Fraud

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Trademark professionals often warn our clients to be skeptical when they receive official seeming bills or notices offering pricey and unneeded trademark related services. These scams have been around for as long as I have been practicing trademark law. There are periodic attempts to combat the practice by our community with warnings (we blogged about the issue here), information (the USPTO maintains a blacklist and encourages trademark owners to email a copy of the notice and the envelope it came in to TMFeedback@uspto.gov in order to keep the list up-to-date) and lawsuits.

Whack-a-Mole Game at a CarnivalThis summer has seen another flurry of activity against the moles.

A few weeks ago the United States Patent and Trademark Office held a roundtable on fraudulent solicitations:

Numerous owners of U.S. trademark registrations, as well as applicants for such registrations, have been targeted by unscrupulous parties who extract their names from … USPTO databases and offer them services, often holding themselves out to be acting on behalf of the USPTO. In many instances, the services are never performed, or are performed in an incorrect manner that puts the registration at risk of cancellation. In addition, inflated fees may be charged for the alleged services.

Leason Ellis, a 25-attorney IP boutique firm based outside New York City, filed a lawsuit in 2012 against a scammer called USA Trademark Enterprises, which was eventually resolved by a consent decree. The firm sued again in 2013, this time against a renewal scam called Patent and Trademark Agency LLC. Last month the firm reportedly filed a new lawsuit against the similarly-named Patent and Trademark Association Inc.

If you are victimized by one of these con artists, we encourage you to take action both for yourself and for the good of the community. If you have incurred actual damages, talk to a lawyer about how to obtain reimbursement and whether you might be a good candidate for a class action lawsuit on behalf of other victims. Although your losses may not be enough to justify incurring legal fees, a successful class action lawsuit reimburses class representatives for their reasonable costs and covers the attorney fees as well. Think about it…

Paul Fling writes:

Fraud, deception, and unfair business practices are problems all companies and consumers are bound to come across. That is where the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) comes in. The FTC enforces federal consumer protection laws—in particular, laws focused on preventing fraud, deception, and unfair business practices. Largely, the FTC enforces federal antitrust and other unfair business practice laws to encourage fair competition in the marketplace and to keep consumer prices low.

U.S. Federal Trade Commission Building, Washington, D.C.Put simply, the FTC protects America’s consumers and promotes competition. For example, the FTC credits its anti-competitive antitrust enforcement efforts with improving access to health care—first, by helping prevent anti-competitive agreements that may raise health care prices, and second, by encouraging innovation in health care. Additionally, the FTC shields consumers from internet and telemarketing scams, price-fixing schemes, and even false and deceptive advertising. According to the FTC, its efforts benefit consumers in two crucial areas: their health and their economic well-being.

The FTC enforces over 70 laws. Those laws include acts that are familiar to many companies and consumers, such as the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Telemarketing Sale Rule, the Identity Theft Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Clayton Act. However, the FTC has some level of responsibility in enforcing laws in a much wider range of areas, such as trademarks, credit reporting, internet privacy, college scholarship fraud, money lending, underage drinking, and more. With respect to advertising, for example, the FTC keeps an especially close watch on ads regarding food, medications, dietary supplements, alcohol, and tobacco—including monitoring and writing reports that assess alcohol and tobacco marketing practices.

The Federal Trade Commission Act provides the FTC with power to prevent unfair competition and business practices, seek retributions for injuries to consumers, conduct investigations, and make legislative recommendations. Consequently, the FTC enforces many of its wide-reaching laws under the Federal Trade Commission Act. A full list of laws the FTC may enforce and other information regarding FTC enforcement can be found on the FTC’s website.

Paul Fling is a summer associate, based in the firm’s Minneapolis office.