Kansas City Law Firm Warns Against Trademark Patent Trolls

If you – or your business – own a trademark, it is highly likely at some point you will receive a very official looking notice from what appears to be the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or some other government agency. Usually these mailers, and now email messages, state you must make certain filings within a short deadline to avoid the cancellation of your trademark. They will also state you should promptly remit several thousand dollars in fees in order to stay compliant. These folks are trolling for business. We see these mailers regularly and they are almost always cleverly written advertising material designed to shock the reader in an effort to generate new business. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates these types of advertisements by requiring an advertising disclaimer whenever the ad could be deceptive to a “reasonable consumer.” Putting this into practice, if you receive such a mailer that appears official, but feels a little suspect, check the bottom and see if there is a fine print disclosure stating the mailer is advertising material.   All of that said, trademarks do require regular filings. For example, a Declaration of Use and Incontestability filing must be made after five years of registration, and a Declaration of Use and Renewal filing must be made every ten years after registration. Without making these filings, the USPTO will cancel a trademark registration. However, the USPTO does not send routine reminders. It is up to the trademark owner to keep up with the filing deadlines.   If you receive one of these “notices” or need to make a renewal filing for your trademark, give either Tom Willy or Mark Sprecker a call and they can walk you through the process.