The Amazon Brand Registry program is Amazon's official program where brand owners can get a variety of benefits, including protecting their brand from unscrupulous competitors and all sorts of functional goodies to catalyze sales.

Everyone already knows that the first thing to do in order to apply for BR is to apply for registration of trademark in the country where the marketplace is entered. The most popular countries for filing at the moment are the USA, Great Britain, Germany, China. 

In the United States, any practicing lawyer who is licensed in any of the US states can apply for trademark, however, not all lawyers in the topic of trademark work with Amazon and can conscientiously apply for trademark without knowing the nuances of BR. We recommend that you be on the alert and keep in mind the following pitfalls.

An application for registration of trademark is filed with the USPTO - the United States Patent and Trademark Office. 

Brand Registry will not accept an application for TM:

- if an application for a design mark is filed or registered, without the inclusion of verbal elements;

- if the verbal elements of the mark in the application/registration do not coincide with the brand name on the listing;

- if the LITERAL ELEMENT, that is, the verbal element of the mark, was not spelled out when submitting the application; Amazon's algorithm works in such a way that it seeks confirmation of the submitted application for this particular element. Even if the application is submitted correctly, but this element does not match, then BR will not confirm it. Here you can fix it by submitting a Voluntary amendment, but it can take up to a month for it to be reflected in the database.

- if there were spaces in the sign, and the listing name was without spaces or vice versa;

For example, TM PURE MAGIC PILL and listing PUREMAGICPILL

- if the application is submitted only in relation to services, for example, only for an online store in class 35;

- it is necessary to avoid the submission of descriptive signs that describe the type, quality, size, composition and other functions of the goods that are stated in the application; such marks can be recognized as descriptive and the only way to get registration in case of refusal will be to transfer from the Principal Register to the Supplemental Register, the registration will be saved, but the Brand Registry will not help because it throws out applications that ended up in this register.

- BR will not accept withdrawn applications or cancelled registrations;

- if the application has been withdrawn or the registration is canceled, then the Brand Registry is also canceled automatically after 2 months;

- if the Trademark Registration Office has been incorrectly indicated;

- errors made in the application number or registration number;

- if real photos of goods were not uploaded during the registration of the Brand Registry/the goods do not coincide with the application or registration/there is no submitted or registered logo on the goods or the logo does not match the logo in the registration.

- the application contains a group of goods that will be the subject of listing. Declaring left-wing goods is an unfair practice - you can be accused of fraud, and at the same time, your lawyer and all applications filed under his name will be blacklisted by Amazon

These are the main reasons for Brand Registry enrollment failure that sellers may encounter. 

If you have come across another interesting case, be sure to share it in the comments. The experience of the community is the power. 

Make sure your lawyer is up-to-date and has experience with Amazon. Also make sure that you lawyer is not blacklisted by the USPTO, Amazon's new algorithm denies BRs that were filed through lawyers who were accused of fraud for the company with their clients or of dishonestly performing their professional duties because they submitted too many applications.