Amazon: How to Remain Exclusive on a Product

[niftyg]

Having an exclusive product on Amazon has caused me trouble since day one. You can slap your own brand name on it, you can have killer marketing copy, but somebody can always slip in there and hijack your product with a lower price.

It has made me think, what are some tips that can keep your product, YOUR product.

• Trademark your brand name in your product: This will give you some legal right-of-way and may even scare competition off in the first place from even trying to list under your product.
• Have strong branding associated with your product: website, the works.
• Custom engraving and packaging on the product. Make sure to have these in your photos. If somebody doesn't receive what was described, they may write a bad review of that seller.
• See if factory offers different colour as to what is the norm for low or no fee.
• Make it different: See if your factory has anything interesting of value kicking around that they can throw in the box for cheap. Nobody else can sell and get proper reviews without that 'free gift'.

I don't know how proven these are to work, but it is such a nasty problem that something has to be done before it even happens.

Hope some of these tips help, and if anybody has any others, FEEL FREE TO ADD!

 

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[Vigilante]

Great post. Additional measures :

1. Become the BRAND REGISTRY holder with Amazon. That gives you the ability to work with Amazon to knock out any infringers.

2. Religiously defend your brand across the entire internet. That includes stopping anyone from listing your products anywhere you haven't authorized them to list them. The best easiest weapon for brand defense is a CEASE AND DESIST letter.

3. Create your own products, using your own tooling. If you own the mold, you control the item. It doesn't stop knockoffs from being made in Asia, but imitations usually are not created on low cost items, and usually are not created on higher ticket items unless the item is a top performer.

4. Use copyright statements and trademark indicators on every online listing. Keep in mind you don't have to have anything filed with the USPTO in order for rudimentary trademark and copyright protection.

Your post was a good starting point. It all comes down to being diligent about protecting your intellectual assets, and that starts from the very first day you come to market under your own brand.

Speed+

 

[ddall]

Great post. Additional measures :

1. Become the BRAND REGISTRY holder with Amazon. That gives you the ability to work with Amazon to knock out any infringers.

2. Religiously defend your brand across the entire internet. That includes stopping anyone from listing your products anywhere you haven't authorized them to list them. The best easiest weapon for brand defense is a CEASE AND DESIST letter.

3. Create your own products, using your own tooling. If you own the mold, you control the item. It doesn't stop knockoffs from being made in Asia, but imitations usually are not created on low cost items, and usually are not created on higher ticket items unless the item is a top performer.

4. Use copyright statements and trademark indicators on every online listing. Keep in mind you don't have to have anything filed with the USPTO in order for rudimentary trademark and copyright protection.

Your post was a good starting point. It all comes down to being diligent about protecting your intellectual assets, and that starts from the very first day you come to market under your own brand.

Speed+

Wow, fantastic post both of you, what nuggets.

I'm still in the infancy of my process but I would possibly also suggest, should your margins support it: Go to the factory, visit the plant managers etc, develop a strong relationship built on trust (this probably works better when you have significant purchasing power) .

@Vigilante I recall a post somewhere elaborating on #4, if I recall correctly you simply input the special characters representitive of trademarked or registered next to your brand name and you are somewhat protected?

Do you include these in your product title or description? (those precious few characters needed for copywriting)

@niftyg
How branded was/is your product (physically, label only or just in name?) how closely was your product copied?

 

[niftyg]

@ddall

They simply listed under my item, and undercut me. My packaging was different, my brand includes a 1 year warranty, my instructions were different AND I had a brand name attached.

This did not stop them. Amazon wouldn't stop them, and they wouldn't listen.

Lessons learned.

 

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[throttleforward]

3. Create your own products, using your own tooling. If you own the mold, you control the item.

I believe @Vick added additional knock-off protection for his glasses by ensuring his logo was a part of the mold itself. You might consider going that route.

 

[Vick]

All this stuff is great. But still with all this protection nothing is ever really safe. Even massive companies like Oakley have ripoffs. Its good to do all that safe stuff. But I think the best defense IMO is if someone copies your shit. Just make something better, by either iterating on your design or just making something flat out new. Which you'll need to do anyway to stay successful. Always be ahead of them. And you'll always be looked on as a valuable company and not just some knock off garbage salesmen. That's my path for my company. I'm not wasting valuable income on fighting battles. When I can easily kick there asses by making something better.

 

[Red]

Lessons learned.

I wish more people on this forum had this mentality. So many rant & rave on what "others" did to them, to their business, to their income, when they really need to just shut the F*ck up, take ownership & improve processes.

Does it suck to have your product ripped off & your profits undercut? You bet. Absolutely. You have every right to be upset by this.

But it forces you to either give up or be better. It sounds like you're making the right choice here. In 5 years, you'll want to track down those guys & send them a goddamned fruit basket & thank you note, because without them, you wouldn't be where you are. They're doing you a favor.

 

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[niftyg]

@Vigilante or anybody else with brand registry experience.. I have a question

Is having a trademark on an imported product a make or break factor, or is a logo, website, Facebook, custom packaging enough?

I can't seem to find any concrete answers!

 

[Vigilante]

@Vigilante or anybody else with brand registry experience.. I have a question

Is having a trademark on an imported product a make or break factor, or is a logo, website, Facebook, custom packaging enough?

I can't seem to find any concrete answers!

The brand registry is BRAND specific, not sku/item/product specific.

If I owned NIKE(r), I could register as the brand holder for the brand NIKE(r).

If you own your brand name, you can apply to be the brand registry holder for the brand that you own. Even if you sell zero products on Amazon, you could still register as the brand registry holder. It puts you in position to work with Amazon on any unauthorized use of your brand name on Amazon.

 

[Walter Hay]

Wow, fantastic post both of you, what nuggets.

I'm still in the infancy of my process but I would possibly also suggest, should your margins support it: Go to the factory, visit the plant managers etc, develop a strong relationship built on trust (this probably works better when you have significant purchasing power) .

@Vigilante I recall a post somewhere elaborating on #4, if I recall correctly you simply input the special characters representitive of trademarked or registered next to your brand name and you are somewhat protected?

Do you include these in your product title or description? (those precious few characters needed for copywriting)

@niftyg
How branded was/is your product (physically, label only or just in name?) how closely was your product copied?

Regarding that point #4 in Vigilante's post, the rudimentary protection he refers to to is simply claiming ownership of a trade mark or copyright.

You can do this by putting the ™ or © symbols wherever your brand appears. For copyright, which can include designs, not only text, you should add a written claim and the year.

This informal claiming of brand or copyright ownership provides limited protection that you can legally defend, but even formally registered marks only protect you if you are willing to expend a lot of time and money to defend your ownership. Red's comment in this regard was a good one. Better to move on.

Don't use the ® symbol. It is illegal to do so unless you have formally registered.

 

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[niftyg]

Regarding that point #4 in Vigilante's post, the rudimentary protection he refers to to is simply claiming ownership of a trade mark or copyright.

You can do this by putting the ™ or © symbols wherever your brand appears. For copyright, which can include designs, not only text, you should add a written claim and the year.

This informal claiming of brand or copyright ownership provides limited protection that you can legally defend, but even formally registered marks only protect you if you are willing to expend a lot of time and money to defend your ownership. Red's comment in this regard was a good one. Better to move on.

Don't use the ® symbol. It is illegal to do so unless you have formally registered.

My entire point of the post is do I need a real trademark to get approved for Amazon's program, sorry if I was unclear

 

[MJJ6]

So has anybody figured out how to get Amazon to enforce their brand registry, I've had terrible luck with the enforcing a product I brand registered with them.

 

[Unknown]

So has anybody figured out how to get Amazon to enforce their brand registry, I've had terrible luck with the enforcing a product I brand registered with them.

I think it's rather difficult, but Trademark/Copyright would be your best bet.

 

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[MJJ6]

I think it's rather difficult, but Trademark/Copyright would be your best bet.

Hasn't worked, have a Amazon Brand registry, have a trademark and Amazon still does not take the hijacker off my site.

Hoping somebody was able to get Amazon to enforce THEIR OWN policies and tell me how they did it.

 

[benhebert]

Don't use the ® symbol. It is illegal to do so unless you have formally registered.

This x 100000000000.

If you use the registered sign without actually owning the registered mark, the examining attorney will deny you should you go to file one day.

 

[MJJ6]

My entire point of the post is do I need a real trademark to get approved for Amazon's program, sorry if I was unclear

You do not need a trademark to start selling on Amazon, but when you design your brand you still want to protect it. I'd register for Amazon Brand registry which can be done cheaply with a upc code after you start your listing. If you product starts selling, I would then trademark it.

I'm asking because my product is trademarked and Amazon brand registered, but it is like pulling teeth to get Amazon honor their own brand registry.

 

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[TJPB]

Part of the E in CENTS is to bullet proof not only your brand, but your product as well. If your product is something that anyone can buy from China and slap their brand on, you're in trouble. However, if your brand is trademarked, and your product extremely difficult to reproduce (Entry), maintaining exclusivity is much easier.

Amazon is a huge target for copycats.

 

[MJJ6]

Don't disagree, if you can add something to your product, it makes it harder to copy.

But that is not what I have asked here!

I asked, "Has anyone got Amazon to enforce their Amazon BRAND registry?" Because filing for Amazon Brand Registry it a paperwork exercise if they will not enforce THEIR OWN Registry.

So again, Has anyone been able to get Amazon to enforce AMAZON Brand Registry?

 

[biophase]

I usually email the seller and tell them that they are not authorized to sell that brand. They usually delete their listing right away.

So what you are saying is that some one is selling knock offs of your product on Amazon. Is this what you are telling Amazon?

 

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[MJJ6]

Correct I have private label goods and 90% of the time, when I send a note they are not authorized the seller will go away, but 10% will hang on especially overseas sellers, I even had one seller cancel my orders so I could not take pictures to send to Amazon to prove it was not my product. But Amazon Brand Registry just recently replied and said basically all Brand Registry does is give you control of your listing and can not keep others off your listing. Amazon did say if you are sending a policy violation of the listing about another seller not selling the correct product, do not list "trademark or copyright violation" because that goes into a long drawn out process.

 

[CommonCents]

Do you have an advantage on many more positive feedback on your product? Customer service? Consumer trust? I value that as a consumer even if a similar product is a bit cheaper. I'd think consumers value trust, as many have been ripped off by overseas fly by nights a time or two by now.

 

[niftyg]

My current product hasn't been ripped off yet but I know it's not a matter of if but when. My next steps are an actual trademark and to have my own tool, of course.

Non-Authorized emails did not scare the seller off that was selling under my listing on the previous item. Surprisingly I talked to the factory and they hassled them about it, enough to go away.

 

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[Vigilante]

We use a cease and desist, sent through Amazon, to infringers. email to live(at)myb(dot)media if you want a copy, and they will send you one for free

 

[sparechange]

Great post. Additional measures :

1. Become the BRAND REGISTRY holder with Amazon. That gives you the ability to work with Amazon to knock out any infringers.

2. Religiously defend your brand across the entire internet. That includes stopping anyone from listing your products anywhere you haven't authorized them to list them. The best easiest weapon for brand defense is a CEASE AND DESIST letter.

3. Create your own products, using your own tooling. If you own the mold, you control the item. It doesn't stop knockoffs from being made in Asia, but imitations usually are not created on low cost items, and usually are not created on higher ticket items unless the item is a top performer.

4. Use copyright statements and trademark indicators on every online listing. Keep in mind you don't have to have anything filed with the USPTO in order for rudimentary trademark and copyright protection.

Your post was a good starting point. It all comes down to being diligent about protecting your intellectual assets, and that starts from the very first day you come to market under your own brand.

Speed+

thanks so much for this post, im about to get some of my own products made and am a bit worried about this,

 

[sparechange]

how about dealing with an alibaba supplier? im considering have them help me create/invent a product of my own.

are they able to take my product and resell it to others or is it possible to have them sell exclusive to me?

afaik china is the wild west in terms of laws/regulations with lots of corruption

 

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