Trademark Scams: How to Spot Fake USPTO Notices and Protect Your Brand

The envelope looks official. It carries an eagle seal, references your exact trademark serial number, and demands payment within ten days to maintain your registration. The language is urgent, the formatting is bureaucratic, and the consequences of inaction sound severe. There is just one problem: the United States Patent and Trademark Office never sent it.

Trademark scams are among the most persistent and profitable forms of intellectual property fraud in the United States. The USPTO currently lists 79 known scam entities on its official fraudulent solicitations page — 68 based in the US and 11 operating internationally from countries including Slovakia, Canada, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom. These operations target trademark applicants and registrants with fake invoices, fabricated government notices, and bogus service offers, collectively costing victims thousands of dollars each year.

The good news: every one of these scams follows a recognizable pattern, and the verification steps to confirm whether a notice is legitimate take less than five minutes.

How Scammers Find You

Understanding where scammers get their information is the first step toward recognizing their tactics.

Every trademark application filed with the USPTO becomes public record the moment it is assigned a serial number. The USPTO's Trademark Status & Document Retrieval (TSDR) system makes the following information freely accessible to anyone:

Data Available in TSDR	How Scammers Exploit It
Applicant/owner name and mailing address	Send fraudulent invoices directly to your physical address
Serial number and registration number	Include in scam letters to appear legitimate and specific
Filing date and registration date	Time renewal scams to coincide with actual maintenance windows
Attorney of record	Reference in letters to demonstrate apparent insider knowledge
Goods and services description	Cite your specific goods to make the communication seem credible
Status and prosecution history	Target applicants who recently received office actions — a moment of vulnerability

This public availability is by design. Trademark registration is a notice system — the entire point is to let the public know who claims what marks. But that same transparency gives scammers a ready-made target list. Within days of filing an application, many trademark owners begin receiving unsolicited mail, email, and even phone calls from entities that have nothing to do with the USPTO.

The 7 Most Common Trademark Scams

1. Fake Government Notices and Official-Looking Invoices

The most widespread trademark scam involves correspondence designed to mimic official USPTO communications. These letters use names carefully chosen to sound governmental:

• "United States Trademark Protection Office"
• "U.S. Patent and Trademark Bureau"
• "Trademark Compliance Center"
• "U.S. Trademark Compliance Office"
• "Patent & Trademark Bureau"
• "United States Trademark Maintenance Service"
• "Trademark Office Ltd."

These notices typically demand payment for fabricated requirements: "trademark registration fees," "compliance fees," or "recording fees" that do not exist in the USPTO's actual fee schedule. They often include official-looking seals, reference your real serial number, and use urgent language such as "respond within 10 days or lose your trademark rights."

None of these entities have any connection to the federal government.

2. Unsolicited Trademark Monitoring Invoices

You receive an invoice — sometimes formatted to look like a bill you already owe — for trademark monitoring services you never requested. A common price point is $895 per year, presented as though it were a standard fee rather than an unsolicited commercial offer.

The USPTO does not offer trademark monitoring services. Any invoice for monitoring that you did not specifically request from a known provider is a scam or, at best, a deceptive marketing tactic.

Legitimate trademark monitoring is a real and valuable service, but it comes from providers you have chosen and contracted with directly. If you receive a monitoring invoice from a company you have never heard of, discard it. Tools like GleanMark provide transparent, subscription-based monitoring where you control exactly what you pay for and can verify your account at any time — the opposite of an unsolicited invoice arriving in the mail.

3. Renewal and Maintenance Scams

Renewal scams are particularly effective because they exploit real deadlines. Trademark registrations do require periodic maintenance filings — a Section 8 Declaration between the 5th and 6th year, and combined Section 8 and 9 filings every ten years. Scammers know this timeline because your registration date is public. They send invoices timed to arrive shortly before your actual maintenance window, demanding fees that are inflated well above the official USPTO amounts.

Because the timing aligns with a real obligation, even careful trademark owners can be caught off guard.

4. Domain Name Registration Scams

An email arrives warning that a third party is attempting to register domain names containing your trademark — yourbrand.net, yourbrand.org, yourbrand.co, and a dozen variations. The sender offers to block these registrations and secure the domains for you, usually for several hundred dollars.

The urgency is fabricated. The "other party" attempting to register these domains does not exist. No legitimate domain registrar contacts trademark owners this way. If you are concerned about domain squatting, the appropriate response is a UDRP complaint or a direct check with an accredited registrar — not a payment to an unknown entity that contacted you first.

5. Fake Cease-and-Desist Letters

Scammers send cease-and-desist letters using the names and branding of real law firms, claiming your trademark infringes on another mark. The letter offers to "resolve" the dispute for a settlement payment, typically a few thousand dollars — less than the cost of litigation, making it tempting to pay.

Legitimate cease-and-desist letters come from attorneys with verifiable bar numbers and real firm addresses. If you receive a C&D that demands payment to a generic address or payment processor, verify the attorney's identity through your state bar association before taking any action. For more on enforcing and defending trademark rights, understanding how real C&D processes work is essential context.

6. "Expedited Processing" Offers

Shortly after filing a trademark application, you receive an offer from a supposed attorney or agency promising to "expedite" your application through the USPTO for an additional fee. The implication is that your application is stuck in a queue and that, for a price, it can be moved to the front.

The USPTO does not offer expedited trademark examination in the way that patent prosecution can be accelerated through prioritized examination programs. The examining attorney assigned to your application will review it in the normal course. There is no fee you can pay to a third party to change this timeline. If you want to understand realistic processing times, the USPTO's own fee and processing guide is the authoritative source.

7. Caller ID Spoofing

The most brazen variant: fraudsters spoof the USPTO's actual phone numbers — including the Trademark Assistance Center number (800-786-9199) and the main USPTO switchboard (571-272-1000) — and demand immediate payment by phone.

The USPTO never calls to demand payment. The USPTO never asks for payment via wire transfer, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or payment apps. Any phone call demanding immediate payment for trademark-related fees, regardless of what the caller ID displays, is fraudulent.

Official USPTO Fees vs. Scam Fees: A Side-by-Side Comparison

The single most useful tool for identifying a scam is comparing the amount demanded against the USPTO's published fee schedule. Here is how official fees compare to what scammers typically charge:

Action	Official USPTO Fee (2025)	Typical Scam Fee	What to Watch For
New application (TEAS Plus, per class)	$250	$500 - $1,500+	Fees dramatically above published rates
New application (TEAS Standard, per class)	$350	$500 - $1,500+	Bundled "service fees" not itemized
Section 8 Declaration (per class)	$325	$500 - $1,000+	Invoices timed near 5-6 year window
Section 9 Renewal (per class)	$325	$500 - $1,000+	Invoices timed near 10-year renewal
Combined Section 8 + 9 (per class)	$650	$800 - $2,000+	Total far exceeding official combined cost
Section 15 Incontestability (per class)	$250	Bundled with inflated fees	Presented as mandatory (it is optional)
Trademark monitoring (annual)	N/A — USPTO does not offer this	~$895/year	Any "monitoring" invoice from an unknown entity

Key rule: If the amount does not match the USPTO fee schedule, the notice did not come from the USPTO.

Red Flags Checklist: 10 Signs a Trademark Notice Is Fake

Use this checklist to evaluate any trademark-related communication you did not expect:

1. The sender is not the USPTO. Official correspondence comes only from the "United States Patent and Trademark Office" with an Alexandria, Virginia address. Names like "U.S. Trademark Bureau" or "Patent & Trademark Office" are imitations.

2. The email address does not end in @uspto.gov. Every official USPTO email uses this domain. No exceptions.

3. The fees do not match the official fee schedule. Cross-reference any amount against the current fee schedule.

4. The notice creates extreme urgency. Language like "respond within 10 days or lose your rights" is a pressure tactic. The USPTO provides reasonable deadlines, typically six months for office action responses.

5. Payment is requested via wire transfer, gift cards, or payment apps. The USPTO accepts payment through its own electronic filing system (TEAS) and by credit card or deposit account. It does not ask for Western Union transfers or Apple gift cards.

6. The notice references services you never requested. Monitoring, "compliance," or "recording" services from an entity you have no relationship with.

7. The communication arrived by phone demanding immediate payment. The USPTO does not call to demand payment. Even if the caller ID shows a legitimate USPTO number, it can be spoofed.

8. The return address or website is not uspto.gov. Scammers use similar-looking domains. Check carefully for subtle misspellings or different top-level domains.

9. The letter offers to "expedite" your application. There is no expedited trademark examination track available through third parties.

10. The notice references a "penalty" for non-response. The USPTO does not impose penalties for failing to respond to routine correspondence. The consequence of missing a deadline is abandonment of the application — not a fine.

How to Verify Any Trademark Communication

When in doubt, these four steps will confirm whether a communication is legitimate:

Step 1 — Check TSDR. Visit tsdr.uspto.gov and look up your serial number or registration number. Every official office action, notice, and correspondence appears in the Documents tab. If the notice you received does not appear in TSDR, it did not come from the USPTO.

Step 2 — Call the Trademark Assistance Center. The official number is 1-800-786-9199. You can reach a live examiner who can verify any communication and confirm your trademark's current status. This is the most definitive verification available.

Step 3 — Verify the sender's email domain. Official USPTO emails come exclusively from addresses ending in @uspto.gov. Any other domain — even one that looks similar — is not the USPTO.

Step 4 — Check the scam list. The USPTO maintains a list of known fraudulent entities at uspto.gov/trademarks/protect/examples-fraudulent-misleading-solicitations. If the sender appears on this list, report it and discard the notice.

What to Do If You Have Been Scammed

If you have already paid or provided information to a fraudulent entity, take these steps immediately:

1. Report to the USPTO. Forward the scam communication to TMScams@uspto.gov. The USPTO tracks these reports and uses them to update its fraudulent solicitations list and pursue enforcement.

2. File an FTC complaint. Report the fraud at reportfraud.ftc.gov. Under the FTC's Government and Business Impersonation Rule, penalties can reach $53,088 per violation.

3. Contact your bank. If you made a payment, initiate a chargeback or fraud claim immediately. The sooner you act, the better your chances of recovery.

4. Notify your trademark attorney. If you have an attorney of record, alert them so they can verify your application or registration has not been compromised.

5. Check TSDR for unauthorized changes. Verify that your trademark's correspondence address, attorney of record, and status have not been altered. If you receive a "change of correspondence" notification you did not authorize, forward it to TEAS@uspto.gov immediately — this could indicate account hijacking.

6. Document everything. Save the original communication, any payment receipts, and all related correspondence. This documentation supports both your FTC complaint and any bank dispute.

One documented case involved a single victim losing over $20,000 to trademark scam operations before realizing the communications were fraudulent. The cumulative cost across all victims is almost certainly in the millions annually, though precise figures are difficult to track because many incidents go unreported.

The Bigger Picture: Trademark Fraud Inside and Out

The external scams described in this article are only half of the trademark fraud problem. The USPTO is simultaneously fighting internal filing fraud — fake applications, hijacked attorney credentials, and specimen farms operated by foreign entities seeking to obtain fraudulent registrations.

In August 2025, the USPTO issued a landmark 707-page sanctions order terminating more than 52,000 trademark registrations tied to Shenzhen Chenhaiyun Technology Co., Ltd. and its subsidiaries. The fraud methods included credential hijacking (using real US attorneys' names and bar numbers without authorization), fabricated specimens of use, shared USPTO.gov accounts, and forged attorney signatures. At one point, 256 trademark applications were filed through TEAS in a single day — most within seconds of each other — for nonsensical marks like YBLMYWLW and KXGWOVZZZII.

These two forms of fraud are connected. The public nature of trademark filings that enables external scammers to target applicants is the same system that fraudulent filers exploit to obtain bogus registrations. And some fraudulent registrants may themselves be sources of scam solicitations targeting legitimate owners.

For a deeper look at how the USPTO is fighting internal trademark fraud — including the mandatory US counsel rule, directed audits, and the Shenzhen termination case — read our companion article: How the USPTO Fights Trademark Fraud.

Staying Vigilant: Building a Scam-Resistant Workflow

The best defense against trademark scams is a simple verification habit. Every time you receive any trademark-related communication you were not expecting:

1. Check TSDR first. If the notice is not reflected in your trademark's electronic file, treat it with suspicion.
2. Compare fees against the official schedule. Any mismatch is an immediate red flag.
3. Verify the sender. @uspto.gov emails, Alexandria VA mail, and the 800-786-9199 phone number are the only legitimate channels.
4. Know your deadlines. Understanding your trademark's lifecycle and maintenance schedule means scammers cannot create false urgency around dates you already know.

If you are managing multiple trademarks, tracking renewal deadlines and monitoring your portfolio through a trusted platform like GleanMark — which tracks same-business-day updates across 13.9 million trademark records — means you always know the real status of your registrations. When a scam letter arrives claiming your trademark needs urgent attention, you can verify in seconds whether that claim has any basis in reality.

Trademark scams thrive on confusion, urgency, and the gap between what an applicant knows and what the letter claims. Close that gap with verification, and the scam falls apart every time.