Date Effective: November 11, 2020

For: Amazon Intellectual Property Policy

Brief Summary

Amazon released an update of their Intellectual Property Policy today. They did a good job defining what is and what isn’t a Trademark Violation. They even made the following statement:

“Just because you are not the owner of a trademark does not necessarily mean that you cannot sell another company’s product.”

They went on to talk about Counterfeit Violations, although I don’t believe they devoted as much time and attention to fully describing this specific risk as they did the Trademark Violations in general.

The update is posted below, or you can just click HERE.

The Full update

We are making changes to our Intellectual Property Policy to clarify how you should indicate the compatibility of your products with a product of a different brand, for example, a charging cord that works with a specific brand of phone. If you list such products, please review your product titles for compliance with the new recommendations for the way it should be written to indicate compatibility.

To visit the updated Intellectual Property Policy for Sellers – FAQ about Trademarks program policy page, click here.

Speaking of IP Risks

There are two ways you can protect your account when it comes to Intellectual Property Violations.

One – Get AZInsight. Besides being one of the most complete and advanced Amazon product page research tools on the market, it contains a feature called AZalert which indicates if the brand on that page is known for filing IP Claims against sellers. And each claim is researched and vetted, so if it is marked as confirmed, you can rest assured that it’s not just a rumor. Start your free trial to AZInsight today, and start making better buying decisions in your Amazon business.

Two – Get signed up for Seller Basics. Our attorneys are Amazon sellers, and they know the law. For $99 a month, you get a membership in Seller Basics which grants you unlimited free 15 minute consultations, an Amazon account review, and professional representation at reduced rates whenever your account gets into trouble. And what might be the best part of all – Once you are a 12 month member of Seller Basics, should your account get suspended, they will help to get you reinstated for FREE. There’s so much more that comes with a membership to Seller Basics, so click HERE to read it for yourself.

That’s two very proactive things you can do to protect your Amazon account from IP Claims. Take those first two steps today, and you’ll probably sleep better tonight.