Amazon Introduced an IP Accelerator in Canada to Assist Small Businesses in Obtaining a Trademark and Protecting their Brands

Amazon introduced the Intellectual Property Accelerator (IP Accelerator) in Canada today, making it simpler and less expensive for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to secure trademarks, protect their brands, and deal with infringing goods both in Amazon's shops and throughout the marketplace.

Available to every brand selling in Amazon’s markets, IP Accelerator directly links Canadian SMB owners with a selected network of local law firms charging discounted, pre-negotiated prices on key services, providing SMBs access to specialist legal and general IP guidance that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive or hard to reach. Bereskin & Parr LLP, Brouillette Legal Inc., Chari Prenol Slaney & Turco, Clancy PC, JZC Intellectual Property Law, Kestenberg Siegal Lipkus LLP, Palmer IP, and Ridout & Maybee LLP are among the companies that have signed up so far.

Businesses must protect their intellectual property rights to prevent bad actors from copying and infringing on their ideas. Filing for IP rights, on the other hand, can be daunting and time-consuming for small and medium-sized businesses: individual trademark applications to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office can take up to 28 months. IP Accelerator can make the procedure easier by connecting SMBs with attorneys that are experienced in drafting trademark applications who will assist in removing common roadblocks that may otherwise delay the issuance of a registration.

IP Accelerator gives SMBs early access to Amazon's brand protection tools, allowing them to defend their brand and intellectual property (IP) even before their trademark is formally registered. With over 350,000 brands enrolled to date, Amazon's Brand Registry is a free program that offers SMBs powerful tools to help them handle and secure their brand and IP rights in Amazon stores. Amazon's automated, data-driven safeguards that proactively remove suspected infringing or misleading information, as well as resources that enable brands to report a suspected infringement, support participants. Enrollment in Brand Registry also provides brands with greater influence over product information displayed on Amazon’s product detail pages to help customers make confident, informed purchasing decisions.

IP Accelerator launched in the United States in 2019 and has since spread to Europe, Japan, India, and, most recently, Canada. More than 6,000 trademark applications from participating brands have been sent to trademark offices such as the US Patent and Trademark Office, the European Union Intellectual Property Office, the UK Intellectual Property Office, the India Trade Marks Registry, the Japan Patent Office, and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office since the program's inception.

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