Warning from the UK Intellectual Property Office on misleading invoices

Accounts departments often receive an influx of invoices, all purporting to be urgent and relating to many different aspects of the business operations. With deadlines pending and fraudulent invoices looking increasingly more professional and confusing, it is all too easy for a rogue invoice to fall through the gaps and simply be processed and paid.

The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) cites a recent surge of 63% more rogue invoices and payment requests being reported to it than in the same period last year. Fraudulent businesses can seek to take advantage of the use of acronyms and international abbreviations used by Registry offices and service companies, to create payment requests from confusingly similar-sounding organisations for services such as ‘protection’, ‘monitoring and ‘publication’.

The Intellectual Property Office has issued updated guidance this summer for businesses to follow to try to stamp out this practice and equip consumers with the information they need to avoid scams.

Scam Organisations

The first thing to be aware of is that the fraudsters operate under false names that sound very similar to official IP bodies. Some examples given by the IPO are:

• “World Intellectual Property Office for Trademarks (WIPOT)”, “World Organisation for Trademarks (WOTR)” and “International Organisation Intellectual Property (IOIP)”, which could be mistaken for the “World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO)”;

• “EIPA”, “European Intellectual Property Agency (EUIPA)”, “European Patent and Trademark Agency (EPTA)” and “European Union Intellectual Property Directory (EUIPD)”, which could be mistaken for the “European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)”; and

• “INT-Trademarks” and “IPRO” which could be mistaken for the “International Trade Mark Association (INTA)” or “Intellectual Property Regulation Board (IPReg)”.

It is important that you know which organisation will be dealing with your registration application and familiarise yourself with its name and acronym. All official correspondence should be sent to you by this organisation either directly, or via your lawyer or legal representative if you have appointed one to handle the application for you. If you are in any doubt as to the legitimacy of the organisation that is contacting you, you can send a quick email to your legal advisor to check or contact the IPO by emailing them at misleadinginvoices@ipo.gov.uk

False Services

Another thing to be aware of is which services will be carried out as part of your registration application and whether you have paid for these already or not. For example, a scam invoice may be requesting payment for publication of your application in a made-up online journal or for registration of your IP on an exclusive register, which does not actually exist or provides no protection.

Again, you should familiarise yourself with the registration process and what steps are involved. You should check what services you have already paid for and if you need any clarification, ask your IP advisor or the relevant Registry for confirmation.

Once you have paid the filing fees, then there should be no additional fees for the registration of the IP in most jurisdictions, although some countries do ask for a separate registration fee. Legal advisors should always provide you with an estimate of the costs involved in advance and itemise the fees required for each step of the process. You can ask for this information if you do not already have it. If they appoint any third party agents or advisors to conduct some of the work, it is normally the case that their invoices will be sent to your lawyer who will then invoice you and pay the third party following receipt of your payment. You should not receive any invoices directly from third party agents unless you have appointed them directly.

Copies of signed agreements or other official documents

The fraudulent payment request may include an attached copy of an official looking document or signed agreement, in an attempt to convince account departments to process the invoices without questioning them. Again, if you have any doubt as to the authenticity of any purported documents, ask your IP advisor.

Scam Emails

If the payment request is contained in an email or attachment to an email, it is important that you do not open the attachment or click on any links in the email if you are unsure about them. This could result in fraudsters stealing your personal information or downloading harmful malware onto your computer.

Further Action

Anyone applying for a registered trade mark should be aware of the updated guidance issued by the UK IPO this summer on this subject and ensure that their business practices and staff are briefed.

The IPO has included examples of redacted scam invoices on its website, that you can download and distribute to your staff as examples of what to look out for.

If you or your organisation receive a scam of this nature, in addition to not being caught out, it is important to report it to the IPO via their dedicated email address (misleadinginvoices@ipo.gov.uk) and also to any other relevant official body such as Trading Standards (https://www.gov.uk/find-local-trading-standards-office) and/or the police’s Action Fraud reporting website (https://www.actionfraud.police.uk). This way, the perpetrators can be monitored and investigated further, if necessary.

Ben Evans, Head of Trade Marks at Harper James comments:

Scam invoices regarding trade mark registrations have been around for many years. Occasionally action is taken and particular scammers are shut down but another soon pops up in their place. It’s essential for all trade mark owners to ensure that they are vigilant and that their accounts teams are warned about what to pay and what not to pay. The best way to avoid falling foul of scammers is to appoint representatives to handle your portfolio, that way all genuine requests for payment will come through your legal representatives and you know that anything else is a scam.