Establishing a trademark is a valuable tool in today’s business world as trademarks inform the world about the source of your products. When you establish yourself as a seller of high-quality products, your trademark develops a positive reputation, as consumers will look favorably upon your goods. Trademark infringement occurs when someone takes a clear symbol, such as the Nike swoosh, and places it on products, with an implicit claim of ownership.
Trademark infringement, however, can have devastating effects on the success of your business on Amazon. Your good reputation can be destroyed if another company uses your trademark, which is essentially what trademark infringement is at its simplest.
Signs that Trademark Infringement Has Occurred
If you are concerned about trademark infringement, one thing that you can do is to always have good communication with your supplier. Have regular conversations with the company that is producing your products and let them know that you are concerned about infringement. However, you should also watch out for the following signs on your Amazon account that infringement has occurred.
Drop in Buy Box Percentage
Keep an eye on performance metrics as these are a solid sign of violations. The first sign is that you will see that your Buy Box is no longer available, another unauthorized seller has offered your product at an artificially low price. By presenting a product that is virtually identical to yours, the infringer steals your customer base and impacts your brand’s functionality.
Negative Reviews
Bad product reviews that suddenly appear are a clear warning sign that someone has embarked on trademark infringement. When customers begin to complain about the quality of your products, there is a good chance that someone is trying to undermine your trademark. When someone uses your trademark to promote goods of lesser quality, the practice can tarnish your reputation.
Reporting Trademark Infringement
Amazon provides specific channels on which sellers can report potential trademark infringement. However, you must be an intellectual copyrights owner to benefit from this service. If you are, Amazon can offer a number of benefits that include reporting violations through an appropriate form to indicate violations and inappropriate listings.
Retailers have to acknowledge that violations have occurred, and this can prove difficult due to Amazon’s rules. Trademark violations can occur in several ways, which include:
• Minimum Advertising Price (MAP) violations where unauthorized one-off resellers do not agree to a minimum price at which Amazon sellers are required to sell
• Comingling products which don’t qualify for that designation, such as CDs, VHS, DVDs, video games, or software that do not qualify for that designation
Even if you scrupulously monitor trademark violations on you own and report them to Amazon, such efforts may not be enough. That’s where Brandlox can help. Our proprietary software not only monitors when and where trademark infringement occurs but also takes steps to make sure that such activity stops. Our loss prevention and security system works around the clock to ensure that your brand is protected on Amazon on a number of different levels.
Once an unauthorized seller has been identified through Brandlox, our software will walk you through all the necessary steps to file an infringement report with Amazon. In many instances, this will be all you need to stop such illegal activity from repeating itself but, at times, you will need to go a step further with an attorney crafted Cease and Desist Letter to remove unauthorized sellers from your brand’s product ASINs. Protect your products and your brands today by contacting Brandlox to get started on protecting your Amazon marketplace.
