Let’s Take a Look

Interestingly, another one of these emails just landed in my inbox.

I’m unsure what trademark this indicates, so let’s unbox it now and see what we have.

The document sports an official-looking heading of Patents-Trademark Services addressed to me and Trademark Factory®, originating in Budapest, Hungary.

The scam is for one of our newer trademarks, “IF IT’S WORTH PROMOTING, IT’S WORTH PROTECTING®.” They want US$735 to publish my trademark registration details for one year.

Here is their message:

The trademark publication provides the name of trademark owners and product names on the Internet. It contains only paid, registered tradenames and designs with their USPTO registration numbers and classes.

Your data will be published for a term of one year upon receipt of payment. You will be notified in sufficient time to extend your registration. Publication on the Trademark Database Register ensures the registered party a worldwide publication on the Internet.

The publication is an elective service that neither substitutes the registration nor prolongs the validity of the trademarks with USPTO. The corporation doesn't assume any liability either for the accuracy or completeness of the registered information or for trademark protection. Changes will be made free of charge upon receipt of a written request.

If the trademark is partially or entirely assigned to another owner, the corporation must be informed in writing. Premature cancellation of publishing must be requested in writing.

They promise to display my trademark information on a website for $735, which does nothing for my business. Although it says “Registration of International Trademarks,” it’s still a misleading piece of garbage. You should ignore it before carefully crumpling it and tossing it in the trash bin.

While this is a worthless scam, it is pretty sophisticated in that they’re not lying when they tell you they will register your trademark. They inform you precisely what you will get with the expectation that nobody will read their nonsense and somebody will pay.

Don’t fall for this fraud. Make better use of your funds by trademarking in other jurisdictions or the brand elements you haven’t trademarked, like your logo, tagline, and name. Just don’t send these fraudsters any money.

Amazingly, despite our all-inclusive 100% guarantee of trademarking success, we still hear, “We thought this was an all-inclusive flat fee; why are you sending us more invoices?” from clients.

We aren’t sending these invoices. All-inclusive means just that, and any further invoices are from third parties using public information; we have nothing to do with these invoices.

Protect your brand, money, and yourself by choosing Trademark Factory® for guaranteed results. Let our professional trademark attorneys and specialized staff carry the load while you build your brand and reputation.

Contact us to learn more about what we can do for you.