USPTO Targets Removal of 10,500 Trademarks for Fraudulent Submissions, Scam Billing Practices

"One USPTO.gov account... filed more than 4,900 trademark applications in a 14-month period between March 2020 to May 2021."

"In 11 administrative orders issued by the USPTO since the beginning of last October, the agency has either invalidated or is targeting for invalidation around 10,500 trademark applications and registrations for reasons including forged attorney signatures and inventing non-existent trademark registration requirements and fees."

"Trademark filings at the USPTO reached all-time highs in the early 2020s, due in large part to an influx of filings from China. The agency stepped up its efforts against fraudulent trademark filings around the same time, establishing identity verification and authentication procedures for logging into USPTO platforms online."

"Although the overall number of trademark filings at the USPTO have risen rapidly in recent years, making fraudulent filings more prevalent, concerns about trademark application scam artists who purport to have either authority for filing trademark applications or additional services that trademark owners don't actually need have stretched back for many years and have been reiterated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as recently as last September."

USPTO published a trademark alert describing actions to remove fraudulent and invalid marks from the federal trademark register. Since early October, the agency issued 11 administrative orders that invalidated or targeted for invalidation around 10,500 trademark applications and registrations. Reasons include forged attorney signatures and claims that invent non-existent trademark registration requirements and fees. Trademark filings reached all-time highs in the early 2020s, with increased filings attributed in part to an influx from China. USPTO increased efforts against fraudulent filings by establishing identity verification and authentication procedures for online access. Concerns about trademark application scam artists have been longstanding and reiterated by the Federal Trade Commission. The agency also imposed sanctions on a foreign filing firm for submitting filings without proper authorization.

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