Readers of the Class 46 blog are reminded to be vigilant for misleading email payment requests and to report them to the authorities where possible.

Such emails claim to be sent on behalf of national/regional IP offices. Scammers are requesting the transfer of an alleged TMView registration fee to various bank accounts.

EUIPO has recently received reports from the offices of Austria, Hungary and Norway, and from a Romanian IP system user, regarding misleading payment requests. It has published anonymized samples of the misleading emails on its dedicated webpage here.

Any similar scam emails received can be reported directly to EUIPO. The Office also recommends filing a police report nationally and providing the police case number, which helps Europol support national police investigations.  

In addition, MARQUES members can report scam invoices (paid and unpaid) via the MARQUES portal (log-in required). For more information, please contact a member of the MARQUES Anti-Fraud Task Force.