📢 Important Guidelines: Submitting Letters of Authorization (LOA) for Trademark Usage
Hello Sellers!
We want to help you understand the requirements for submitting proper documentation when using trademarked content in your listings. Here's what you need to know:
What You Need & Why
If you're using another company's trademark in your listings (including product images, packaging, or detail pages), you'll need to provide either:
- Proof of trademark ownership OR
- A valid Letter of Authorization (LOA) from the trademark owner
Essential Components of a Valid LOA
Your documentation must include these 5 key terms:
1. Licensor (company granting the rights)
2. Licensee (company receiving the rights)
3. Grant (specific IP being licensed and scope)
4. Geographic scope (authorized territories)
5. Term (duration of authorization)
Acceptable Documentation Formats
✅ PDF documents
✅ Scanned PDF images
✅ Word documents (only for self-declarations by IP owners)
✅ Email screenshots (must be from trademark owner's company domain)
Required Elements
- Company letterhead of the trademark owner
- Complete agreement terms
- Authorized signature/stamp
- If emailed: Must come from trademark owner's official domain
Additional Note: If you don't have trademark registration in your selling region, include a declaration of IP ownership with your company stamp or authorized signature.
💡 Pro Tip: Review all documentation carefully before submission to ensure it meets these requirements. This will help avoid delays in the approval process.
Have questions? Drop them below! We're here to help.
📢 Important Guidelines: Submitting Letters of Authorization (LOA) for Trademark Usage
Hello Sellers!
We want to help you understand the requirements for submitting proper documentation when using trademarked content in your listings. Here's what you need to know:
What You Need & Why
If you're using another company's trademark in your listings (including product images, packaging, or detail pages), you'll need to provide either:
- Proof of trademark ownership OR
- A valid Letter of Authorization (LOA) from the trademark owner
Essential Components of a Valid LOA
Your documentation must include these 5 key terms:
1. Licensor (company granting the rights)
2. Licensee (company receiving the rights)
3. Grant (specific IP being licensed and scope)
4. Geographic scope (authorized territories)
5. Term (duration of authorization)
Acceptable Documentation Formats
✅ PDF documents
✅ Scanned PDF images
✅ Word documents (only for self-declarations by IP owners)
✅ Email screenshots (must be from trademark owner's company domain)
Required Elements
- Company letterhead of the trademark owner
- Complete agreement terms
- Authorized signature/stamp
- If emailed: Must come from trademark owner's official domain
Additional Note: If you don't have trademark registration in your selling region, include a declaration of IP ownership with your company stamp or authorized signature.
💡 Pro Tip: Review all documentation carefully before submission to ensure it meets these requirements. This will help avoid delays in the approval process.
Have questions? Drop them below! We're here to help.
23 replies
Seller_tQCfsb3zoC4AP
@Julia_Amazonover the last few years I have sent hundreds of LOAs all according to your post are acceptable and indeed all were accepted when sent but then a few days our weeks later these LOAs disappear from you4 system and we are asked again and again for them as we are told we are not authorised they would be sent again we would get authourised and days later we would not and the circle would continue.
This got even worse when Amazon in its wisdom then decided that a brand name could have multiple viarations of the brand name by abbreviating the name or extending the name or adding a dot or dots to the name leaving multiple products from the one brand being forced off the site as Amazon cannot decide which brand variation it wants added to this as no one is able to get past this hundreds more products removed as no one has permission to add the colour attribute. I am unable to even do that simple task
I for one am no longer able to function as a business on Amazon and I have been selling here since 2008
Seller_vtSzvxtW9StxE
It may be me only but this is not amazon follows all the time.
I am third party seller and dont own a single license like Disney and all but I purchase my products from the manufacturer who owns Trademark and can provide proof for the same to me - precisely "Proof of trademark ownership".
Been selling here from 2010-11 and in my experience is trademark approval depends on amazon's will and mood. Sometimes they simply accept the letter sent and the same letter get rejected within a month for different brand. At that point a chain mail starts and few years back after couple of email amazon used to see the point and approve but lately it feels likea BIG WALL that you cant break through,
Seller support wont listen you or acknowledge your point.
Error5461 is the one unique error but they mixed that up and make that 5995 and ask you for LoA, when you provide LoA and GS1 certificate they'll reply the LoA should be issued by the branf it self and not the trademark owner and thats a dead end - no matter what you explain and how many previous cases you quote = nothing happens.
When I started each error has a specific requirement and specific process but lately everything is muddled and hit and miss.
P.n. I dont have any current ongoing issue as such but if you need me I can provide you plenty cases.
Pranav
Seller_PqRORvCSLAuUn
The issue some LOAs is brands don't want their products on Amazon because people can leave reviews. I work with many suppliers and although some say they don't want their products on Amazon and Ebay to "protect their brand" the real reason is some people who buy on Amazon don't know what they're buying or have a bad experience with the seller and leave negative feedback for the product. This means they can't say they have 5 star reviews.
To appeal feedback for products on Amazon and Ebay it's usually automated or they are put through to a call centre in the Philippians where they pretend to not understand their accent of the company's rep.
Another problem on Amazon with claims of trade name misuse is that if you use the brand name of the product you are selling it can be flagged as misuse. A problem for this is in America many people refer to products by another brand name such as Velcro or Kleenex when really they mean hook and loop or tissues even though they aren't made by those brands. It doesn't happen as much in the UK but it's one of those Americanisms which the Amazon rules are based on.
Seller_4mvpF14wacAyg
Hello @Julia_Amzn
This whole process is a complete joke if I'm totally honest.
Sellers have to jump through so many hoops to get authorisation to list a brand and usually within days you remove our access. With some brands seller support say you have 96 hours to list etc, but with most they just accept and don't give you any timescale, you'll just log in one day and not have access to the brand. I have literally been approved for a certain brand over 50 times in the course of 2 years, because you just remove my access every 2 weeks.
The main issue I have is that your AI tools that look after the catalogue just constantly break parent/child variants, so I need access to the brands to just fix things you break, not to list new products.
I don't understand why once we have provided a valid LOA and been accepted to sell the brand you just remove it within days. It just seems you are pushing everyone to be invited by the brand to be an authorised seller, but as other people have pointed out, most of our suppliers cannot provide this as they are not the brand owner, they are a manufacture with a certain product license.
It's stressful logging in and some of my top selling parent/child sku lines are just scattered into single size/colours and I have to go through the process of proving I'm a valid seller AGAIN and AGAIN with the EXACT same information I have provided for years from the same supplier, who have the exact same license agreement and LOA.
If you want proof of how ridiculous it is please look at the below case logs where I have been approved for the same brand over and over again, I have many more case logs if you want them...
11019753632 - 15th April
10999561872 - 14th April
10979020982 - 8th April
10958115932 - 1st April
10930433132 - 20th March
10915301692 - 17th March
The whole process is not fit for purpose at the moment, sorry for the rant, but it is my main concern as a seller.
Seller_KyAP1cutff5TF
I've provided this so many times for one brand. Ive been going back and forth with seller support for 5 days and im getting no where.
I have two ASINS using the same trademark owners brand on both ASINS. Seller support have reinstated one listing, but they wont reinstate the other. The listings are both the same brand, its so frustrating!
Seller_AJxxLujbGDqaW
The problem with this and always has been is that Amazon do not know which brands are which and who owns them. For example, you could have products with brand Spiderman, Avengers or Hulk and the brand owner is Marvel, however if the listing has been created with the brand Spiderman, Amazon WILL ONLY accept a LOA from Spiderman, they will not accept a Marvel authorisation and this is impossible to get.
The other important issue is that brands are owned by brand owners and they give permission to manufacturers and distributors by licence to make and distribute their products, so therein lies another issue, if you purchase a Disney product, say Frozen and the manufacturer has been given the manufacturing license and then the manufacturer gives the distribution license to a distributor, both the manufacturer and the distributor have the right to make and distribute and fully licensed by the brand owner who has authorised them.
Amazon however WILL ONLY accept a letter from the Disney Corporation and they are not in the habit of issuing LOA's to Amazon sellers when they have set up a full manufacturing and distribution network for their products.
The same issue arises if you want to change the brand of the item, so say Marvel and then list the item as Spiderman, this will also not be possible as the brand is now Marvel and the Marvel corporation will not issue LOA's to Amazon seller and Amazon will say that the item does not match the brand and block it.
So, if Amazon refuse to accept the legitimate LOA's from the license holders, then nothing will happen, no listing.
I have lost about 500 listings that were removed for brand issues and when I had an account Manager he took the 20 pages that I had written to the branding team and there was never any response as neither of us could figure out how to get the LOA when the brand owner licenses the manufacturer and distributor.
Until the branding team actually understand how branding and issuing of LOA's work, millions of listings will be lost and sellers will never be able to create listings for their branded items.
I have been dealing with this issue for more than 5 years and despite involving the manufactures and distributors that have the licenses nothing is ever done, the distributors just say that Amazon are too difficult to deal with and give up.
I even asked them to contact the brand owner, for example Marvel or Disney and ask them to let the manufacturer or distributor issue the LOA's and that didn't work as the LOA was not from the office of the brand owner and so we go round and round and nothing happens.
Having read this advice it would be virtually if not actually impossible to get all this information, so nobody will be able to sell a branded product in a lot of categories.
Unless you are specifically involved or friendly with an actual brand owner who is prepared to give you a LOA for their actual brand, then you will not succeed.
There are millions of products that could be listed by sellers on Amazon, but there is no route to successfully achieve this and that is a fact that I have proved.
Brand owners are losing millions that they could easily have if Amazon allowed their products to be listed, however it is quite easy to understand why a brand owner who may have 100 brands that are licensed out would not give one seller a LOA to sell the brand, but on the other hand they want their items sold on Amazon but have no route to actually achieve this due to the Amazon view of branding and how it works.
Anyone know anything different?
Seller_AJxxLujbGDqaW
Having read a few of the other replies that state exactly the same thing, perhaps it is time for Amazon to stop listening to the people who think they know and get an independent person in to analyse the LOA system and maybe it will increase Amazon's turnover by a few hundred million if they actually allow sellers to sell approved branded products and not ask for what is impossible.
I am passionate about this issue as I know for a fact that Amazon is wrong.
Seller_zOYeT4NVTdUGV
@Julia_Amzn
This is all well and good but, we sell chocolates in personalised bouquet boxes. Our business is the creation of personalised gifts and customers choose what chocolates to add in their personalised box.
Under UK LAW, we do NOT require to be an authorised seller of any brand of chocolate. Brands make their products available to purchase through a network of wholesalers. We must register and prove we are a business with the wholesaler but once done, we do NOT need any further or specific authorisation from the brand owners themselves as by 'implication' they have granted permission for re-sale by any business registered with their authorised wholesalers. It is how they sell, they do not have individual stores themselves, they rely upon re-sellers!
What Amazon is doing here is 'assuming' we need to be authorised when we do not, when we therefor can not show we are authorised (as it does not exist and is not required by the brands in question) listings are deleted. Does every shop on all the UK High Streets have an authorisation for each brand of chocolate they sell? I think not! Is it required? I KNOW it is NOT!
We have gone through the last 12 months being told we must have titles such as "Personalised Chocolate Bouquet COMPATIBLE with Snickers" for example (like you plug a Snickers bar in somewhere !) and after all that across hundreds of listings, we now get told images are now also affected and it all starts again. Can Amazon please tell me how I show a customer clear images of what they are buying (as required in UK LAW and Amazon image policies) yet I can not show the Snickers bar ?!? The solution seems to be they remove the listing so you can't !
I believe government regulators will have a field day with this policy down the line, it arbitrarily leaves Amazon to decide a product is 'suspected' of Trade Mark infringement and remove listings (prosecution without trial!) when the actual Brand owners are not making any such accusations even though they have the ability to flag listings themselves if they are concerned.
I totally get a case for example of somebody selling a cheap watch and claiming it is a Rolex but stopping genuine sellers, selling genuine legitimate brands, that do not require any special authorisation to so is unconstitutional in a free economy.
Traders/Sellers are being assumed guilty of Trade Mark infringement without due cause and expected to produce a LOA that is not required and so does not exists. Can you imagine, in our case for example, is Mars Wrigley really going to write a LOA for every seller for every sub brand they sell (Snickers, Mars, Galaxy etc) across the entire UK? They simply do not have the man power to do this. I do have a theory why this is happening, ever heard of Amazon Fresh? Would the implementation of this policy be more or less beneficial to Amazon Fresh for example? Morisons on Amazon? Co-Op on Amazon?
We all love Amazon, that's why we are on here. If Amazon is a friend then, as a good friend, I would 'gently advise' Amazon, this may end up with you in a heap of trouble and be very costly in the long run, Brand owners need us, your 'arbitrary' policy is getting in the way of that, they may not in the long run be happy and thank you for it.
(Disclaimer : All Trademarks brand names and/or product names used are purely for descriptive purposes only, other brands are available!)
Julia_Amzn
Hello Sellers,
Thank you for a very interesting and valuable discussion on the Letter of Authorization requirement process. I will review all your comments and summarize your feedback, which will be forwarded to the internal team.
Please keep adding your thoughts on how we could improve this process to make it more transparent for sellers while protecting your listings from intellectual property infringements.
Best regards, Julia.
