Trade-mark Scams More Prevalent

If you have a trade-mark registered, please be advised there has been an increased amount of “trade-mark trolls” trying to bill our clients for trademark services.

Canada

Owners of Canadian trade-marks are being targeted in scams.  The correspondence is being sent from what appears to be a governmental organization, and typically sets out the trade-mark and correctly identifies the application or registration number.  This often leads the recipient to believe this information is official.  This is easily achieved, as the trade-mark database is public and the scammers can pull all relevant information off the database. 

The recipient of these letters is often urged to pay a fee by an upcoming deadline and the deadline ostensibly relates to either “publication” of the trade-mark or the renewal of a registration that is indicated to be near expiry.  The correspondence is sent directly to the trade-mark owner and not to the trade-mark owner’s agent of record.  In Canada, correspondence from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) is always sent to the agent of record, not the client.

USA

Recently we have seen scams involving clients with registrations in the US. In one instance, our office sent an email to the client advising of the renewal for their USA trade-mark.  We advised that we would be in touch with documentation to renew the mark for a fee of roughly $500.  At the same time, a USA company delivered very official looking correspondence to our client charging $925 +$325 per class to renew the trade-mark – a fee that was significantly higher. 

When reading the fine print on the letter, it became apparent this is a private business that trolls trade-marks that are coming up for renewal.  The letter states the private business is not endorsed by the US government.  This company takes advantage of people by issuing these renewal letters at the same time an agent would be liaising with a client for renewal. 

In summary:  Please never pay any invoices related to trade-marks unless they originate from the agent of record.   If you have questions about your trade-mark registration fees, feel free to contact Luanne Schlosser, Registered Trade-mark Agent.