Within weeks of filing a trademark, you will likely receive an official-looking letter or email demanding a fee for "registration," "monitoring," or "renewal." Almost all of these are scams. They work because trademark applications are public records, so scammers harvest your name, serial number, and deadline straight from the USPTO database. The USPTO itself publishes the tells: it will never ask for payment by phone, email, or text, and its real emails always end in @uspto.gov. Here is how to read the letter, verify it, and report it.
You filed your trademark. A few weeks later, a letter arrives on official-looking letterhead from something called the "Patent and Trademark Bureau," with your exact mark, your serial number, and a due date, demanding several hundred dollars to keep your registration active. It looks real because it contains real details. It is almost certainly a scam.
This is one of the most reliable scams in existence because it is fed by a public database. The moment your application is filed, your contact information and filing details become part of the USPTO's public record, and a small industry exists to mine that record and mail convincing fake invoices to first-time filers who do not yet know what real USPTO correspondence looks like.
Why You Are Getting These Letters
Trademark applications are public. When you file, your name, address, mark, serial number, and key dates go into the USPTO's searchable records. Scammers scrape these records and send solicitations timed to your filing, which is why the letter knows your real details and why it tends to arrive right after you file or as a renewal deadline approaches.
The USPTO warns directly about this: companies send notices that look official and use names designed to be mistaken for a government agency. As the firm Jones Day explains in its overview of common trademark scams, these operations pull serial and registration numbers directly from public USPTO data to make their invoices look legitimate.
What Real USPTO Contact Looks Like
The fastest way to defuse the panic is to know the genuine article. The USPTO is explicit on two points:
- USPTO employees will never ask you for your personal or payment information over the phone, in an email, or in a text message.
- Authentic USPTO emails always come from an address ending in @uspto.gov. Any variation, like "@uspto-gov.com" or a generic provider, is not the USPTO.
Official fees are paid through the USPTO's own systems at uspto.gov, never by mailing a check to a third-party "bureau" or wiring money to a "renewal service."
This is the single clearest test. If a message demanding a trademark fee arrives by phone, email, or text, or routes payment anywhere other than uspto.gov, treat it as a scam. Real USPTO correspondence directs you to the official site and never to a private payment address.
Real Notice vs Scam Solicitation
| Signal | Genuine USPTO | Scam solicitation |
|---|---|---|
| Sender | Email ends in @uspto.gov | Official-sounding 'bureau' or look-alike domain |
| Payment | Through uspto.gov systems only | Check mailed to a third party, wire, or gift card |
| Tone | Procedural, references your application | Urgent, threatens loss of rights, hard deadline |
| What it asks for | Action in your USPTO account | A fee for 'monitoring', 'publication', or 'registration' |
| How it found you | You are the applicant of record | Scraped from public USPTO records |
What to Do When One Arrives
Do not pay or click anything
Do not send a check, wire money, pay in gift cards, or click payment links. Legitimate USPTO fees are never collected this way.
Check the sender and the details
Confirm whether any email comes from an @uspto.gov address. Verify your actual application status directly at uspto.gov rather than trusting the letter, since scammers use your real serial number to look credible.
Report it to the USPTO
Forward suspected scams to TMScams@uspto.gov and review the official report trademark scams page for next steps. Reporting helps the USPTO track and act against these operations.
Keep working only through official channels
Manage real deadlines and payments inside your USPTO account or with your trademark attorney. When in doubt, contact the USPTO or your attorney directly using contact details from uspto.gov, not from the letter.
If a trademark attorney filed for you, forward any fee demand to them before doing anything. They will recognize the solicitation instantly and confirm whether any action is actually required on your application.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Bottom Line
The trademark scam letter is convincing because it is built from your own public filing data, but it fails every authenticity test the USPTO publishes. Real USPTO contact comes from @uspto.gov, never asks for payment by phone, email, or text, and routes every fee through uspto.gov. When a "bureau" demands money for your trademark, do not pay, verify the details yourself, and report it. The only thing these letters cost you should be the minute it takes to recognize them.
Screen Your Name Before You File
A clean filing starts with a clean name. NameSniper screens your name for trademark conflicts alongside domain and handle availability, so you file with confidence and know what real next steps look like.