Alert: Misleading Trademark Notices and Solicitations

CLIENT ALERT

MISLEADING TRADEMARK NOTICES AND SOLICITATIONS

Recently, one of our clients received a misleading notice and solicitation from a company calling themselves Glotrade S.R.O ("Glotrade"). The solicitation from Glotrade appeared to be an official looking invoice and even contained a copy of the client's logo. The solicitation looked like a real invoice and asserted that the client owed Glotrade over two thousand dollars. None of our clients owe Glotrade, or any other third party company anything related to their trademark application, registration, or any other intellectual property work.

Companies like Glotrade send out false and misleading notifications and solicitations that appear to be legitimate invoices. These companies use the USPTO public databases to find patent and trademark applicants to solicit. Their solicitations often appear to look official, appear as invoices, include inflated prices or have "past due" fees, some of these solicitations even make it seem like the law requires the recipient to pay these fees.

Solicitations may refer to your trademark, application serial number, registration number or logo. Some of these companies even include the words "United States," "U.S.," "Trademark," "Patent," "Registration," or "Office" in the company name or letterhead.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") is aware that companies, such as Glotrade, are sending these misleading solicitations to patent and trademark applicants. Unfortunately, the USPTO is not an enforcement agency and therefore, is unable to prevent these companies from sending these solicitations.

While working with Abrams Fensterman, the only legitimate invoices that you will receive related to any patent or trademark applications (or legal work), will be invoices from Abrams Fensterman. At Abrams Fensterman, we pay ALL of your USPTO fees, and any other application-related expenses, on your behalf. Accordingly, your filing or renewal fees will be included in your Abrams Fensterman bills.

Here is a list of companies that, according to the USPTO, are known to send misleading solicitations:

Brand Registration Office (Trademark Selection Edition) (Washington, DC)

GBO, Inc., Trademark and Patent Dep. (Miami, FL)

GLOPAT Global Patents & Trademarks (Bratislava, Slovak Republic)

GLOTRADE (New York, NY)

Intellectual Property Agency Ltd. (London, U.K.)

Intellectual Property Services USA Incorporated (Alexandria, VA)

IOPR - Intellectual Office Property Register (Beaverton, OR)

IP Direct - Registration of the International Trademark (Czech Republic)

IPTA Registration of the International Trademark (Brno, Czech Republic)

IPTI - International Patent & Trademark Index (Czech Republic)

IPTO International Patent & Trademark Organization (Brno, Czech Republic)

ITR Trademark Publication (Miami, FL)

P.T.M.A. Patent and Trademark Association (New York, NY)

Patent & Trademark Agency (New York, NY)

Patent & Trademark Bureau (Philadelphia, PA)

Patent & Trademark Office (299 Park Ave., New York, NY)

Patent & Trademark Office (555 Madison Ave., New York, NY)

Patent & Trademark Office (Jersey City, NJ)

Patent & Trademark Resource Center (Seattle, Woodinville, & Bothell, WA)

Patent and Trademark Organization (New York, NY)

Patent Trademark Register

RPT Servis - Registration of the International Trademark (Czech Republic)

TM Collection (Szombathely, Hungary)

TM Edition (Szentendre, Hungary)

TM-DB Register of Protected Trademarks (Minneapolis, MN)

TM-DB Register of Protected Trademarks (Pearland, TX)

TM-DB Register of Protected Trademarks (Washington, DC)

TM-DB Register of Protected Trademarks (Wilmington, DE)

TPP - Trademark & Patent Publications (Poland)

Trademark and Patent Office (Los Angeles, CA)

Trademark Compliance Center (Alexandria, VA)

Trademark Compliance Center (Washington, DC)

Trademark Compliance Office (Arlington, VA)

Trademark Office Ltd. (New York, NY)

Trademark Registration and Monitoring Office (Intellectual Property Rights Recordation Alert) (Los Angeles, CA)

Trademark Registration and Monitoring Office (Past Due Notice) (Los Angeles, CA)

Trademark Renewal Service (New York, NY)

Trademark Renewal Service (Washington, DC)

Trademark Safeguard - Trademark Monitoring Service (New York, NY)

U.S. Trademark Compliance Office (Wilmington, DE)

U.S. Trademark Compliance Service (Phoenix, AZ)

United States Trademark Maintenance Service (Arizona)

United States Trademark Registration Office (Los Angeles, CA)

USTM Information Services (Idaho Falls, ID)

WDTP Registration of International Trademark (Praha, Czech Rep.)

IPT World Patents Trademarks (Bratislava, Slovak Republic)

World Organization for Trademarks (WOTRA) (Hungary) (NEW)

WPAT World Patents Trademarks (Bratislava, Slovak Republic)

Please let us know if you receive a misleading solicitation from any company, including those on this list, relating to your trademark or patent application.

For more information on the misleading notices and solicitations, please contact Philip Hammarberg, Esq. or Stephanie Nott, Esq. or any Abrams Fensterman intellectual property attorney at (516) 328-2300.

Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Formato, Ferrara, Wolf & Carone, LLP

3 Dakota Drive, Suite 300

Lake Success, NY 11042

Tel: (516) 328-2300 | Fax: (516) 328-6638

Philip Hammarberg, Esq. -- phammarberg@abramslaw.com

Stephanie Nott, Esq. -- nott@abramslaw.com

website: www.abramslaw.com

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