We have seen a wave of fraudulent emails in which the sender tries to convince business owners that another party is about to register the recipient's brand name(s). These messages mislead the business owner that if they don't act quickly, they will lose rights to the name. The emails are originating from addresses such as xxxxx@usptotrademarksus.com or xxxxx@trademarkomega.com.
Please take caution and do not respond to these emails as they are attempts to obtain information. More importantly, the information contained in these emails is false. Here is an example:
Hello ______________
Hope you are doing well.
You're receiving this email from the legal department of Trademark Omega.
An applicant is intending to file an application with the USPTO for the trademark registration of the brand name “XXXXX” from North Carolina. While searching for this brand name, your information appeared. According to online research, your brand is not registered with the USPTO and anyone can register this brand name under their information.
Since the USPTO treats applications on a first-come, first-served basis, the other applicant will be respected if you are not using the brand name " XXXXX " in commerce and are unwilling to register the trademark so.
We would appreciate it if you can revert to us ASAP, in case of no objection is raised from you, so the other applicant will be allowed to begin their registration following the standard examination and filing procedure with USPTO.
However, there's a bit of a time-sensitive issue. Another applicant is also looking to trademark the same business name as yours under their ownership, and if we don't move forward with you to register with USPTO for trademarking, they could have federal rights and you will lose rights to use this name legally and they can file a case against you they can own your profit since they have rights of the brand name.
As per the Act of 1946 §§ 1051 et seq, it is mandatory to register your mark to hold the ownership rights federally.
We are looking forward to your response.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a statement regarding similar scams for reference.
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