QLS has recently been alerted to instances of a trade mark attorney scam impersonating law firms/legal practitioners.
The scam emails typically:
- impersonate legitimate trade mark attorneys or trade mark lawyers.
- include false or misleading information about Australian trade mark law.
- falsely claim that a third party has instructed the scammer to apply for trade mark registration of the recipient's business name.
- falsely suggest that their alleged client will apply for a trade mark for the recipient's business name within 24-48 hours unless the recipient contacts them.
- claim that the alleged client is a startup, but their "research" has identified the recipient as the established user of the trade mark.
- offer services to the recipient to help protect their trade mark rights.
- claim that their "company policy" is to give the recipient the opportunity to apply for the trade mark.
- invite the recipient to call the scammer to prevent the threatened third-party application from occurring.[1]
If you (or your clients) receive a suspicious or unexpected communication about a trade mark or other intellectual property right, you should:
- Verify the communication is legitimate before responding or making any payments; and
- If in doubt: check with IP Australia, or contact your trusted trade mark adviser or lawyer.
Instances of the scam should be reported to IP Australia here and to the national body Scamwatch.gov.au.
For further information:
[1] See: https://mirailegal.au/blog/tm-scams
