No sooner had we gone to press on our January article on the latest and greatest in trademark scams than the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a new alert raising awareness of yet another type of scam.

The alert reports that scammers have started calling applicants from “spoofed” phone numbers that appear to be from the USPTO. The caller identifies themselves as a USPTO employee, and requests personal and payment information to take action with respect to a trademark application or registration.

These kinds of scams are easy to spot because the USPTO will never ask for personal or payment information over the telephone.

If you have been on the receiving end of one of these spam calls, try to first note the number from which the call came, which will help the USPTO’s enforcement efforts. Next, either report it to us¹ or contact the Trademark Assistance Center (TAC) to verify the call was from a USPTO employee and for assistance on what to do next.