Low fee trademark attorneys, services, spam emails and spoof USPTO calls are NOT YOUR TRADEMARK VALENTINE!

Dear Client, please be aware of the hidden threat to your business name.

Trademark scams are on the rise, targeting small businesses and startups with false promises and deceptive tactics.

These fraudsters exploit the complexities of trademark registration, offering “low-cost” services that either charge exorbitant fees for unnecessary work or steal personal information outright.

There are 5 types of fraudulent trademark scams.

1) Low cost attorneys. Trademarks have their complexities. Every single one. Do the math. Our staff time is ~10 hours, per order. Our databases costs are ~150-$200.

Specialized trademark attorneys bill at $400 to $600 an hour. They ALL outsource the very needed comprehensive clearance legal research, as this work takes 6-7 hours to write strategies, execute, analyze and sort for conflicts and similarities. Cost to the attorney, you ask? Figure $900 to $1200. (If they are smart, they’d use TradeMark Express for $600. But, that is another article!) These 600 to 800 page reports covering Federal trademarks, State trademarks and Common Law (first use) need to be re-analyzed by the trademark attorney. IF LEGALLY CLEAR, a trademark application is written and submitted. Figure the actual attorney time at 5 hours + $900 to $1200 for research. Do the math.

2) Attorneys dabbling at trademarks. Frankly, these are the people you find at the top of the internet paid ads. They do not buy professional comprehensive research reports, they DIY it all the way. NOT to your advantage either. This is one of those, what you don’t know, so you don’t get situations. Instead, they spend :30 punching around the USPTO web site, enough to cover their posteriors. They will find the obvious stuff, that may block you, but their objective here is to look at the one place the USPTO is going to look, to see if your name logo or slogan ate LEGALLY CLEAR.

By statute, the USPTO cannot check the 1.5 million State trademarks or 30 million common law, first use, marks. These attorneys do not know enough about trademarks to truly help you. For 60% of their clients, they will discover problems within the next few YEARS. Feel lucky? Use a dabbler attorney and wonder. IF your mark is truly infringing another, they have 10 years to cease and desist you. (BTW, all these attorneys are still more expensive than TradeMark Express but you’ll get 30% of the work you truly need. Yes, another article!)

3) Trademark services. Please scroll down to see past articles. The issue with our trademark service competitors is you really are NOT getting a true deep comprehensive clearance research report to base your trademark filing upon. The flimsy # of pages of the report is a big tell. Try asking. When they finally answer, they’ll proudly say something like 5, 10, 20 or 50 pages. I have never understood why they are so proud of something they obviously do not want to disclose. Go figure. Weird.

Most do not have trademark attorneys to legally analyze the results. Some do not have the capacity to do State trademark research, as if staying out of a State is no big deal if you receive a cease and desist. You will pay less, but their service I can say with great surety is WORTHLESS.

4) Endless spam emails. Take a guess how many of these ever offer, or even know how to do ANY research, let alone comprehensive clearance research? NONE. IF you need a company to send unfettered emails to everyone on Earth for you, then hire them for that. Nothing else. The attorneys who do this are the most unethical, craven. Those who impersonate the USPTO are all foreign based scams.

5) Spoof phone calls. These have fooled even our sharpest clients, even experts at preventing business fraud. Just have knowledge the USPTO will NEVER call you the first few months after you file a new trademark. I’d like to say NEVER, EVER, but there is an exception in the 7th-8th month an examining attorney may call you to ask for a disclaimer of an obvious non-ownable word on your word trademark application. As for our Canadian clients, no one knows. CIPO has been missing in “action” for 5 years now. (Another article…)

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The result?

Business owners lose money, face identity theft, or risk having their trademark applications mishandled.

As the USPTO warns:

“Scammers know that the trademark process can be daunting for first-time applicants and how protective brand owners are of their logos and designs, and they take advantage. They use your worries against you to obtain your personal information through ‘low-cost’ logo design services, offers of a ‘guaranteed’ trademark registration, or fake attorney services.”

At TradeMark Express, we understand the importance of protecting your brand from these threats. A legitimate trademark service should provide comprehensive research, full transparency, and accurate guidance—not false guarantees or misleading claims.

Before hiring a trademark service, make sure they:

 Conduct a comprehensive trademark search, including Federal, State, and Common Law databases for similar marks in sound, appearance, and meaning.

 Provide a detailed research report (600-800 pages) to ensure due diligence.

 Ensure that, if you’re not using an attorney, you or your company is listed as the correspondent in USPTO filings.

 Only offer legitimate trademark services, such as trademark filing, monitoring, and renewal—without unnecessary add-ons or fake guarantees.

Don’t let scammers put your business at risk. Protect your brand by choosing a trusted trademark service.

Get a Free Consultation

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Thank you,

Chris DeMassa, Founder

650-948-0530

Email: staff@tmexpress.com

Web Site: tmexpress.com

Order: https://www.tmexpress.com/order-my-trademark

Creative Naming – http://miramark.com/nameit/

Zoom Anytime – https://bit.ly/TradeMarkZoomMeeting

Calendly Meeting – https://calendly.com/tmexpress/15min

TM®SM Crash Course – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gWaAJR5L18

12 Expert Trademark Attorney Network Included.

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdemassa/ 

Ask about our $1000 Trademark Challenge.

Blog Articles – https://tmexpress.com/trademark-blog/

Testimonials – https://tmexpress.com/testimonials

TrustPilot – https://bit.ly/TrustpilotRating

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TradeMark Express: Beware of Spoofed Spam

Calls Targeting Trademark Applicants. Here’s an

actual transcript.

Dear Client, we want to alert you about a new scam targeting new USPTO trademark applicants.

This particular scam involves spoofed spam calls from individuals posing as USPTO officials, attempting to trick trademark owners into providing sensitive information or making unnecessary payments. 

One of our clients recently received a voicemail claiming to be from the USPTO regarding their pending trademark application.

Here’s a transcript of the call:

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SPOOFED CALL VOICEMAIL TRANSCRIPT:

Dear [Your Name],

I’m Jimmy Anderson, Assistant to the IP Examiner Attorney at the USPTO. I’m reaching out regarding your trademark application, which is currently marked as “Pending” in the government database due to an incomplete classification. 

We want to make you aware that another applicant has submitted a conflicting application and has successfully completed all required steps to secure rights to this mark. To ensure your trademark is protected and to avoid any potential complications, it is critical that you finalize the classification by the end of today.

If the classification remains incomplete, the rights to the mark may be transferred to the new applicant.

For further assistance and to complete the classification, please contact Examiner Attorney Edward Williams directly at (571) 360-6753.

Sincerely,

Jimmy Anderson

Assistant to the IP Examiner Attorney

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What Makes This Scam Convincing?

Several parts of this call sound legitimate, which is why it’s important to be cautious:

• The Name Drop: The call references a specific trademark application, which may make you feel like it’s personalized and urgent.

• Claiming Incomplete Classification: Scammers often use technical-sounding terms like “incomplete classification” to confuse trademark owners.

• Urgency and Pressure: The message warns that your trademark rights could be lost if you don’t act immediately, a tactic designed to create panic and rush you into making hasty decisions.

• A Fake USPTO Phone Number: The phone number provided in the voicemail may seem real, but remember, the USPTO will never ask for direct phone calls to resolve trademark issues.

If you receive a call like this, or any odd USPTO solicitation do not engage with it. Instead, call us or contact the USPTO directly through their official channels. Their direct email is TMScams .

As a reminder, the USPTO will never ask you for personal or payment information over the phone.

If you suspect you’ve been targeted by a scam, you can report it to the USPTO. For further information on how to protect yourself, read their guidelines on identifying scams here.

If you’re ever uncertain about the legitimacy of a communication, reach out to our team at TradeMark Express. We’re here to help guide you through the trademark process and protect your intellectual property.

Stay vigilant and protect your trademark rights. 

Sincerely,

The TradeMark Express Team

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Kind regards,

Shannon Moore

Sr. Researcher; In-House Writer

Correspondence via email only: shannon@tmexpress.com   

TradeMark Express Blog: https://tmexpress.com/trademark-blog 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonmooresagebright/ 

650-948-0530