Trademark rules for affiliates: what to allow and forbid

If you don’t publish trademark rules, you’ll still end up making trademark decisions — you’ll just make them one angry email at a time.

This page gives you a plain-English trademark policy for affiliates (copy/paste), plus examples and a simple enforcement workflow that doesn’t require a legal team.

Table of contents

• What ‘trademark use’ means
• Default policy (copy/paste)
• Allowed vs prohibited examples
• Enforcement workflow (15 minutes/week)
• FAQ

What ‘trademark use’ means

In affiliate programs, ‘trademark use’ usually means an affiliate using your brand name (or close variants) in ways that can confuse customers — most commonly in paid ads, domains, social handles, and landing pages.

The goal is not to ‘punish’ affiliates. The goal is to prevent two predictable outcomes: (1) customers thinking the affiliate is the official brand, and (2) affiliates capturing last-click conversions you would get anyway (then arguing about commission).

Default policy (copy/paste)

Copy/paste this into your affiliate terms. Edit bracketed parts if needed:

• No trademark use in domains/handles: Affiliates may not register or use domains, subdomains, social handles, or accounts that include [Your Brand] or confusingly similar variations.
• No impersonation: Affiliates may not represent themselves as the official brand, support, or ‘authorized’ reseller unless explicitly approved in writing.
• No trademark use in paid search ad copy: Affiliates may not use our trademarks in ad headlines/descriptions unless explicitly approved in writing.
• No trademark bidding by default: Affiliates may not bid on [Your Brand] and close variants (including ‘[Your Brand] coupon/discount/deal’).
• Allowed editorial use: Affiliates may use our brand name in honest editorial content (reviews, comparisons, tutorials) as long as it’s not misleading.
• Enforcement: We may reverse commissions attributable to prohibited trademark use and may pause/terminate accounts for repeated violations.

If you want exceptions (e.g., a strategic partner running co-branded ads), write the approval in one paragraph: which keywords, which ad copy, which landing page, and for how long.

Allowed vs prohibited examples

Enforcement workflow (15 minutes/week)

You don’t need perfect detection. You need a repeatable workflow so enforcement is consistent:

• Weekly spot-check: search your brand name in an incognito window (and ‘brand + coupon’).
• If you see suspicious ads/handles/domains: screenshot and record date/time + query.
• First offense: send a warning quoting the policy and request immediate takedown/keyword negatives.
• If it impacts attribution: reverse the commissions tied to the prohibited activity (and document why).
• Repeat offense: pause the affiliate until you get a clear explanation, then terminate if it continues.

FAQ

Can affiliates use our brand name in content?

Yes — in honest editorial use (reviews, comparisons, tutorials). The risky areas are impersonation and paid ads. Publish rules for those first.

Is trademark bidding always bad?

Not always, but it’s usually misaligned early: it captures customers already looking for you, then creates payout disputes. If you allow it, allow it explicitly for specific partners with constraints.

Related pages

• Brand bidding policy for affiliates (template)
• Brand-safe affiliate link destinations
• Coupon abuse prevention for affiliate programs
• Self-referrals policy + enforcement
• Affiliate approval rules (reduce fraud)