How do you protect your brand on Amazon? Enroll in Amazon Brand Registry first, because every other protection tool depends on it. Then control who can get your stock, report real counterfeits and infringement, decide whether Transparency codes are worth it, and keep account health clean so a false complaint cannot take you down. This page covers each piece and how Marknology runs it for product brands.
By Andrew Morgans, founder of Marknology, selling on Amazon since 2011 | Updated September 2026
Amazon offers several programs. They do different jobs and have different entry requirements.
| Program | What it does | What you need | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Brand Registry | Proves you own the brand. Unlocks brand controls, A+ Content, Sponsored Brands, Brand Analytics, Brand Stores and Report a Violation. | A pending or registered trademark, and your brand on the product or packaging | Every brand selling on Amazon |
| Report a Violation | Lets you search the store and report suspected trademark, copyright, patent or counterfeit infringement. | Brand Registry | Clear, documented infringement |
| Transparency | Puts a unique code on every unit. Amazon checks the code before the unit ships, so unverified units are stopped. | Registered trademark, rights owner role in Brand Registry, a GTIN per product | Brands with a recurring counterfeit problem |
| Project Zero | Lets approved brands remove counterfeit listings themselves, and feeds Amazon's automated protections. | Brand Registry and a registered trademark for each store; Amazon sets eligibility | Brands with a strong, accurate reporting history |
| Brand Registry automated protections | Amazon uses your brand data to block suspected bad listings before they go live. | Brand Registry with complete brand information | Everyone enrolled |
Sources, checked September 25, 2026. Amazon, Brand Registry. Amazon, Transparency. Amazon, Project Zero.
We do not launch a brand on Amazon without Brand Registry in place. Without it, anyone with edit access can change your listing content, you cannot run Sponsored Brands, and you have no formal way to report infringement.
Full walkthrough: Amazon Brand Registry: how to enroll and what it unlocks.
This is operational research from running Amazon accounts, not legal advice. Trademark filing, classes and ownership disputes are legal work. Use a trademark attorney for those.
An unauthorized seller is anyone selling your product on Amazon without your permission. Genuine product resold by someone you did not approve is usually not something Amazon will remove on request. Counterfeits and real intellectual property violations are. That difference decides which tool you use.
| What you are seeing | What it usually means | Where to start |
|---|---|---|
| A new offer on your listing at your price | Stock leaking from a distributor, retailer or liquidation | Trace the source through lot codes and test buys |
| An offer well below your price | Clearance, diverted or returned stock, or counterfeits | Test buy, then compare the unit with genuine product |
| Customer complaints about quality | Possible counterfeit or damaged units | Test buy and report through Brand Registry if confirmed |
| Changes to your title or images you did not make | Another seller or a bad actor editing the listing | Correct it through Brand Registry and open a case |
Step by step: how to stop unauthorized sellers on Amazon, and protecting your listings from hijackers.
This is operational research from running Amazon accounts, not legal advice. Cease and desist letters, first sale questions and material difference claims are legal matters. We gather the evidence; an IP attorney decides what to send.
A MAP (minimum advertised price) policy is a brand's rule about the lowest price its resellers may advertise. It matters on Amazon because a reseller undercutting your price can win the Buy Box, pull other retailers down with it, and damage your wholesale relationships.
MAP is between you and your resellers. Amazon does not police it, and Amazon as a retailer sets its own prices, which can match lower prices elsewhere.
If Amazon finds the same product cheaper on another site, your offer can lose the featured Buy Box position. A cheap copy on another marketplace can do this to you.
Our research: the FTC describes a manufacturer's own unilateral pricing decision differently from an agreement among competitors, and courts review resale price rules case by case.
In practice, brands enforce MAP by choosing who they keep supplying, not by asking Amazon to step in.
More in our guide to writing and enforcing a MAP policy on Amazon.
This is operational research from running Amazon accounts, not legal advice. MAP policies raise antitrust questions that depend on how they are written and enforced. Have an antitrust or commercial attorney draft and review yours.
Sources, checked September 25, 2026. FTC, Manufacturer-imposed requirements.
The Growth Diagnostic reviews your Brand Registry setup, the offers on your listings, pricing across channels and account health, alongside your ads, site, TikTok Shop and other marketplaces, and ends with a 90-day roadmap. Its fee is credited to your first month if you continue with us.
See the Growth DiagnosticTransparency is Amazon's serialization program. You apply a unique code to every unit; Amazon scans it before shipping and stops units that fail. Shoppers can also scan the code to check a product is genuine.
| Transparency makes sense when | It is usually not the first step when | |
|---|---|---|
| Counterfeits | Counterfeits keep coming back after removals | The problem is genuine product from leaky distribution |
| Operations | You or your manufacturer can label every unit reliably | Labeling every unit is not practical yet |
| Trademark | Your trademark is registered | Your trademark is still pending |
| Catalog | A few high-risk products carry most of the risk | Risk is spread thin across a long tail |
Amazon lists no enrollment or subscription fee; you pay per code, and the price varies by volume and country. Every unit must carry a code, including units you fulfill yourself, so check your warehouse and packaging workflow first.
Sources, checked September 25, 2026. Amazon, Transparency eligibility and pricing.
Brand protection also means defending your own account. Competitors file false intellectual property, counterfeit or safety complaints, and listings get suppressed for detail page or compliance issues. The work is the same each time.
We run this as part of Amazon brand management, together with listings, ads and inventory, so protection is not a separate fire drill.
It is the set of Amazon programs and day-to-day work that keep your listings, pricing and customer experience under your control. The core tools are Amazon Brand Registry, Report a Violation, Transparency and Project Zero. The ongoing work is monitoring listings, managing resellers and keeping account health clean.
Amazon asks for two things: a pending or registered trademark for your brand name or logo from an eligible government trademark office, and your brand name or logo permanently on your products or packaging. Enrollment is done by the trademark owner or someone they authorize.
Not simply because they are unauthorized. Amazon acts on policy or intellectual property violations, such as counterfeits confirmed by a test buy. Most lasting fixes come from finding where resellers get stock and tightening distribution, which often involves your attorney.
No. A minimum advertised price policy is between a brand and its resellers, and Amazon does not police it. Amazon can also lower its own retail price as a retailer. How a MAP policy is written and enforced raises antitrust questions, so have an attorney review it.
Transparency is Amazon's product serialization program. Each unit carries a unique code that Amazon checks before the item ships to a customer. It suits brands with a real counterfeit problem and requires a registered trademark, the rights owner role in Brand Registry and a GTIN for each product. Codes are paid per unit.
Three things, in Amazon's order: the root cause stated plainly, the corrective action already taken, and the preventive measures that stop it happening again. Vague apologies are a common reason appeals fail. Evidence beats explanation.