Business owners and individuals seeking to register a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have long been targeted by scammers. When an application for trademark registration is submitted, the owner's name and contact information become public record, and scammers are targeting applicants with increasing frequency, capitalizing on the availability of that information. 

Previously, scammers primarily relied on sending written notices, often designed to mimic USPTO notices, but they are increasingly using spoofed numbers when contacting applicants by phone so that the call looks like it's coming from the USPTO. The scammers use this to get money and personal information out of the applicants. 

There are a few things to know about how the USPTO will and will not contact applicants:

• If an applicant is represented by an attorney, the USPTO will never directly contact the applicant and will never request personal information or payment over the phone
• When contacted by someone claiming to be from the USPTO, an applicant should not provide any information or payment over the phone, even if the phone number looks to link back to the USPTO 
• If an applicant does answer a phone call from someone claiming to be from the USPTO, the USPTO recommends hanging up and contacting the Trademark Assistance Center, to confirm whether the call actually came from the USPTO
• Applicants who are not represented by counsel should be particularly vigilant in confirming any correspondence or phone call they receive is, in fact, from the USPTO

The USPTO maintains a number of helpful resources, including an active list of frequent scams, companies to look out for, and additional recommendations to reference if someone is concerned they may have been scammed. You can also always reach out to our office with any questions.