Attorneys and companies alike are witnessing a paradigm shift occurring during the protection of intellectual property assets, encountering more sophisticated solicitations designed to appear as official correspondence from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and outright scams utilizing information publicly available through the USPTO for pending trademark applications and existing registrations. It is important to revisit and strengthen best practices not just in policing and protecting trademarks and brands, but in prosecution and maintenance procedures and pro-actively educating trademark applicants and owners about solicitations and scams.
The need for heightened awareness of solicitations and scams is such that even the USPTO has dedicated a page on its website providing information on common scams and warning signs when someone is contacted about their marks. See, www.uspto.gov/trademarks/protect/recognizing-common-scams. Regardless of the type of solicitation or scam, these communications share a common trait – use of publicly available information about the trademark owner and its trademark registration or recently filed application.
