BEWARE OF BADDIES ASKING FOR MONEY

The UK Patent Office has just issued a fresh warning against companies that write to patent and trade mark applicants, offering services of dubious value or making what appear to be misleading requests for fees. These companies mail applicants whose patent or trade mark applications have been published in the bulletins of the European Patent Office, the World Intellectual Property Organization and OHIM, the European Community's trade mark office. They usually invite payment of a fee to put the patent or trade mark application on a spurious register which, it transpires, is not connected with any IP rights granting authority and has no legal significance.

Three companies that have been doing this are the Institut (sic) of Commerce, Trade and Commerce (Switzerland), ZDR-Datenregister GmbH (Frankfurt) and the Company for Publications and Information Anstalt, Liechtenstein. The UK Patent Office says: if you get one of these demands email Ceri Carter (patents) or Joan Hopkins (trade marks) or phone them on +44 (0)1633 814557 or +44 1633 811050. The IPKat says: "Small and medium-sized inventors and trade mark owners have quite enough to worry about without being ripped off by these scams".

For non-official and misleading IP registration and protection companies click here, here and here
For fraudulent invention promotion businesses click here and here
Think you're being set up for a scam? Contact Scambusters or the National Inventor Fraud Center