The USPTO has recently issued a warning about unauthorised changes to United States trade mark applications and registrations. Third parties wishing to fraudulently enrol in Amazon’s Brand Registry appear to be behind the changes.
How is this happening?
As part of its Brand Registry enrolment process, Amazon verifies trade mark ownership by emailing a code to the brand owner or representative as recorded on the relevant Trade Marks Register. According to the USPTO, third parties have “filed forms through our Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS)” to make changes to the email address on record.
If a request to change contact information is filed, the USPTO will automatically send an email alert to the existing email on record. For the most part, email alerts will be directed to a local US Attorney. However, Australian direct-filers into the United States should also look out for such notifications.
What does this mean for Australian trade mark owners?
Australian sellers who wish to enrol in Amazon’s Brand Registry can now do so using their Australian trade mark registration. You can read more information about that here.
The good news for owners of Australian trade marks is that IP Australia makes it a little more difficult for unscrupulous operators to make changes to your details, although it is not impossible. With this in mind, if you are considering selling on Amazon and wish to enrol in the Brand Registry, you should do so as soon as your trade mark registers.
MBIP is often contacted when Amazon needs to validate the identity of a client seeking to enrol in the Brand Registry. It’s a simple process if we’re acting on your behalf – just let us know that you’re enrolling in the Brand Registry and we’ll send you the verification details once we receive them from Amazon.
Please do not hesitate to contact our Trade Mark Attorneys should you require any additional information, or email mail@mbip.com.au.