Last month, the FTC announced a warning, and tips, regarding government imposter scams. A related FTC webpage features some good information for identifying such scams, and for how to report them.
Unfortunately, the FTC posts don’t reference scams targeting trademark owners based on the USPTO’s public records. These scams, for international registries and other worthless services, request large sums of money be wired to the offering party. And the solicitation is often made to mimic government correspondence.
While the USPTO did go after one such scam operator in the last few years, it is a shame that the USPTO and the FTC have not done more.
If you are interested in the topic, please contact the USPTO and/or the FTC. You can sign my petition (Request USPTO Investigation and Action Regarding Trademark Scams) here.
image from ftc.gov
