Federal Agencies Tackling Trademark Scams

Some trademark applicants and registrants have paid fees to private companies while mistakenly thinking they were paying fees required by the USPTO. To combat this problem, last week, the USPTO co-hosted its first ever public roundtable on fraudulent solicitations with the Trademark Public Advisory Committee. The objectives of the event were to educate the public about the problem of misleading or fraudulent advertisements for trademark services, to learn more about what other government agencies were doing, and to brainstorm new ideas for tackling this complex issue.


The USPTO has worked closely in the past with other federal agencies on criminal prosecutions for fraudulent trademark solicitations. During the roundtable, representatives from DOJ and USPIS spoke about the recent criminal convictions in California of five individuals, including employees of a bank, who ran a lucrative trademark scam and knowingly laundered the proceeds. Two have been sentenced and the remaining three are scheduled for sentencing in August. To learn more about this case and the USPTO’s role in it, read my blog from December 2016.


To read the entire article, please visit: https://www.uspto.gov/blog/


This article is from USPTO's Director's Forum: A Blog from USPTO's Leadership.  This particular blog is written by Commissioner for Trademarks Mary Boney Denison.

Meet the Trademark Experts  

Join us at the USPTO Texas Regional Office where we will be hosting an interactive Q&A session with the Trademark Experts. If you have questions about your current trademark application or if you are looking to get one or you are just interested, please join us.  During this virtual meeting with the Trademark Assistance Center, participants will be able to ask questions through our video teleconferencing capability. The Trademark Assistance Center, located in Alexandria, Virginia, provides general information about the trademark registration process. This event is free and open to the public. Please bring your own lunch to enjoy during the session. Space is limited.  Please check back for further details about updated material.

Date : Wednesday, August 02, 2017 
Time : 12:30-1:30 PM, CT

To register:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meet-the-trademark-experts-tickets-34855668242

NOTICE:
If you are unable to come to the Texas Regional Office in Dallas, TX. This event will be webcasted to Patent & Trademark Resource Centers (PTRCs) in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Please check PTRC locations to find the PTRC nearest to you.

Please call ahead to ensure the seminar is being shown at your particular PTRC.

The program is free and open to the public. For inquiries about the event:
please email TXROevents@uspto.gov (link sends e-mail), visit us at the Texas Regional Office home page, or call us at 469-295-9000.

Inventor Info Chat – Webinar

Register for Inventor Info Chat – Webinar
Topic: “Office of Petitions – Overview and Helpful Tips”

The USPTO’s Inventor Info Chat webinar series continues on July 20 for a discussion on "Office of Petitions – Overview and Helpful Tips.” 

This presentation will provide an overview of:

• What is a petition?
• What are the 5 components of a petition?
• Decision Types
• Overview of the Office of Petitions
• Types of petitions handled in the Office of Petitions
• Overview of ePetitions
• Types of petitions that can be filed via an ePetition
• Helpful Hints

Register on Eventbrite to receive the presentation in advance of the program.

On the day of the event, attend via join the webinar.

During the event, please send questions to inventorinfochat@uspto.gov.

The Inventor Info Chat webinar series is presented by the Office of Innovation Development, which fosters invention and entrepreneurship by providing full access to the U.S. intellectual property system. For assistance, please send an email to oidevents@uspto.gov or visit our web page to see all upcoming programs. 

Independent Inventors Conference, Alexandria, VA, Aug. 11-12, 2017

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is hosting INVENTION-CON 2017 (Independent Inventors Conference in Alexandria, VA on Aug. 11-12, 2017.

Who Should Attend?
If you are an independent inventor, entrepreneur, small business owner, or an IP professional who works with them, this conference is for you. Attendees will have an opportunity to:

• Learn from successful business owners and inventors who will relate their personal experiences of bringing their ideas to market.
• Attend a variety of breakout sessions and workshops designed to cover a range of information from
• IP basics to detailed explanations on how to prepare and file a patent or trademark application.
• Network with other attendees and presenters who will share ideas and provide useful advice.

Patents Topics:

• Types of patent applications that you may file, including search tips prior to filing, requirements for claims and drawings, filing requirements and how to file electronically with our Electronic Filing System (EFS).
• Overview of the patent examination process.
• Resources to assist applicants with the patent process.

Trademarks Topics

• Trademark basics and fundamentals.
• Highlights of trademark-specific resources and tools.
• Summary of requirements for application filing and demonstration of how to file on-line using our Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).
• Responding to trademark Office action from examining attorney and appeal process.

See more at Invention-Con 2017

Extension of the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program

The Federal Register Vol. 82, Number 120 (Friday, June 23, 2017) published a notice on pages 28645-28646 extending the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program "which permits patent applications pertaining to cancer immunotherapy to be advanced out of turn for examination and reviewed earlier (accorded special status)."

See more at  https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-06-23/html/2017-13122.htm