Claiming Your Brand

This page explains how to claim a brand you own so the brand is governed on the Platform, what evidence proves ownership, what claiming gives you, and what it does not give you. This page summarizes the Brand Ownership Verification Policy, which governs.

Why claiming matters

Claiming connects your real-world ownership of a brand to the owner of record entry on the registry record. Until that connection exists, the Platform treats your brand as an unclaimed name in the catalog, and an unclaimed brand receives no brand protection, no gating control, and no complaint rights.

Requirements before you apply

Gather the following before you start

• Your business name, contact name, email, phone, and website.
• The brand names you own or represent.
• Ownership evidence (see below).

Evidence that meets the standard

• A trademark registration in your name or your company's name.
• A letter from the manufacturer naming you as the brand owner or authorized brand manager.
• A distributor or licensing agreement that names the brand and names you.

Evidence that does not meet the standard includes screenshots of a storefront on another marketplace, a domain registration alone, or a statement that the brand is widely known to be yours. Read the Brand Ownership Verification Policy, which governs, before you apply. A weak first submission adds a round trip.

If you are a distributor or agency rather than the owner, say so in the application. An authorized representative may claim management rights without owning the brand. The Company verifies the authorization with the actual owner, and the owner of record remains the owner.

How to claim your brand

1. Go to the seller page.
2. Select the brand partner application: "Brand partner: Own a pet brand? Claim your brand portal."
3. Complete the form with your business name, contact name, email, phone, website, and the brand names you own or represent.
4. Submit the application. The application enters the brand team's review queue.
5. Wait for the brand team to contact you by email. There is no instant approval; review is manual.
6. Provide your ownership evidence when the brand team requests it.
7. When verification is complete, the registry record names your seller account as owner of record and the brand status becomes active.

What claiming gives you

Once your brand is verified and active, you receive the brand owner tools

• Gating control. You decide whether your brand is gated, so sellers need your authorization or a qualifying purchase order to list it. See Brand Gating and Authorized Sellers. Gating is governed by the Brand Gating Policy.
• Listing control. You set which listing fields are brand-controlled and which remain seller-editable. See Listing Content Standards and Listing Control. Listing control is governed by the Brand Listing Control Policy.
• Complaint and takedown. You may file infringement complaints against listings, with a counter-notice process for the seller. See Complaints, Takedowns and Anti-Counterfeit. Complaints are governed by the Brand Complaint & Takedown Policy (Brand Complaint and Takedown Policy).
• Brand analytics. You receive aggregated marketplace data for your brand, such as search performance, conversion, and review sentiment, governed by the Brand Data & Analytics Policy. Individual seller data is not disclosed to you.

Use of the brand portal is governed by the Brand Portal Terms.

What claiming does not give you

• You cannot suppress the Company's own first-party listings of your brand. Products sold by the Company are "Sold by Pawz Shop." Brand gating is a seller-side control and does not apply to first-party inventory. Using complaints or portal tools against first-party listings is abuse of the brand program under the Unauthorized Seller Enforcement Policy.
• You cannot see other sellers' private data. Your reports show aggregate performance for your brand only.
• You cannot rewrite the Platform's policies for your brand. You choose from the instruments the policies provide; you do not create new ones.

Special cases

Two companies claim the same brand

Both applications are held. The brand team asks both parties for ownership evidence, and the brand stays at its current status until one party produces conclusive evidence. If neither party does, the brand stays unclaimed and neither party receives owner tools. The Company does not decide trademark disputes.

You sold the brand

Tell the Company. Ownership transfer requires verification of the buyer, and ownership moves only after the new owner proves it.

Your brand is already sold through first-party supply

Claiming still works, and you still receive the full toolkit. You do not receive a veto over the first-party assortment. Products sourced through legitimate wholesale supply are sold by the Company on its own right.