USPTO warns TM attorneys about foreign solicitations
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a warning to trademark attorneys after it learned that lawyers had received foreign solicitations for their information.
In a bulletin issued on Friday, February 22, the USPTO advised that lawyers had received emails offering payment in exchange for use of their information in trademark filings.
The emails originated largely from “people in China, and perhaps elsewhere”, the USPTO said.
The bulletin warned that “agreeing to such arrangements would likely be aiding unauthorised practice of law and violating federal rules”.
Attorneys who exchange their information in return for payment may be subject to discipline, the USPTO said, “including exclusion or suspension from practice before the USPTO, reprimand, censure, or probation”.
The USPTO has asked any attorneys who have received such solicitations to forward them to the office.
Earlier this month, the USPTO called for a change to federal law which would require foreign-based trademark applicants to be represented by an attorney licensed to practice in the US.
These attorneys would have to be “in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a state in the US”.
Such a requirement would “enable the USPTO to more effectively use available mechanisms to enforce foreign applicant compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements in trademark matters”, the proposal said.
WIPR has contacted the USPTO for comment.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
Today's top stories:
Apple closes stores in Texas jurisdiction popular with NPEs
