How to Protect Your Brand on Amazon: The Brand Defense Playbook for Protecting Equity

Amazon Brand Registry is the foundation of brand protection on Amazon, it gives trademark owners control over intellectual property and access to reporting tools. However, without active monitoring and governance, listings can still be listed and remain vulnerable to manipulation, unauthorised edits, and catalogue inconsistencies.

To achieve effective protection, brands should begin with ownership and control of the catalogue. Without it, even premium brands risk erosion at the most visible point of customer interaction: the product detail page.

Establishing the Perimeter: Beyond Basic Brand Registry

While enrollment in Amazon Brand Registry is the baseline for protection, it is only the first step. 

The Agency Edge: We utilise advanced Brand Registry tools (such as the Brand Catalog Lock) to ensure that no third party can alter titles, images, or brand attributes. 

This prevents “Listing Hijacking,” where unauthorised sellers change premium images to low-quality photos, immediately damaging conversion rates and perceived value.

Eliminating Counterfeits with Amazon Project Zero

One of the most frequent questions from legal teams, is regarding the method on how to stop counterfeiters, without waiting days for Amazon’s support. The answer is Amazon Project Zero, a powerful, invite-only initiative that combines Amazon’s machine learning with your own brand knowledge.

• Automated Protections: Amazon’s AI continuously scans the marketplace for suspected fakes based on your brand data, removing them before they even reach a customer.
• Self-Service Takedowns: Project Zero grants us self-service removal capability within Amazon’s compliance framework. Instantly, providing an immediate solution to IP infringement.

Unit-Level Authentication: The Transparency Shield

While Project Zero fights unauthorised sellers online, Amazon Transparency protects the physical supply chain. By applying a unique, secure “Transparency code” to every unit you manufacture, you create a digital fingerprint for your products.

• The Scan-on-Entry: Amazon scans these codes at their fulfillment centers. If a unit lacks the code (or has a fake one), it is rejected at the door.
• Customer Peace of Mind: Shoppers can scan the code upon delivery to verify authenticity, reinforcing the “Premium” promise of your brand.

Solving the “Grey Market” and MAP Dilemma

For premium brands, the biggest challenge is often grey-market (unauthorised) sellers offering genuine products through parallel or unintended channels, where standard IP reporting tools fail because the goods are authentic. Instead, enforcement depends on platform reporting to a legal and structural approach.

Under the ‘Material Difference Doctrine’, resale can infringe trademark rights if the unauthorised product differs in ways that matter to consumers. This means that cosmetic differences aren’t enough, brands need to consider warranties, regulatory compliance, quality controls, or post-sale support. 

The fact that application is jurisdiction-specific and fact-sensitive, means that courts assess impact on consumer expectations. Therefore, controlling grey markets requires coordinated legal, distribution, and marketplace governance, over reactive takedowns.

From Defense to Dominance: The Market Rocket Approach

For successful brand protection on Amazon, works when it is managed as an ongoing operating function. Registry controls, catalogue governance, counterfeit removal, and grey-market enforcement each require active handling and regular review. When these areas are aligned, protection becomes measurable and enforceable, rather than being reactive. For a deeper dive into protecting your brand on Amazon, take a look here.

For high-equity brands, responsibility is clearly assigned to achieve the goal of marketplace governance. Listing integrity, seller control, and distribution compliance are monitored continuously, with legal and platform tools used in combination. Having that discipline protects margins, conversion rates, and customer trust at the point of purchase.

Our team specialises in turning Amazon’s brand protection tools and enforcement frameworks into practical defence roadmaps that preserve equity, control listings, and reduce marketplace risk. If you have any queries about selling on Amazon or anywhere else, Market Rocket can offer you a free consultation. You can email us at amazon@marketrocket.co.uk  or call 02037459090.