Fake trademark invoices

A solicitation is an offer of services, or a notice of an upcoming filing deadline with an offer of services, usually requiring a fee. The issue with fake trademark invoices is increasing and the people behind them are creative. Some are designed to look like the sender is an actual trademark office like EUIPO or WIPO , others are from companies requesting payment for pure scam services like publication, registration and renewal of your trademark. If you receive a letter or invoice please check carefully what is being offered to you, and whether its source is genuine. Fake trademark invoice fraudsters sentenced.

The Svea Court of Appeal in Stockholm, Sweden has sentenced individuals involved in sending fake invoices to trademark applicants.

It also means that the fake invoices can be tailored very specifically to you. Beware of fake invoices for fees Owners of trade marks , patents and designs sometimes receive offers or invoices for useless entries in registers and directories. As entries in private registers or directories are legally ineffective, we strongly advise against their use. It seems to have been active for at least a decade and spans Texas, Delaware, Washington and the Principality of Liechtenstein. This is a manifestation of the broader set of fake invoice scams , such is the website backup “invoices” that I outlined in an earlier article.

Misleading invoices Misleading invoices Users are receiving an increasing amount of unsolicited mail from companies requesting payment for trade mark and design services such as publication, registration or entry in business directories. WIPO works closely with its member States with the goal of putting an end to this practice, and has assembled the following list of government authorities and consumer protection associations which assist applicants in enforcing local laws against the purveyors of these invoices. Complaints can be filed through the websites listed in the various countries.

IP Australia has confirmed that there is an increasing number of reports of this unofficial invoicing.

These invoices usually purport to come from companies that use names that appear to be government offices. For example, some have come from U. The USPTO maintains a copies of fake invoices that people have reported receiving. Click here if you would like to see some examples.

Trademark Compliance Office or the Patent and Trademark Bureau. Research the exact name of the organisation that sent out the invoice. Contact or look at the website of where you originally registered the name, patent, domain or trademark. Do not ignore the small print, the clues that something is a scam are often hidden there.

Check the invoice over with your patent or trademark attorney. They look official, using the Yellow Pages name and the “walking fingers” logo. But neither of these is a registered trademark — anyone can use them. The scammers might include a clipping of a previous ad — taken from a legitimate directory — with “Renewal” printed on the invoice. The amount of money requested on our invoice is £946.

GBP (compare this to the £20GBP total that we will pay the IPO for our legally registered mark). Can you tell a fake trademark invoice from a real? A fake invoice might include urgent or threatening language (“days past due), and include plausible-looking letterhead and iconography (the Yellow Pages “walking fingers”). The hardest-working scammers know your address, your suppliers, and the boss’s name. CyberScout received an invoice for a full-color advertising insert.

Owners of intellectual property rights such as trade marks are still regularly being sent fake invoices.

The Case of Fake Invoices and Procurement Risks. An invoice is perhaps the simplest and most fundamental element to any business. Yet not every invoice is what it seems. The reality today is that face invoices are becoming an increasingly prominent procurement risk. Fake Invoices Scammers create phony invoices that look like they’re for products or services your business uses — maybe office or cleaning supplies or domain name registrations.

Scammers hope the person who pays your bills will assume the invoices are for things the company actually ordered. Below is a list of actors who send out these offers. Invoice fraud refers to a fake or fraudulent invoice for services or goods not rendered. Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (hereinafter referred to as HIPO) informs you that certain companies send applicants and right holders in Hungary unsolicited “notices” for payment of fees related to patent and trade mark applications as well as renewals of trade mark registrations – making the notices seem to be official invoices or sending them in any another misleading way. This private database has not legal or practical value.

The cost of $7is outrageous – because the value is worth $0. This “publication” for trademark applicants and registrants has no actual value.