We’ve blogged in the past about intellectual property-related scams, and unfortunately this is always a timely topic.

How can you recognize a trademark scam and avoid falling victim to one?

As we’ve noted before, it’s easy for scammers to reach IP owners because patent and trademark applications and domain name registrations are public records and include contact information for the owners.

Scam communications often look like official government notices, certificates, or invoices. The names of the purported senders may be confusingly similar to those of legitimate government entities or organizations such as the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Scammers may try to convince IP owners to pay for services the scammers can’t actually provide or may hope to convince people to pay for services of minimal or zero value.

Here are some scams and warning signs to be aware of:

Fake “Trademark Office” Correspondence

Offers for low-value “services” may include an invoice for “renewal fees” or other fees that the USPTO doesn’t actually charge. Such a notice may look real because it includes information taken from your real trademark registration. 

One sign of a scam (or a scam-adjacent low-value “service”) is a document that looks like a bill, requests payment, but says in small print that “this is an advertisement” or “this is not a bill” to avoid running afoul of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

You might receive an official-looking messages inviting you to register your trademarks to receive federal protection. The real USPTO never does this. You need to contact them if you want to register your mark

Another sign of a scam is a warning that your “fee” has been increased because you “missed” an earlier deadline – and that the fee will increase further if you fail to pay now. (Fake “urgency” is often a sign of scams in general.)

Cybersquatting Notices

You may get a notice alerting you that someone is supposedly trying to register your trademark or domain name in China or another country.

Using someone else’s trademark or business name as part of a domain name (for example, for other country domains) is called cybersquatting. The registrant does this in hopes of reselling the domain to the legitimate trademark owner.

Scam Calls

As we reported last year, the USPTO is warning people to beware of scam calls that claim to be from the USPTO.

Such calls may appear to come from legitimate USPTO phone numbers, or at least appear to come from the right area codes. 

As the alert notes,

Scammers have recently started calling trademark customers and falsely claiming to be an employee with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The scammers use a tactic called “spoofing,” where they will trick phone networks into displaying a name, number, and location different from their actual name, number, and location. They’re trying to trick you into believing you’re talking to the USPTO, so they can steal money or personal information from you. 

The real USPTO will never ask for personal or payment information over the phone.

Fake Registration “Services”

Some scammers offer to publish your trademarks in their “private database” (for thousands of dollars) and to monitor the internet for infringement of your marks.

Trademarks are automatically published by the USPTO in its own public database, but private registration is unnecessary.

Although there are legitimate companies that help businesses detect and monitor online trademark infringement, it’s best to be wary of solicitations and do your own due diligence or consult your trademark lawyer for recommendations.

Fake “Cease and Desist” Notices

You might get a notice on what looks like law firm letterhead claiming that you’ve infringed someone’s trademark and demanding the payment of a settlement – or else you’ll be sued.

Such letters may or may not come from real law firms representing the real trademark owners.

What to do

If you get a legal or billing notice related to intellectual property rights (that doesn’t come from us), contact our office to find out if it’s legitimate.

If you’ve already been scammed, you can visit https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/protect/what-to-do-if-you’ve-been-scammed to learn what else you can do. Even if you can’t get your money back, you may be able to prevent others from being victimized.

Just like the haiku above, we like to keep our posts short and sweet. Hopefully, you found this bite-sized information helpful. If you would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact us here.