwide in 2025, that its proactive controls blocked more than 99.9 per cent of suspected infringing listings before a brand reported them, and that its Counterfeit Crimes Unit has pursued more than 32,000 bad actors through litigation and criminal referrals since 2020. The 2024 report added that brands submitted about 35 per cent fewer valid notices than in 2020. These are company statistics, not audited ones, so treat them as Amazon’s account of its own work.
Amazon also sues alongside brands. In June 2020 it filed a joint lawsuit with Valentino in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington against a New York company it said sold counterfeit Garavani Rockstud shoes, as Retail Dive reported. Shoppers who receive a fake have their own routes, which we cover in counterfeits on Amazon: your refund rights.
What does the law say about Amazon’s liability for fakes?
Brand Registry is voluntary. The legal backdrop is what gives it teeth.
- United States. In Tiffany (NJ) Inc. v. eBay Inc. (2d Cir. 2010), the court held that general knowledge that counterfeits are sold on a platform is not enough for contributory trademark liability; the platform must know of specific infringing listings and fail to act. That is why prompt, specific notices matter. Separately, the INFORM Consumers Act, in force since 27 June 2023, requires marketplaces to collect and verify identity details from high-volume third-party sellers, broadly those with 200 or more sales and $5,000 or more in revenue over a 12-month period.
- European Union. In Louboutin v Amazon (C-148/21 and C-184/21), decided on 22 December 2022, the Court of Justice held that a marketplace operator can itself be treated as using a sign in third-party ads if a well-informed user would see a link between the operator’s services and that sign, for example because Amazon presents its own and third-party offers in the same way. The Digital Services Act adds notice-and-action duties, priority for trusted flaggers and checks on traders, and has applied to all platforms since 17 February 2024.
- United Kingdom. The Digital Services Act does not apply after Brexit, so brands rely on the Trade Marks Act 1994, the courts and the platform’s own tools.
FLJ looks at platform liability in more depth in can an e-commerce website be directly liable for counterfeits sold by its sellers.
Is Amazon Brand Registry worth it for a small fashion label?
If you sell on Amazon, or your products end up there through stockists, yes. The programme is free, and the cost that matters is the trademark you need anyway. Amazon says its IP Accelerator has helped more than 33,000 brands from 35 countries obtain trademark protection by connecting them with vetted law firms, and filing through it gets you early access while the application is pending. The honest limits are that Brand Registry only protects what your trademark covers, it does not stop legal dupes, and it does nothing off Amazon. Pair it with a clear trademark plan and you will spend less time chasing fakes and more time selling.
Frequently asked questions
Does Amazon Brand Registry cost anything?
No. Enrolment is free. The real cost is the trademark application or registration you need first, plus any paid tools you choose later, such as advertising or Transparency codes.
Can I join Amazon Brand Registry with a pending trademark?
Yes. Amazon accepts pending applications from approved offices, including the USPTO, EUIPO and UKIPO, at the statuses it lists. A pending mark can still be refused or opposed, and Project Zero requires a registered mark.
Can I use a logo trademark instead of a word mark?
Yes, if the design mark contains words, letters or numbers and the brand name you enter matches the record. A purely pictorial logo with no text does not qualify on its own.
How long does Brand Registry approval take?
Amazon gives no fixed timeline. It says approval can take several weeks with a registered mark and longer with a pending one. The confirmation step must be completed within seven days of Amazon’s email.
Can Brand Registry remove dupes of my designs?
Usually not. Brand Registry enforces rights you hold, such as trademarks, copyright and patents. A product that copies a look without using your mark or a protected design is generally lawful, so a report against it is likely to be rejected.
What is the difference between Brand Registry and Project Zero?
Brand Registry lets you report infringements for Amazon to review. Project Zero lets eligible brands remove counterfeit listings themselves. It needs a registered trademark and an acceptance rate of at least 90 per cent over six months.
This article is general information about Amazon Brand Registry and trademark law in the US, UK and EU as of October 2026. It is not legal advice. Amazon changes its programme rules from time to time, so check the current requirements in Brand Registry before you apply.
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