Warning: Beware of unsolicited mail/calls offering patent or trade mark registration services or requesting payment of fees by unofficial sources.
Occasionally, applicants are approached by entities purporting to offer or confirm patent or trade mark registration. Such entities may claim that your patent or trade mark has been accepted for registration upon payment of a sizeable fee. The offer or request usually takes the form of an official looking invoice or letter which is sent out after the publication of the application and can therefore contain details of a genuine application. Such ‘registration’ has no legal standing, and is of no value.
Such scammers often target applicants who are representing themselves in patent or trade mark proceedings. Should you be approached with such an offer of registration or a request for a fee payment, please verify the authenticity of the request before acting. You can contact the Patents Office, who will be happy to advise on the bona fides or otherwise of any requests.
The only offices which have authority to provide legal protection for patents, designs and trade marks in Ireland are the Irish Patents Office, the European Patent Office and the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM - Community Trade Mark Office).
Examples of bogus requests have been published on the websites of :
The World Intellectual Property Organisation
_blankhttp://www.wipo.int/pct/en/warning/pct_warning.htm
The Office for the Harmonisation of the Internal Market
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/CTM/feesPayment/warning.en.do