A client forwarded me a recent letter about renewing their trademark registration from Trademark Renewal Services with an address at
1229 Chestnut Street, Front 1 #449
Philadelphia, PA 19107
See the image of their mailing below.
The document could easily be mistaken as coming from the government – the name, the look and feel of the document, the registration number.
The mailing is a scam because they sent it a full year before renewal could actually be filed. And because they lied about the renewal date and the registration date.
If this was a legitimate service at a reasonable value, why would they mask who they are, and why would they choose the odd (generic!) name of “Trademark Renewal Service”? Properly protecting trademarks – and trademark registrations – is more than just filling out a form. And for proper trademark registration renewals and Section 8 and 15 filings, calculating the dates and deadlines accurately is crucial.
Beware of such scams. Read the fine print. Contact your attorney. Report scams to the FTC and USPTO.
For more information, see USPTO’s WARNING: Non-USPTO Solicitations That May Resemble Official USPTO Communications
I got one in the mail today too. Red flag was no return address on the envelope and I actually have already been scammed once around my TM. The website also does not work when typed in.
Today, I received a letter in the mail identical to the letter shown in this article. It’s the most convincing scam I’ve ever seen, and I’ve encountered dozens over the years. I immediately recognized it as fraudulent because I had already renewed my trademark. The letter arrived on September 23, just days before my trademark’s September 27 renewal date. This relates to the urgency associated with the request.
I appreciate your ongoing support in identifying these scammers!
I’m glad you recognized the scam – thanks for sharing your experience.
Thank you very much for this PSA – I just got one in the mail here in Canada. They obviously time it well as we had some renewal deadlines / it is near front of mind lately.
1st. clue was we received it 5 days after the supposed deadline. Then their contact number didnt work properly, it said in Spanish I had chosen the incorrect option (which was the only option offered). A quick google and your result comes up, thankfully.
Thanks thanks thanks!
Same experience here. My company is in norway.
Recieved an identical letter, after “deadline”. I wrote a mail to them since i thought the letter was stuck in internal mail. Got a respond telling me i could just scan the letter with a signature and send it to them via email.
Got a bit suspicious and checked uspto.gov. Noticed that the letters deadline was 1 year earlier than earliest renewal date.
Found this post and im certain they tried to scam us.
Thank you
Thanks for sharing. Our company in Taiwan recently received exactly the same scam letter, and seeing your post gave us much more peace of mind.