Many sellers face an unexpected obstacle when attempting to register their brands on Amazon: an abrupt "account abuse" rejection notice. Since April 2022, numerous merchants have encountered this issue during brand registry applications, regardless of their account standing or trademark status. This article examines common rejection scenarios and presents a proven appeal strategy.
Common "Account Abuse" Scenarios
Analysis of rejected applications reveals these frequent patterns:
- New TM mark applications: Trademarks with pending registration status (TM marks) face rejection during brand registry attempts, even when applied through pristine seller accounts with perfect performance metrics.
- Registered trademark (R mark) obstacles: Fully registered trademarks owned by the account holder still trigger "account abuse" alerts when submitted through newly established stores with clean records.
- Purchased trademark complications: Attempts to register acquired trademarks before completing ownership transfers result in rejections when the seller account and trademark ownership don't match.
- Unexpected permission revocations: Some previously approved brand registrations suddenly lose access privileges, with subsequent reapplication attempts generating "account abuse" notices for both TM and R marks.
This analysis focuses specifically on cases involving seller accounts without performance violations or policy breaches.
Trademark Integrity Verification
Evidence suggests the issue doesn't stem from trademark validity. Before April 2022, Amazon typically requested video verification, product samples, or account information for questionable applications rather than issuing "account abuse" notices.
Amazon's Official Position
Consultations with Amazon's partnership managers yielded no definitive resolution. The platform maintains that trademark ownership must align with seller account ownership, though documentation proving legitimate connections between separately owned trademarks and accounts should theoretically satisfy this requirement.
Proven Resolution Strategy
Through extensive appeal cases, we've developed an effective documentation approach requiring these key materials:
- Manufacturing contracts: Agreements explicitly referencing the brand name, establishing production relationships and product origins.
- Purchase invoices: Transaction records exceeding $300 in value that include the brand name, demonstrating commercial activity involving the trademarked products.
- Trademark authorization letters: Required when trademark and account ownership differ, formally granting usage rights to the seller account.
Compile these documents into a single PDF file for submission, emphasizing the commercial relationship between the seller and manufacturing partners. When ownership differs, provide comprehensive authorization proof.
This method demonstrates approximately 90% success rates when properly executed.
Additional Considerations
Other factors that may contribute to brand registry rejections include:
- Account violations: Existing intellectual property complaints or policy breaches may trigger rejections unrelated to trademark status.
- Excessive brand sharing: Trademarks authorized to more than five seller accounts may raise red flags.
- New account limitations: Recently established stores with low listing quality scores (typically below 52) often face registration difficulties, including A+ content creation blocks even after successful enrollment.
Alternative Resolution Paths
When standard appeals fail, sellers may consider:
- Account switching: Attempting registration through a different seller account after verifying its compliance status.
- Comprehensive documentation: Submitting a consolidated PDF containing trademark certificates, authorization letters, production evidence, and purchase invoices for manual review.