[E-trademarks] denying the scammer a phone number to call (was Spam caller)
Carl Oppedahl
carl at oppedahl.com
Mon Dec 11 19:29:34 EST 2023
When I prepare a TEAS form for the client to e-sign, I always pre-fill
the telephone number field so that it is impossible for the client to
change it from what I pre-fill. For some TEAS forms I put in a line of
hyphens or "equals" signs. There are other TEAS forms where the USPTO
designer thinks they are smarter than you and they make it impossible to
just put in a line of hyphens. They try to force you to put in ten
numerical digits. For those TEAS forms, I fill it with ten zeroes. I
bet I have done this five hundred times in just a few years.
If you were to click around in TSDR and spot-check a few cases that I
handled, I bet you will find that in /*absolutely every case */that you
look at, I have done this, so as to make it impossible for the client to
enter anything into that telephone number field.
Never, not even once, have I gotten any pushback in any way from anybody
at the Trademark Office about this, even though by now I have done it at
least five hundred times on every possible type of trademark document
that a lay person might sign.
On 12/11/2023 5:14 PM, Janet Satterthwaite via E-trademarks wrote:
> We tell client not to fill in the phone number on the signatory line.
> It’s optional.
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Dec 11, 2023, at 7:05 PM, David Michaels <david at davidmichaels.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> *WARNING:* External email, do not click on links or open attachments
>> unless you recognize the sender’s full email address and expect the
>> attachments.
>>
>> Hi Janet,
>>
>> The applicant's cell phone number is in the filing. It's in the
>> signatory field.
>>
>> Why isn't it redacted automatically?
>>
>> The USPTO publishes a dataset of recent applications every week that
>> anyone can download.
>>
>>
>> David Michaels
>> 416-239-1361
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Dec 11, 2023 at 6:53 PM Janet Satterthwaite
>> <jsatterthwaite at potomaclaw.com> wrote:
>>
>> Where are they getting the phone numbers?
>>
>> We always tell clients NOT to put a phone number when they sign
>> declarations, to avoid just this kind of problem.
>>
>> Did your clients who are getting the calls put their numbers in
>> the filing? Or are the scammers finding them some other way?
>>
>> regards
>>
>> Janet
>>
>>
>> *Janet F. Satterthwaite*|Partner/ Chair, Trademark
>> Practice|Potomac Law Group, PLLC
>>
>> 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 1025
>>
>> Washington, D.C. 20006
>>
>> jsatterthwaite at potomaclaw.com|www.potomaclaw.com
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.potomaclaw.com&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=BD_ODyCnGyM4QYkJS4ogIYzIigAHSpBLLoEgzCd9OOE&m=QL-dJapjnGuuh4W8vlheE_xCqf9dnRLr-hJRChMT3ClkZNk1InkCVsklPm_Lpi29&s=hFIm4kdMK1idAJdTM4syYJ6Qm0piNtp_5g11WvJaRXc&e=>
>>
>>
>>
>> https://www.potomaclaw.com/professionals-janet-f-satterthwaite
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.potomaclaw.com_professionals-2Djanet-2Df-2Dsatterthwaite&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=BD_ODyCnGyM4QYkJS4ogIYzIigAHSpBLLoEgzCd9OOE&m=QL-dJapjnGuuh4W8vlheE_xCqf9dnRLr-hJRChMT3ClkZNk1InkCVsklPm_Lpi29&s=p2mOrkxG-QkOw_eJu_t4hbPMFayL2iPLv2o-0Ot7Rvo&e=>
>>
>> /This e-mail and any attachments may contain information that is
>> private, confidential, and/or privileged. If you are not the
>> intended recipient, please notify us immediately and destroy all
>> copies of this message and any attachments/
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From:* E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com> on
>> behalf of David Michaels via E-trademarks
>> <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
>> *Sent:* Monday, December 11, 2023 6:48 PM
>> *To:* For trademark practitioners. This is not for laypersons to
>> seek legal advice. <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
>> *Cc:* David Michaels <david at davidmichaels.org>
>> *Subject:* Re: [E-trademarks] Spam caller
>>
>> *WARNING:* External email, do not click on links or open
>> attachments unless you recognize the sender’s full email address
>> and expect the attachments.
>>
>> Hi Diane,
>>
>> I know a trademark applicant that this happened to last week.
>>
>> The caller spoofed the USPTO's phone number and claimed that the
>> $250 application fee needed to be paid.
>>
>> He gave the caller his credit card number and the last 4 digits
>> of his social security number.
>>
>> The FBI should launch an investigation into this scam operator.
>>
>> And the USPTO should start issuing simple payment receipts.
>>
>> David Michaels, J.D., B.Eng.(Mech), CHRM
>> 416-239-1361
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Dec 11, 2023, 6:37 p.m. dbmelnick--- via E-trademarks
>> <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com> wrote:
>>
>> A client just advised me that she received a call from
>> someone claiming to
>> be the USPTO, asking her to pay a fee online to complete the
>> registration.
>> He was calling from a spoofed version of 571-272-6500, which
>> is a USPTO
>> phone number.
>>
>>
>>
>> Calling the USPTO about this seems futile, but I do think
>> that this is
>> beyond what we have seen before and I am considering further
>> action.
>>
>>
>>
>> Diane
>>
>>
>>
>> Diane Melnick Esq.
>>
>> Practus LLP
>>
>> --
>> E-trademarks mailing list
>> E-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com
>> http://oppedahl-lists.com/mailman/listinfo/e-trademarks_oppedahl-lists.com
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__oppedahl-2Dlists.com_mailman_listinfo_e-2Dtrademarks-5Foppedahl-2Dlists.com&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=BD_ODyCnGyM4QYkJS4ogIYzIigAHSpBLLoEgzCd9OOE&m=Q5PZ7mqdH6-TSXs-awpKU9RMYkn1_UvhydfySzmIYM1BcXfsWe1qBHVimCHKpRHp&s=xmNJ1a6iIePWNQ0aGgbEHgzAs78482hD0ufVGPx0SMA&e=>
>>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://oppedahl-lists.com/pipermail/e-trademarks_oppedahl-lists.com/attachments/20231211/797cf011/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: smime.p7s
Type: application/pkcs7-signature
Size: 4514 bytes
Desc: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
URL: <http://oppedahl-lists.com/pipermail/e-trademarks_oppedahl-lists.com/attachments/20231211/797cf011/attachment.p7s>
More information about the E-trademarks
mailing list