Amazonbrand protection, explained.

You can sell on Amazon without a trademark, and you can still use Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) and Sponsored Products, the standard search ads. What you can't do is join Brand Registry, which means less say over your own product page and no A+ content, Brand Store, Sponsored Brands ads or Report a Violation, its tool for reporting fakes and copies. A UK trademark takes around 3 to 4 months to be granted if there are no problems, but a pending application is usually enough to join, so it's worth filing before you launch.

Brand Registry is Amazon's free programme for brands that own a trademark or have applied for one, and it gives you more control over what your product pages show. It also opens up the tools Amazon keeps for brand owners, like A+ content, a Brand Store, Sponsored Brands ads, Amazon Vine reviews and Brand Analytics search data. Its Report a Violation tool covers fakes and copies that infringe your trademark, copyright or patent, but genuine stock resold by someone else is generally still allowed on your page.

A pending application is usually enough if it's with an office Amazon accepts, like the UK or EU Intellectual Property Office, and your brand name is permanently on the product or pack. Some anti-fake tools, including Transparency and Project Zero, only open up once the mark is fully registered. Since 1 April 2026 a UK application filed online costs £205 for one class of goods, and an EU one starts at €850. An EU mark hasn't covered the UK since 1 January 2021, so each side needs its own mark.

Anyone selling your products on Amazon without your say-so is unauthorised. The stock often comes from wholesalers, overstocked distributors, retailers clearing lines or bulk buys during your promotions. Reselling genuine stock first sold in the UK or European Economic Area (EEA) with your consent generally isn't against Amazon's rules, so Amazon won't remove them on request. It can act when you show a real breach, like fake stock or goods that have been altered or damaged. The usual proof is a test buy, where you order from them and report what arrives through Brand Registry.

They can, because every seller of a product shares one page, so a fake sold by anyone with an offer on yours earns its bad reviews on your listing. Amazon needs evidence, usually a test buy, where you order from that seller, compare what arrives with your own stock and report it through Brand Registry with the order number. Brands with a registered trademark and a record of accurate reports can join Project Zero, which lets them remove counterfeit offers themselves.

Transparency codes are serial codes, one on every unit of an enrolled product, that Amazon checks before shipping, whoever's selling it. Units without a valid code can't be sold through Amazon, so fakes get stopped along with any genuine units that were never coded. The programme needs a registered trademark and a barcode and runs in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, with no sign-up fee but a charge per code. The catch is that codes go on every unit you make, including stock sold through shops.

You can if you own the copyright, which is automatic for photos you or your staff took, but a freelance photographer usually keeps it unless your contract hands it over. With Brand Registry you report copies through the Report a Violation tool, which can search the catalogue by image, and without it you use Amazon's Report Infringement form. Either route only covers copies on other products' pages, because anyone selling your product on its shared page may use the images there, and reporting them can cost you those tools.

If the stock's there and the listing's live, price is a common cause. Amazon can hide the Buy Box holding the button when your price looks well above what the product has been selling for or what other retailers charge, even if you're the only seller. A lower price at another retailer can be enough, and shoppers then have to click See All Buying Options. Germany's competition authority ordered Amazon in February 2026 to largely stop this on amazon.de, but Amazon has appealed.