Amazon Launches IP Accelerator in Europe to Help Small Businesses Protect Their Brands and Tackle Counterfeit

Amazon launched IP Accelerator specifically with small business owners in mind. Larger businesses are four times more likely than SMBs to register their Intellectual Property (IP) rights¹. The main reason small business entrepreneurs do not protect their rights is because of a lack of knowledge about IP and not knowing where to turn². The process can be complicated, particularly for entrepreneurs in the early stages of setting up a business, and Amazon wanted to provide low cost assistance to all European SMBs, including the over 150,000 European-based SMBs selling on Amazon. Selling partners continue to account for more than 50% of products Amazon sells in its online stores.

IP rights are vital for businesses wanting to stop unauthorized parties from using their brands or copying their ideas. Owning IP can also create new sources of revenue should entrepreneurs wish to license their goods or services to third parties.

Businesses using IP Accelerator will also get access to Amazon’s wider brand protection services months or even years before their trademark registration is officially issued. Amazon’s Brand Registry provides SMBs with powerful tools that help them manage and protect their brand and IP rights in Amazon stores. Brand Registry is a free service and more than 350,000 brands are already enrolled. Participants benefit from Amazon’s automated protections that use information about brands to proactively remove suspected infringing or inaccurate content. Brands are also able to find and report suspected infringement through more powerful tools and can gain greater influence over product information displayed on Amazon’s product detail pages so customers can make confident, informed purchasing decisions on Amazon.