Patent and Trademark Office

Thomas – Aug 17, 2020

Victim Location 19609

Type of a scam Government Agency Imposter

Veterans Making A Difference, non-profit, received a letter to renew our logo trademark. It was time sensitive and needed to be returned by April 4, 2020. I just located the letter on August 13, 2020 and signed the paperwork and sent it in. It came from the Patent and Trademark Office in Washington DC and I was suppose to return the letter to the New York Patent and Trademark Office. It said then a bill would come later that I would need to pay. I tried emailing the address and I didn’t receive a reply in over a week. Our Board lawyer went to the website and realized it was a SCAM. I quickly wrote a letter to both addresses (Washington DC and New York) asking them to remove our mailing address from their mailing list, and told them I was not paying the bill. I also informed them I would be reporting them to the Better Business Bureau.

Anne –

Victim Location 81301

Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill

Pending Trademark Cancellation by USPTO notice arrived in the mail from Patent and Trademark Office asking for a $925 fee to renew a trademark that is about to expire with renewal date Nov. 22, 2019. (Our trademark does not expire until 2021). By signing and returning this document, this company will invoice for payment and will start the "trademark maintenance process." When we contacted the official United States Patent and Trademark Office at https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/contact-us, we were told the letter we received is a scam, and that the only accurate info in that letter was our Registration Number. It will cost us $125 to renew directly with USPTO when the time comes.

Lucas –

Victim Location 28805

Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill

Our business received a letter telling us that our trademark was going to expire soon. At the top of the letter in huge letters is "Pending Trademark Cancellation by USPTO". For a fee of $925 for one class renewal and then another $325 for additional classes, your patent or trademark will be renewed. The letter also states that our trademark expires on in November, 2019. This business definitely wants you to believe that it’s affiliated with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and that immediate action is required, lest you lose your trademark.

However, when I go to the ACTUAL United States Patent and Trademark Office website and look up my trademark expiration date, it’s not until November, 2020. In small print at the bottom of the letter, it states that it’s a "private service company…that reminds companies when their trademarks are due for renewal." And also that it’s "…not connected to any of the government organizations".

It’s a blatant attempt to scare business owners into paying a third party to renew their trademark or patent.

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