Amazon suddenly scans accounts! Tens of thousands of sellers' stores are affected

Recently, some sellers in our cross-border selling circle group reported that their Amazon accounts were judged to be associated and their accounts were deactivated.

Some sellers even said that they had abused the system once and had opened dozens of cases that could not be handled and were still pending.

If it didn’t work, the team will win +1+1+1.

Amazon’s association issues have a huge impact on sellers. Some sellers have lost more than 30 accounts, and some even have a single store or several stores closed at the same time, which is a huge loss!

Amazon sellers really suffer a lot when it comes to brand issues. Brand registrations are repeatedly rejected, and brand removals can happen at any time. Moreover, most appeals are unsuccessful, which is really frustrating.

Brand abuse has existed since the end of 2021, and has become more and more serious since then, especially in the past few months. Whether it is the R mark or the TM mark, brand abuse will be prompted as soon as it is registered. Some sellers have even registered more than ten or twenty times but have never been punished.

Although there are many reasons for brand abuse, the most reported one is the lawyer issue. There is even a blacklist of lawyers whose brand registrations have been rejected that has been circulated in the cross-border circle. Some sellers found that their own lawyers were on the list, and their registrations were indeed rejected. The lawyers suddenly became the target of public criticism.

▼Some screenshots of the blacklist circulated online

It is worth pondering whether the lawyers on the so-called blacklist have really been punished by the Trademark Office or whether it is defined by the Amazon platform itself.

In addition, a large number of sellers have reported that even if lawyers are not on the blacklist, brand registration has been rejected many times due to brand abuse. It can only be said that the difficulty of registration is widespread at present. It would be too much of a stigma to simply say that it is a problem with lawyers.

Even if American lawyers are really at fault, they are still supervised by the Bar Association, and the U.S. Trademark Office will also impose penalties (revoke their licenses if necessary, suspend their practices if necessary), but is it legitimate to implicate the applicant's brand?

Although sellers can only passively accept the platform's policies in this matter, lawyers who are included in the "blacklist" are unwilling to accept it. According to Jite's editor, several lawyers have filed lawsuits against Amazon over this issue, and we will continue to pay attention to the progress in the future.

So what can we do when problems occur? If you find that the lawyer does have problems, Jite recommends that you change lawyers in time and then resubmit the registration. Some clients have successfully registered after changing lawyers (the method of checking whether the lawyer has violated the rules can be found at the end of the article).

This seems to be the case. Recently, many sellers have received notifications that their access rights have been revoked after using the complaint function. Some of these sellers only had their complaint function revoked, while others had their brands removed shortly after receiving the notification.

If you receive a notification that your brand has been removed, Jite recommends that you do not rashly file an appeal, but first find out the real reason why the brand was removed . You can check the above mentioned situations. After finding the reason, solve the problem first and then file a targeted appeal. For example, if it is a lawyer issue, you can change the lawyer before filing an appeal.

①Will frequent attempts to register have an impact on subsequent registrations or appeals?

Because of the problem of brand abuse, neither filing nor authorization will be successful, so there is little point in frequent filing. It is recommended to find out the cause of the abuse and deal with it before filing.

② Because the lawyer has problems and is found guilty of brand abuse/removal, do I need to change lawyers before appealing?

If you determine that there is a problem with the attorney, it is recommended that you change attorneys before dealing with the abuse/removal issue.

③ Will the filing or appeal be successful after changing lawyers?

This is not necessarily the case, but if there is a problem with the lawyer, the success rate of filing or appeal will be relatively higher after changing the lawyer, but it is not 100%.

④Is it feasible to apply for a trademark with the same name but in a different category and then re-register it?

You can try to register a new trademark with the same name but in a different category, but the registration may not be successful because the store has had its brand removed and the registered new brand may be prompted for abuse.

⑤After the brand registered in account A is removed, can it be re-registered in account B?

It is necessary to first confirm the reason for the removal. If the problem with the brand removal is at the trademark level, the trademark is very likely to have been marked, and it will be difficult to pass the registration no matter which store it is registered in.

⑥What impact will brand removal have on accounts or listings?

The impact of a brand being removed is generally a gradual loss of brand functions, such as the gradual disappearance of editing rights, the inability to use A+, the inability to use this brand to list products, the cancellation of reporting permissions, etc.

As Amazon's policies tighten, brand abuse or brand removal will surely continue to exist. We recommend that everyone be extremely cautious. In addition to operating in compliance with regulations, you should also always pay attention to the situation of your store and brand to avoid situations that may result in abuse/removal.

Regarding brand registration, brand abuse and brand removal, JITE has also collected and organized a lot of useful information, such as the new version of the brand registration tutorial and the required information template, brand abuse/brand removal appeal guidance, brand whitelist application process, etc.