Newsletter – June 2019

In this June Issue

• International Trade Mark Association Annual Meeting 2019
• Website Updates
• Scams

International Trade Mark Association Annual Meeting 2019

Zone hosted another successful reception at the annual INTA conference in Boston. Thank you to everyone who attended our event. We really enjoyed seeing you all!

Launching our new Website

We are very pleased to introduce you to our updated Trade Mark Zone website.
We are proud of our updated online filing platform, we feel it is user-friendly and we would invite you to visit us at www.trademarkzone.co.nz

Zone is now busily working toward updating our Australian website to provide you with the best possible IP service. We will announce when the service is complete. Until then the current site is still fully operational at www.trademarkzone.com.au. Zone is now busily working toward updating our Australian website to provide you with the best possible IP service. We will announce when the service is complete. Until then the current site is still fully operational at www.trademarkzone.com.au

Scam Letter Warning

There has been another surge in telephone calls and emails from clients and members of the public who have received fake letters regarding their trade marks.

A number of letters have been sent purporting to be from “PTMO”, the “Patent and Trademark Office”, a company who will renew your trade mark for NZ$1,200 and up. While they will perhaps renew your trade mark, they change an inflated fee and the letter is designed to trick you into handing over extra money.

The Commerce Commission has warned this company in the past, but it seems they are continuing to approach New Zealand trade mark owners.

It can be difficult to spot a scam letter. Official organisations have functional names such as “Intellectual Property Office” which are commonly reduced to acronyms and can be easily imitated so as to deceive.

Moreover, most details about trade mark owners and their trade marks are freely available online through trade mark registers. This allows scammers to tailor letters to the individual “victim”.

We have also noticed a trend of these letters being sent out increasingly early so as to come ahead of reminder letters from the Government IP Office or from legitimate trade mark agents. Some letters we have seen are being sent nearly 18 months before the mark is actually due for renewal.

Scammers will often put significant effort into their letters. For example, the recent scam letters have an address on Queen Street in Auckland and a local phone number, which makes the letter seem legitimate. Likewise, scam letters sent out in Australia might have an address in Sydney.

Tips for avoiding being scammed

Following some guidelines will help you spot a fake letter. A close examination of the fake letters will frequently uncover inconsistencies, oddities and mistakes. For example, in a recent fake letter regarding fees for a Madrid Protocol application the letter requests payment of the fee in Euros. However, all Madrid Protocol fees are in Swiss Francs. In other cases, the payment might be to a foreign bank account.

We note these are often details which may escape an applicant or owner. This emphasises the need to seek professional assistance if you have any concerns.

Read all letters received carefully. Fake letter frequently contain spelling and grammar errors.
Cross-check details such as organisation names and up-coming renewal dates with your own and official records. Ensure you confirm the full name of any official organisation rather than simply the acronym.

Check the website of the entity. A fake organisation will often have a very basic website with little information about who is behind it.

If in doubt call your lawyer or IP professional. By having a lawyer or IP professional as your trade marks agent, any unsolicited correspondence from someone other than your agent will automatically be suspicious. An agent can also keep you informed as to key dates such as renewals.

Any correspondence request payment should be treated with caution and checked for authenticity prior to payment.

Renewals

With respect to New Zealand renewal requests, we recommend using Renewal Zone.

Renewal Zone is an online trade mark renewal service to assist people to renew their New Zealand trade marks quickly and affordably. You simply enter your IP number and Renewal Zone will tell you when your trade mark is due for renewal and the cost involved. You can then renew your trade mark through the site.

The site is linked to IPONZ’s trade mark register and is secure, up-to-date and reliable.

Renewal Zone can be found at www.renewalzone.co.nz