Morrison Cohen Debuts New Cyber Watch Client Alert Series with “The Marks of a Trademark Scam”
Partners Jessica L. Lipson and Fred H. Perkins, co-chairs of Morrison Cohen’s Technology, Data & IP Practice, and Associates Tess Bonoli and Allison O’Hara introduced a new Client Alert series entitled “Morrison Cohen Cyber Watch: Navigating the Cyber Landscape Safely.” With technical insights from the firm’s Chief Information Security Officer, Thomas Catenaccio, their first Alert, “The Marks of a Trademark Scam,” discusses common trademark scam tactics and how to spot red flags. It is relevant to any company that holds a trademark application or registration.
The authors warn that threat actors often attempt to induce a company to pay unnecessary fees pertaining to a trademark application or registration, or to obtain sensitive personal information that will be used nefariously. Staying aware of USPTO communication practices and understanding common scam tactics are critical to protecting your business. Key distinguishing factors include:
- The USPTO will send communications to you and the attorney of record only, but they never send invoices by mail or email, and they never make phone calls asking for money.
- The USPTO does not send letters via physical mail or facsimile and does not make phone calls notifying trademark owners of upcoming deadlines.
- Emails from a @uspto.gov domain may be real USPTO correspondence, but keep an eye out for typos or variations in the domain. Even correspondence from @uspto.gov email addresses could be “spoofing” attempts, so keep an eye out for other red flags in such emails.
- The USPTO will always copy your attorney on email correspondence, so leaving your attorney off the email can be a tell-tale sign that the email didn’t actually come from the USPTO.
- The USPTO always gives a reasonable amount of time to make filings (usually three to six months). Tight deadlines and a sense of urgency aimed to spur you into immediate action are usually a red flag.
Our Technology, Data & IP team is available to assist clients with any questions regarding potential trademark scams, including confirming the legitimacy of a correspondence, verifying the next action to be taken with the USPTO or other foreign agency, and helping to report an incident to the USPTO.
For more examples of trademark scams and how to stay ahead of them, read our Client Alert below.
Contacts
- Jessica L. Lipson Partner & Co-Chair, Technology, Data & IP
- jlipson@morrisoncohen.com
- Fred H. Perkins Partner & Co-Chair, Technology, Data & IP
- fhperkins@morrisoncohen.com
- Tess Bonoli Associate
- tbonoli@morrisoncohen.com
- Allison O'Hara Associate
- aohara@morrisoncohen.com
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Our Technology, Data & IP Practice helps you design long-term strategies for the protection of your intellectual property assets, maximize your technology infrastructure and comply with the myriad privacy and data security laws facing business today. Where necessary, we also develop and implement cost-efficient litigation strategies to best protect and enhance your business, now and in the future.
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