Do not pay a trademark notice until you verify it against the official USPTO record. Private companies use public application data to send official-looking invoices, renewal offers, directory solicitations, and urgent warnings. Some sell optional services; others impersonate the government or attempt to steal money, credentials, or control of an application.
A notice can contain your exact mark, serial number, owner name, and filing date and still be private or fraudulent. Those details are public.
Check TSDR first
The USPTO states that official correspondence requesting action or payment appears in the Documents tab of TSDR. Use the official status and document system and enter the serial or registration number yourself.
- Open USPTO.gov directly instead of using the notice’s link.
- Search the serial or registration number in TSDR.
- Compare the sender, document date, requested action, and deadline.
- Confirm any fee using the USPTO fee schedule.
- If uncertain, contact the examining attorney listed in the actual Office action or the Trademark Assistance Center.
Common warning signs
- A government-sounding business name that is not the United States Patent and Trademark Office
- A website with a misspelled or non-USPTO domain
- An email that does not end in @uspto.gov while claiming to be an examiner
- Pressure to pay immediately or lose all rights
- Payment requested by gift card, wire transfer, cash, or a third-party address
- A demand for your USPTO.gov password or verification code
- A directory, monitoring, publication, or renewal service presented as mandatory
- A deadline or fee that does not match TSDR
The USPTO’s common-scams guidance warns that agency employees do not request personal or payment information by phone, email, or text and do not require payment by wire transfer, gift card, cash, check, or money order to third-party addresses.
Password rule: Never share your USPTO.gov password. A legitimate attorney or filing service can work through its own account and authorized representation.
Private does not always mean fraudulent
Some notices are advertisements for real but optional services, such as monitoring, directory publication, or third-party renewal assistance. The problem is often presentation that suggests government affiliation or necessity. Read the fine print and decide whether the service has independent value.
Government fees are paid through official USPTO systems. Private professional fees should be supported by a clear engagement, scope, and provider identity.
Common scam patterns
- Fake examiner emails requesting a new fee
- Spoofed caller ID using a real employee’s name
- Renewal invoices sent years before a real deadline
- Offers to publish the mark in a private registry
- Unauthorized changes to correspondence information
- Requests for marketplace brand-registry verification codes
- Websites copied from USPTO pages to capture login or payment information
What to do with a suspicious notice
- Do not click links, open unexpected attachments, or call the number in the notice.
- Save the notice, envelope, email headers, and payment instructions.
- Check TSDR and your own deadline calendar.
- Contact the USPTO through a number found independently on USPTO.gov.
- If represented, send the notice to your attorney.
- Report spoofed emails or websites using the channels identified in the USPTO scam guidance.
- If credentials or payment information were shared, secure the affected accounts and contact the financial institution promptly.
Build a simple verification routine
Maintain one internal record with the serial or registration number, official deadlines, correspondence email, counsel information, and expected fees. Check the record using the application-status process whenever a notice arrives.
Attorney help is useful when a notice corresponds to a real Office action, maintenance deadline, opposition, or ownership change. Counsel can separate an actual legal obligation from a private solicitation without relying on the notice’s claims.
Before paying, independently open TSDR and the USPTO fee schedule. If the claimed document or deadline is absent, stop and verify.