If you sell a product on Amazon, protecting your brand can be just as important as protecting the product itself.

A successful product attracts attention. As customers buy your product, leave reviews, recommend it to others, and search for it by name, the brand behind the product gains value. Unfortunately, success can also attract copycats who want to benefit from the reputation you have built.

A federal trademark registration can help protect your brand. It can also help you gain access to Amazon Brand Registry and the additional tools Amazon provides to qualifying brand owners.

For inventors and entrepreneurs selling products online, trademark protection should be part of the plan from the beginning.

Your Product Needs a Brand

Inventors often focus first on patents. If you developed a new product, patent protection may play an important role in protecting the invention.

But a patent does not protect the name you place on the product.

Trademark law protects brands. A product name, business name, logo, or other distinctive identifier can function as a trademark when it identifies the source of goods or services.

That becomes increasingly important when you start selling.

Customers may discover your product on Amazon and later search for it by name. Reviews accumulate under the brand. Advertising promotes it. Customers recommend it. Over time, consumers begin associating the brand with your product and your business.

You are no longer simply selling a product. You are building a brand.

Register Your Trademark

Trademark rights can arise through use, but federal registration through the United States Patent and Trademark Office provides important additional protection.

Federal registration provides important legal presumptions concerning ownership and the right to use the trademark with the goods or services identified in the registration. It can provide nationwide protection and allows the owner to use the ® symbol.

Those advantages become particularly valuable when someone starts trading on your reputation.

A copycat may use your brand name on competing goods. Another business may adopt a confusingly similar name. A counterfeiter may place your trademark directly on unauthorized products.

A federal trademark registration puts you in a much stronger position to defend the brand you have built.

Protect the Name Before You Launch

Do not wait until your product becomes successful before thinking about trademark protection.

Before investing heavily in a name, determine whether someone else already has conflicting trademark rights. A trademark search can uncover potential problems before you invest in packaging, inventory, advertising, websites, and Amazon listings.

Changing a name early may cause an inconvenience. Changing it after customers know the brand can become expensive.

Inventors and entrepreneurs should therefore treat trademark protection as part of the product-launch process rather than something to address after the business takes off.

Use Your Trademark to Protect Your Brand on Amazon

Federal trademark protection can provide another important benefit for businesses selling on Amazon: access to Amazon Brand Registry.

Amazon Brand Registry gives qualifying brand owners additional tools to protect their brands within Amazon’s marketplace. Amazon currently accepts certain qualifying pending and registered trademarks, subject to its eligibility and verification requirements.

The trademark establishes your legal rights. Amazon Brand Registry gives you additional tools to help protect those rights on Amazon.

That makes federal trademark protection more than a registration certificate hanging on the wall. It can become a practical tool for protecting the business you are building.

Defend Your Brand Against Copycats

A successful Amazon product can attract sellers who want to benefit from an established brand.

Someone may use your trademark without permission. Another seller may adopt a confusingly similar brand. Counterfeit products may appear bearing your name.

Amazon Brand Registry provides tools that can help qualifying brand owners identify and report suspected violations within the marketplace.

The best time to establish these protections is before you need them.

If you wait until a copycat appears, you may find yourself trying to establish trademark rights while simultaneously dealing with the infringement. If you protect the trademark and establish your brand with Amazon beforehand, you can respond from a much stronger position.

Remember What a Trademark Protects

A trademark protects your brand. It does not give you ownership of an entire category of products.

Another company may sell a competing product under its own brand without infringing your trademark. If that company copies technology covered by a patent, you may have a patent issue. If it copies a protected product design, a design patent may apply. If it copies your photographs, artwork, or other original content, copyright law may apply.

Each form of intellectual property protects something different.

For an entrepreneur selling on Amazon, the brand is one of the first things worth protecting.

Build the Brand. Protect the Brand.

You may have spent months or years developing your product. Do not overlook the name customers will associate with it.

Choose a strong brand. Search the name before investing heavily in it. Seek federal trademark registration when appropriate. If you sell through Amazon, use that trademark protection to pursue Amazon Brand Registry when eligible.

A good product can generate sales. A strong brand can build a business.

If you are developing a new product, preparing to sell on Amazon, or already building a brand around your product, The Thornton Firm can help you evaluate your trademark, pursue federal registration, and protect your brand as your business grows.