RaV, short for Report a Violation, is a tool provided by Amazon for reporting intellectual property (IP) infringement. The Report a Violation tool offers brands a self-service channel to find and submit IP infringement notices. Brands registered through Amazon Brand Registry can access the RaV tool via their brand registry account. Users can benefit from proprietary search features and a guided reporting workflow to help them accurately submit infringement notices (NOIs).

In simple terms, it's like a "sword of rights" prepared by Amazon for brand sellers!

However, many people get stuck at the "approval" step. Don't worry, today we'll help you understand the correct way to use RaV in one go!

Many sellers are unsure whether their situation qualifies for reporting. RaV supports four main types of infringement reports. Let's see which one you fall under.

A trademark is a word, symbol, or design (such as a stylized brand name or logo) used by a company to identify its goods or services and distinguish them from those of other companies. Generally, trademark law exists to prevent consumer confusion about the source of goods or services. Trademark owners usually register their trademarks with the relevant national trademark office (such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office) to protect them.

Counterfeit goods are a form of trademark infringement. Commonly, "counterfeit" refers to products that look identical to genuine ones. However, in the context of intellectual property infringement, "counterfeit" means selling goods or services produced by someone other than the trademark holder using an unauthorized trademark or a mark that is nearly indistinguishable. For example, Amazon Basics brand chargers not produced or authorized by Amazon are considered counterfeit goods.

In some cases, individuals or companies may have trademark rights even if they haven't registered the trademark with the relevant national trademark office, as long as they have used the mark in commercial activities. This right is called "common law" trademark rights, but it offers more limited protection.

Trademark infringement generally refers to the unauthorized use of a mark that is identical or confusingly similar to an existing right holder's mark. For example, using a trademark on a product page unrelated to that trademark. If the trademark you report is only used to indicate compatibility with your product, Amazon may reject your report.

● The other party's product or packaging bears your brand name or trademark

● Your trademark appears in the other party's listing title, keywords, or bullet points

● The other party is selling counterfeit goods

Copyright protects original works such as videos, movies, songs, books, musicals, video games, paintings, etc. Generally, copyright law aims to encourage the creation of original works for the public's benefit. To be protected by copyright, a work must be created by the author and possess a certain level of creativity. If someone is the author of an original work, they usually own the copyright to that work.

In some countries, copyright owners can protect their material by registering it with the specific country's copyright office (such as the United States Copyright Office). You can usually use your own copyrighted images on product detail pages to sell products; however,you should not obtain images from other sources and add them to product detail pages without the permission of the rights holder. Copyright infringement involves the unauthorized use of works protected by copyright law (such as text and images). For example, if a company selling generic e-readers uses Amazon's copyrighted Kindle images without permission to list their products, this would constitute copyright infringement against Amazon.

● Someone has directly copied your product photos

● Someone has copied your bullet points verbatim

● Your original design has been printed on someone else's products

A patent is a form of legal protection for inventions. Once granted, the patent holder has the right to prevent others from making, using, or selling the invention for a fixed period. In the United States, there are two main types of patents:utility patents and design patents. Utility patents are the most common type and can cover new machines, manufactured items, combinations of materials, processes, or improvements to any of these, protecting the structure and function (but not the appearance) of a product.

● Someone has imitated your product's design

● Your innovative technical solution or utility model patent has been copied

When the product listed on an ASIN does not match the description on that ASIN's detail page, this listing issue arises. This inconsistency could be due to a completely different product (such as the wrong product or version) or relate to the product's condition (such as selling used goods as new). Although mismatches with the description are not considered infringement, they can affect customer experience and violate Amazon's product quality guidelines. Brands enrolled in Amazon Brand Protection can report these issues, and in most cases, there is no need for a test purchase.

To ensure a successful report, it's essential to submit complete information correctly. Your report should include the following:

▷ Specific information about the infringed intellectual property, including registration numbers, written descriptions or links to copyrighted works, and dates of first use for trademarks, copyrights, patents, and parallel imports.

▷ The nature of the infringement, whether it occurs on the product itself, its packaging, product detail page images, or text.

▷ A list of infringing products, including Amazon Standard Identification Numbers (ASINs) and/or URLs to the product detail pages of the specified products. If you believe only some sellers are infringing and you are not accusing the entire product detail page, check the box next to each seller you want to report in the infringement report form or RAV.

▷ A list of infringing sellers. If infringing sellers are selling under your ASIN, make sure to accurately identify the specific sellers to avoid having the entire ASIN removed. Note that a product detail page displays information about a specific product on Amazon, including information shared by all sellers of that product, such as product title, brand, images, key features, product description, specification options (such as size or color), and buyer reviews. A detail page may contain sales information from multiple sellers or Amazon's own sales. Carefully check the sellers you select to ensure you are not mistakenly reporting your own products.

▷ Supporting evidence or other information that helps Amazon process your complaint (such as the order number of a test purchase of the reported product).

▷ Your contact information (name, address, phone number, email address, and alternative contact information that can be shared with the relevant sellers).

Please note that you should not submit more than one type of intellectual property violation per report. To ensure the quality and prompt handling of reports, we will only process the specific complaint types you select in the infringement report form or RAV (such as patents, trademarks, or copyrights).

Here are examples of including multiple complaint types in one report:

● Selecting trademark infringement but discussing copyright issues in the submission. This report will only be treated as a trademark complaint. If you want to report both trademark and copyright infringement, please submit separate reports.

● Entering two trademark numbers in one report, as only the first trademark number will be considered. If you want to report infringement of different trademarks, please submit separate reports.

If your infringement complaint changes after submission, you can submit a withdrawal request.

Therefore, before using RAV to report, please take 2 minutes to review this simple checklist again.

Path 1: Brand Registry backend brandregistry.amazon.com > Protection > Report a Violation

Path 2: Seller Central > Brands > Brand Protection > Report a Violation

To improve efficiency, you can choose:

● Global Search — Search suspicious ASINs, products, and images across sites

● Reverse Image Search — Upload your original image to directly identify image thieves

● Bulk Search — Check multiple ASINs at once for maximum efficiency

Once found, select, submit the report, and wait for Amazon's review. The process is that simple.

In the search results, select the ASIN, product, or image you want to report.

Note: If