If you have spotted a counterfeit listing on Amazon and your brand is enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry, you already have access to the right tool: Report a Violation (RaV). It is the single guided workflow Amazon provides for submitting intellectual property infringement reports directly from your Brand Registry account.
This post covers that tool specifically. Not Project Zero and not Transparency. Just the Report a Violation tool: what you need before you open it, how to move through each step, what evidence Amazon wants, and what happens once you submit.
Key point: Report a Violation is only available to brands enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry, which requires a registered trademark or a pending trademark application with an eligible trademark office. If you are not yet enrolled, that is the prerequisite.
What You Need Before You Start
Filing a report without the right information ready is one of the most common reasons submissions get rejected or delayed. Before you open the Report a Violation tool, confirm you have the following:
- Your trademark registration number. Amazon requires you to identify which of your registered trademarks the infringement relates to. The trademark (registered, or pending with an eligible trademark office) must be enrolled in Brand Registry.
- The ASIN or product URL of the suspected counterfeit. You will need to identify the specific listing, not just the seller. Pull the ASIN from the product detail page.
- Screenshots of the listing. Capture the product title, images, seller name, and any branding that appears on the product itself or its packaging. Date-stamped screenshots are useful.
- Your own product images or packaging for comparison. Amazon's review team will compare what the counterfeiter is showing against what your genuine product looks like. Having these ready speeds up the process.
- Evidence of the infringement type. Counterfeit reports typically involve trademark misuse (your brand name or logo appearing on a product you did not manufacture) or copyright infringement (your product images used without authorisation). Know which type applies before you begin.
If you have done a test buy, include the order number and photos of what arrived. Test buys are not always required at the initial report stage, but they significantly strengthen the case, particularly for counterfeit claims where the product visually resembles yours. For a detailed look at building that evidence file before you report, the e-commerce brand's guide to building a counterfeit seller evidence file covers the full process.
How to Use the Report a Violation Tool
The tool lives inside your Brand Registry account. Log in at brandregistry.amazon.com, then navigate to Protect and select Report a Violation from the menu.
Step 1: Search for the suspected listing
The tool opens on a search interface. You can search by keyword, ASIN, or product URL. Using the ASIN directly is the most reliable method because it pulls the exact listing without ambiguity. Once the listing appears, select it to proceed.
Step 2: Select the violation type
The tool will ask you to categorise the violation. For counterfeit sellers, the relevant options are:
- Trademark: use this when your registered brand name or logo appears on a product not made by you, or when a seller is using your trademark in a way that is likely to confuse buyers.
- Copyright: use this when your product images, packaging design, or other original creative work has been copied without authorisation.
- Counterfeit: within the trademark flow, choose the counterfeit option when a product is being sold as if it were your genuine product but is not. Report a Violation also covers patent and design rights if those apply to your product.
Selecting the wrong violation type is a common reason reports are declined. If a seller is using your brand name on a fake product, that is a trademark violation. If they have copied your product photography, that is copyright. If both apply, you can submit separate reports.
Step 3: Provide the evidence
This is where preparation matters. The form will prompt you to:
- Confirm which registered trademark is being infringed, identified by the registration number linked to your Brand Registry account.
- Describe how the infringement is occurring. Be specific: "Seller is using our registered trademark [name] on a product that is not manufactured by us and does not match our genuine product's packaging or specifications."
- Upload supporting evidence. Attach your screenshots of the listing, your own product images, and any test buy documentation if you have it.
Keep descriptions factual and direct. Amazon's review team processes a high volume of reports; clear, concise descriptions with supporting images move faster than lengthy written explanations without visual evidence.
Step 4: Submit and note your case reference
Once submitted, the tool generates a case reference number. Record this. You will need it if you follow up, and it appears in the Submission History tab, where you can track the status of every report you have filed.
What Happens After You Submit
Amazon's Brand Registry team reviews each report and determines whether the listing violates its policies. There is no fixed public SLA for this, but well-evidenced reports with clear trademark documentation and visual comparisons tend to resolve faster than sparse ones.
Possible outcomes include:
- Listing removed: Amazon confirms the violation and takes the listing down.
- Report declined: Amazon determines the evidence does not meet the threshold. You will receive a reason. Common decline reasons include insufficient evidence, incorrect violation type selected, or the trademark not being registered in the relevant marketplace's jurisdiction.
- No action taken without further information: Amazon may request additional documentation before making a decision.
If your report is declined, do not simply refile the same submission. Review the decline reason, strengthen your evidence (a test buy is often the missing piece), and resubmit with a clearer description of how the infringement maps to your specific trademark registration.
The Submission History tab inside the tool lets you monitor every report's status in real time. Check it regularly, particularly in the days after filing.
One important limitation to understand: the Report a Violation tool addresses individual listings. If the same seller relists under a new account or a slightly different product title, that becomes a new report. For brands dealing with repeat counterfeiters at volume, how to remove counterfeit products from Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba without a lawyer covers the manual enforcement process in full, and Amazon Brand Registry vs. third-party enforcement explains where the DIY model reaches its limits.
When Report a Violation Is Not Enough
Report a Violation works well for the occasional listing. It starts to break down as volume grows, because every report depends on someone in your team finding the listing first, and removed sellers often return under new accounts or new ASINs. Counterfeiters also rarely stay on Amazon alone, so the same fake product often appears on eBay, Temu, TikTok Shop and lookalike websites at the same time.
Remove.tech takes that workload off your team. Its brand protection platform monitors Amazon, other marketplaces, social platforms, search engines and websites around the clock, documents the evidence for each case, files through the right enforcement route and tracks every outcome, including sellers who come back under new accounts. To see how exposed your brand is before committing to anything, request a free brand audit.
FAQ
Do I need to be enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry to use Report a Violation?
Yes. The tool is only available to brands enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry, which accepts registered trademarks and pending applications with eligible trademark offices. Rights owners without Brand Registry enrolment can use Amazon's separate Report Infringement form, which is open to any rights owner signed in to an Amazon account, but the full RaV workflow is exclusive to Brand Registry members.
What is the difference between Report a Violation and Report Abuse?
Report a Violation is for intellectual property infringement: trademark misuse, copyright violations, and counterfeiting. Report Abuse is for listing inaccuracies and Amazon policy violations, such as a seller shipping a product that differs materially from the detail page. If a seller is using your trademark on a fake product, use Report a Violation. If they are simply selling a different product under your listing without trademark misuse, Report Abuse is the correct route.
How long does Amazon take to review a submission?
Amazon does not publish a fixed review timeline. Reports with strong evidence, including a clear trademark registration reference, visual comparisons, and test buy documentation, typically move more quickly. Monitor status in the Submission History tab inside the tool.
Can I report multiple ASINs in one submission?
Each listing typically requires its own report. Submitting one report per ASIN with specific evidence for each is the most reliable approach.
What should I do if my report keeps getting declined?
Review the decline reason carefully. The most common causes are: the trademark is not registered in the relevant jurisdiction, the violation type does not match the evidence, or the description is too vague. Strengthen your evidence with a test buy, add a direct visual comparison, and resubmit with a precise description of the infringement.
Is the Report a Violation tool enough on its own for ongoing brand protection?
For low-volume infringement, it can be. The tool's core limitation is that it requires you to find each listing yourself before you can report it. Brands filing reports repeatedly, or seeing the same sellers return under new accounts, typically reach a point where continuous monitoring adds real value. Remove.tech's brand protection platform monitors across marketplaces, search engines, and social platforms around the clock, so violations are caught as they appear rather than discovered manually.
