Trademark owners are approached in different ways by rogue organisations, both in writing and over the phone. We warn you about these practices. This may involve the following:
Telephone acquisition fraud
Trademark owners are contacted by telephone and are warned that a third party has applied for an identical or similar domain name; often a domain name extension such as .be .eu .com or .net. It’s just a pretext to get you to register domain names for a fee, so scam. Don’t react and if in doubt contact your domain name manager or your trademark agency.
Misleading e-mails from Asia
Misleading emails will be sent to warn about domain name hijackers. Usually these e-mails come from Asia and warn that a third party has made a request to register the same domain name (also “brand name” or “keyword”) while the sender of the e-mail offers to register this domain name for you. It is only a pretext to get you to register domain names for a fee. Here, too, the following applies: Don’t react to it.
Beware of ghost invoices!
Trademark owners are also often approached by rogue organisations that try to obtain payment under false pretences. When filing a trademark and renewing a trademark registration, various rogue organisations can make you a payment request. They offer to publish or register the trademark against payment. Never respond to these requests and contact us in case of doubt. All correspondence concerning our clients’ trademarks, including payments, is handled by us.