Hello,
I hope you are well!
I've recently come across an issue with my Brand Registry application being declined. I applied for Brand Registry with the IP Accelerator, and the application was declined, which surprised me. I thought a mistake might have happened, so I appealed the decision. The appeal was declined as well. Being confused about what was going on, I had a long conversation with support, who told me it was declined due to abusive behaviour. I was shocked as I always respect Amazon policies and rules, and my account has always been healthy. I tried to figure out what could trigger 'abusive behaviour' and realised that when I recently switched to a limited company, I didn't update the tax information for other European markets (I didn't trade in any of them but thought it could be an issue).
As soon as I fixed the tax information and payment methods for European markets, I tried to apply again, but when I entered my brand name, it said 'it's under review'. It was strange, but I thought I could appeal instead, so I went to manage my applications and clicked the 'Appeal' button, but nothing happened. Amazon redirected me to my case log instead.
I was very confused and disappointed as my shipping is coming very soon, and it's really important for me to start selling it as I'm a very small business in a situation where each pound and minute matters. I went to Amazon support for help again. After a long conversation, they replied to me that 'the internal team has completed the review and the incoming application is currently sidelined as our internal system has identified your account to be ineligible for Brand Registry. When applications are sidelined, you get an option to appeal to get your account verified for eligibility. You have already raised an appeal; however, the appeal was declined by the Abuse Prevention team.
Your current sidelined application will get auto-resumed when and only if your account is found to be eligible for Brand Registry. Please note that we as brand validators won't be able to provide further support on this issue as we don't own the abuse prevention process nor do we track abusive signals due to which the appeal would have been declined.'
I was very upset because I didn't violate Amazon policies and always had healthy accounts. I decided to go to Amazon support again and ask what I can do to ensure there are no concerns for my accounts from the Abuse Prevention Team to push my application through. I received the following reply: 'Please note that if your account has no violation, it should be in a healthy status. After further investigating the case, I can see that the application is still in review. While we are having more requests than usual, please expect a processing time of 30 days to provide a status update. Apologies for the delay and appreciate your continued patience. However, I regret that we are not able to provide additional information about this request until we complete the review process.'
The bottom line is my application was sidelined and is under review at the same time. It was sidelined because, as they say, of the abusive behaviour, but my Amazon accounts have always been healthy as I try my best to follow Amazon guidelines and comply with the platform's policies. My shipping is coming, and I don't even know if my Brand Registry application with the IP Accelerator will go through. On top of that, I can't apply for a registration again or appeal it as it just doesn't let me do it.
This is my first message on this forum. If it's possible to help me - please help my business survive. It's crucial for me!
Kind regards,
K
