Fraudulent solicitations and invoices for trademark services are on the rise, inundating trademark applicants and registrants with offers to perform potentially unnecessary services. These solicitations often come in the form of invoices, with prominent false “due dates.” Alternatively, they look like official communications, on letterhead and with an envelope designed to make it appear like it comes from a government agency, and with a request for instructions and payment. The solicitations purport to offer a variety of services related to a specific trademark, including publication services, watch services, registration services, domain name registration services, renewal services, and more. They may come from entities located anywhere in the world, but are most commonly coming from entities that appear to be located in the U.S. or Europe. If you own registered trademarks or pending trademark applications, you will no doubt receive such solicitations if you have not already. When you do, you can disregard them as they usually seek payment for services that you do not need, or for which you have already paid, but it is sometimes hard to tell if they are legitimate.

For example, we have recently been asked about invoices from the “International Catalogue of Trademarks, TM-Edition.” Their invoices typically include a reproduction of a newly filed trademark and request payment of “registration costs” of $1,650 or more. The only services to be received for that payment, however, are a “listing in the TM-Edition” and a complimentary copy of the publication. Publications of this sort provide no benefit to trademark holders. Moreover, all registration fees should be paid directly to the relevant trademark office by trademark counsel who is representing the applicant in connection with the filing. Registration fees should never be paid to third parties, no matter how real the invoice looks.