ScamSmarts

Trademark solicitations

Look-alike USPTO letters selling unnecessary services.

How to spot it

  • Not from the USPTO's .gov
  • Fee for a notice

What to do

Check the real USPTO site; ignore solicitations.

What the real thing looks like

  • Notice from your own attorney

Try an example

A practice example with fictional companies. Answer it, then see the tells.

Is this email a scam or legit?

Inbox
FromFrom: Trademark Registry OfficeSender address: filings@trademark-registry-notice.example
Tome

Trademark publication notice: response required

Your trademark LAKESIDE FAMILY CLINIC is scheduled for publication. To secure registry listing and monitoring, remit the publication fee of $395.00 within 10 days.

Hover over or tap a link to see where it really goes. Links in this lesson are never clickable.
Your answer
How sure are you?

Sure and right: +15. Sure and wrong: -5. Calling a legitimate item a scam counts as a miss.

Test yourself on eight more

The free quiz mixes scams with legitimate messages, like real life. No sign-up.

Sources