Trademark Scams and How to Avoid Them

Trademark
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Becoming the owner of a registered trademark has its perks. Plus, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office mails you a fancy certificate with a gold seal. In recent years, though, along with that certificate, the USPTO started sending out warnings. Warnings of trademark scams.

Usually sent on an orange piece of paper along with the registration certificate, the notice warns of "misleading offers and notices from private companies." The fact that the USPTO sends these warnings certainly helps those who aren't aware of trademark scams, but now scammers are reaching out to applicants right after the application has been filed.

Scammers use the data in your trademark application (which is public record) to get to you. So how do you spot a scammer and avoid falling victim to trademark scams?

Here are some telltale signs of trademark scams:

  • Look for an offer. Some offer legal services, some offer to "record" your trademark in a "private registry" or other registry. The USPTO is not going to make you offers. If you receive an offer, it's not an official trademark matter.
  • Check the address... The United States Patent and Trademark Office is in Alexandria, Virginia. Any correspondence coming from elsewhere might smell like a trademark scam.
  • ...and the email address. All USPTO email correspondence comes from email addresses with the "@uspto.gov" handle.The name sounds official...but isn't the USPTO. A lot of so-called "agencies" may sound official. If they are not the United States Patent and Trademark Office, though, you know you can discard the message without worry.
  • Fees, fees, fees. In the U.S., you pay 1) a filing fee when you file the application, 2) a statement-of-use filing fee if the application is filed based on intent-to-use, 3) a fee between the fifth and sixth year from the registration date to maintain your registration, and 4) a fee between the ninth and tenth year from the registration date to maintain the registration. So if someone is asking for a fee to "register" or "record" your trademark... raise that red flag.

Excerpt in orange and black from the USPTO's notice on trademark scams that reads: Beware of potentially misleading offers and notices. All official correspondence about your registration will be from the "United States Patent and Trademark Office" in Alexandria, VA, and, if by email, from the domain "@uspto.gov." Our email reminders will direct you to make the necessary filings and pay the associated fees online through TEAS, and will not request any fees by mail.
An excerpt from the USPTO's notice on trademark scams.

Offers, asking for fees, shady names and addresses... trademark scams can come under any number of disguises. But now you have some education behind you so that you can spot the scams and recycle those unofficial "Official" notices.

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