Friday, March 29, 2019

Trademark Solicitations & Scams...

Dateline: Friday, March 29, 2019

A client of mine sent me a package yesterday containing over a dozen trademark solicitations and trademark registration/renewal scams.

Below are nine (9) of these misleading solicitations and scams.  

U.S. Trademark Applicants and Registrants need to be aware of these solicitations and scams in order to avoid spending money on uncertain services and/or outright scams.

A.  TRADEMARK SOLICITATIONS

note: these solicitations offer renewal services supposedly.  The concern is obviously that you would actually pay money to these services and whether or not they would actually do the work you expected them to is uncertain.  These solicitations are by and large misleading at best and are purposely designed to look official, in spite, perhaps, of the fine print to the contrary.

1.  PTMI


2.  U.S. TRADEMARK COMPLIANCE OFFICE


3.  PATENT & TRADEMARK BUREAU


4.  WTMR, LLC


B.  TRADEMARK SCAMS

1.  TM-Edition  INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF TRADEMARKS - 2018

note:  This invoice is for USD $1,800.  (Eighteen Hundred Dollars).  Having your U.S. trademark registration listed in this catalogue is like having a star named after you in a book registered in the U.S. Copyright Office.  And this company is based in Hungary.


2.  GLOTRADE s.r.o.  Global Trademarks Protection

note:  For USD $2,890 you get nothing of value with respect to your U.S. trademark registration. Read the fine print. For example, it states, in part, "The publishing of the public registration of your trademarks is the basis of our offer. We offer our similarity service that protects your trademark from copyright infringement..."  (emphasis added).  


 3.  WPTR  Registration of International Trademark Renewal

note:  This offer for the price of USD $2,356 is offered to U.S. trademark applicants who have recently had their applications approved for publication and published by the USPTO.  On the face page of this so-called offer nothing of certainty is even offered.


4.  WTP Trademark Publication

note:  This company offers you for the price of USD $1,380, this company offers you "the registration of your brand in our private database..."  Yeah, so what?!...  Send your money to Miami if you dare and have money to burn for nothing of value in return.



5.  ITP  Trademark Publication

note:  Look carefully and you will see that this scam is from the same company as in 4 above re WTP  Trademark Publication.  This one is $40 cheaper at $1,340.  You get the same worthless "registration of your brand in our private database..." 

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FYI; From the U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE:

Here is a link to information offered by the USPTO on misleading notices:


"Caution: misleading notices




Don't be fooled by potentially misleading offers and notices from private companies

Some trademark applicants and registrants have paid fees to private companies, mistakenly thinking they were paying fees required by the USPTO. We do not endorse any of these private companies and you are not required to use them."

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If you have more than one trademark on file at the USPTO, then you too are likely receiving these misleading solicitations and/or scams in the mail many times over.  I tell my clients to send them on to me for inspection at no charge or to throw them away. Be careful out there because there are companies and individuals trying to get you to part with your money for either uncertain services or they are outright scams.

Respectfully submitted,

William E. Maguire,
LAW OFFICES OF WILLIAM E. MAGUIRE,
Santa Monica, California, USA

*** This blog post is not intended as legal advice. ***

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3 comments:

Bat said...

Hey thank you so much for this. I literally wrote the check and was about to head to the post office thinking it's required for registering trademark. But I thought I should check it one time before I send out the check just in case and I found the exact mail I got on your examples. WTP publication company from Miami. Thanks for saving me 1380usd. I really appreciate it.

Jani abhi said...

Trademark is the identity of the company. Any infringement of trademark may cause serious issues for the company. To get your trademark registered do check LegalWiz.in

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this wonderful article. Enjoyed reading.

Also read: copyright registration process