Hello Client, eleven days ago was the SuperBowl. It is sports pinnacle event of “fairplay”, “good faith” and “good sportsmanship”fun. In our professional lives we want to emulate sports. Build a better business. Beat our competitors. We strive to succeed. Pride is taken, as we build what we hope to be generational wealth. Well, at least pay the rent…I’d like be positive when asked about competitors. I’d like to stress our strengths -like in the business owners in this Alignable discussion group –https://www.alignable.com/groups/startup-business-group/1622377-1708270652 This missive is about TRADEMARKENGINE’s trademark monitoring service subscription fees.Shawn Plummer credit card statement also at:
https://www.annuityexpertadvice.com/trademark-engine-review/
WORTHLESS TRADEMARK MONITORING SUBSCRIPTION FEES.Trademark monitoring picks up NEW trademark filings, which just happened. Monitoring isthe next step AFTER a comprehensive legal search is done against all EXISTING Federal and State trademarks. Trademark Engine’s great omission is ignoring the 30 million existing names/logos/slogans in USA commerce, like they do not exist. Normally, a comprehensive legal search is done, THEN trademark monitoring is started. Starting monitoring of the ~2000 new trademark filings every day is WORTHLESS to 95% of new business start-ups. Monitoring is useful for those in very competitive fields, usually when products are sold. Most small business start-ups do not need monitoring at all.In any case, the Trademark Engine offers 10 days of free trademark monitoring, then unless cancelled, an automatic charge of $175 per quarter for endless trademark monitoring. The “getcha” is you “gotta” call the right department to cancel. Good luck.They seem to hardly ever be in the office or ever return calls. Complaint after complaint document how hard it is reach this part of Trademark Engine. Messages are not returned.The practice really isn’t an example of “good faith”. Thus, the practice seems intentional.
Business owners are busy people. People are not aware what is going on. They forget to persist. When client’s give up, Trademark Engine makes more $.One person kept at it. Please seeShawn Plummer’s credit card statement above, (also at https://www.annuityexpertadvice.com/trademark-engine-review/). Mr. Plummer was charged $175 x6x = $1050 for unnecessary Trademark Engine trademark monitoring services for his Annuity Expert trademark filing.READ THE COLLABORATING SERVICE REVIEWSTrademark Engine’s monitoring overcharges are a consistent complaint over the years.Please search the word “MONITOR” in their reviews at Trustpilot(https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.trademarkengine.com?stars=1 and https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.trademarkengine.com?stars=2),and BBB (https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/houston/profile/trademarkconsultant/trademark-engine-llc-0915-90044544).Also, please be careful with the 5-Star reviews.
Trademark Engine captures these reviews as soon as people order, before their credit cards and intellectual property is even considered to be legally clear by the USPTO in 9 months, (3.5 million marks), or 10 years by others with Common Law and State trademark rights, (26.5 million marks in the USA).Why wouldn’t anyone happy when they think they just saved $2500 over hiring a trademark attorney, while paying just $49 or $99? Too good to be true?Trademark Engine tasks some staff members to call clients and ask for a nice review. At the BBB, most of the 5-Star reviews seem to be written by Trademark Engine staff members themselves. In one case a Trademark Engine staff member is thanked by name as being a “SHE”, then another review as a “HE”. As to the BBB, a client has to be really mad to seek out the BBB and give a bad review. A client would have to be from another planet to go to the BBB to give a positive review. It is my opinion – whatever that is worth -the positive BBB Trademark Engine reviews may have been written by Trademark Engine staff members. I plan to submit a whistleblowers complaint at Trustpilot and the BBB.
Of course, I cannot be sure, but c’mon!
UP FRONT DUBIOUS TRADEMARK ENGINE CHOICES: $99 + $99 + $59 = $257.Yes, Trademark Engine has extra fees beyond their heavily advertised “too low to be true”$49 and $99 fee. These fees deserve note. Please see Shawn Plummer’s credit card statement above. All these fees were charged on the same day Shawn hired TrademarkEngine.1) $99 Office Action Assurance. How is it known now that the USPTO will issue anOffice Action refusal, before you even apply for a new trademark? The trademark application process takes at least 9 months before an Examining Attorney even looks at your application. Yes, there’s a good chance you will get an Office Action refusal becauseTrademark Engine is an automated trademark filer. This is a premature charge. A fair question is if people receive a refund if their trademark is accepted by the USPTO?2) $99 Declaration-of-Use. Actually these are called SOU Statement-of-Use filings. They are for when you file an ITU Intent-to-Use trademark application. Only a small % of people are not yet in business when they hire anyone to handle their trademark.
Besides, even if needed, a SOU won’t be needed until a business actually opens. This could be 3.75years, (45 months), later if all 5 USPTO 6-month extensions are exhausted. So, to charge everyone $99 before knowing which few people actually need this extra work is apremature charge for them. A complete overcharge for everyone else.3) $59 Certified Copy. No trademark service or attorney charges anything for a new trademark certificate. The USPTO emails a free registration certificate to every new trademark owner. It is not certified. It is a certificate. It is also online at USPTO.gov at anytime to view. Here’s an oldie, but goodie –
https://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer=sn74526812&docId=ORC20011120103827&linkId=15#docIndex=14&page=1
PS: I have been writing about trademark traps and scams. Every business has a name.Products have names. Every name needs to be LEGALLY CLEAR, even if the extra step trademarking is not desired. If you choose to get a trademark, that is where the low-priced scams and unethical trademark attorneys who skip the legal research lurk. It is hard to tell the difference between a great web site of a scam and another great web site of a good service.
Commissioner David Gooder on a June 11, 2021 Zoom meeting, called such firms”trademark mills” and agreed with me that these firms were negligent and unethical because they were skipping the needed comprehensive legal research, they routinely submit poor applications for their clients and omit trademark attorney assistance. There are a lot of documented trademark scams. See what the USPTO has collected -https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/protect/caution-misleading-notices.Have you come across one of these scam trademark services?Call me, send an email – go onto my open Zoom link, below.I figure to be exposing more of these all Winter & Spring.Thank you,Chris 650-948-0530 / Zoom Anytime -https://bit.ly/TradeMarkZoomMeetingCalendly Meeting – https://calendly.com/tmexpress/15min
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