[E-trademarks] Attorney Identity Theft

Carl Oppedahl carl at oppedahl.com
Sat Oct 26 17:13:35 UTC 2024


Given that almost all of this risk comes from poor design of USPTO 
systems, I think the stakeholder that needs to comply with a higher 
standard of care is the USPTO.

On 10/26/2024 8:52 AM, Emil Ali via E-trademarks wrote:
>
> In a recent OED case of mine, OED suggested that attorneys have a 
> responsibility to search their own name every six hours because there 
> are actors that will file an application using the name and 
> credentials of another, then immediately file a withdrawal.
>
> Needless to say, I don’t believe that is the standard of care required.
>
> *Emil J. Ali*
>
> PARTNER
> *P:* 310.596.1234  | *C:* 202.556.3645  | *F:* 310.649.7890
> emil at mccabeali.com
>
> McCabe & Ali, LLP
>
> 13337 South Street, Suite 555, Cerritos, CA 90703
> O: 877.633.4097  | mccabeali.com
>
> *From: *E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com> on 
> behalf of Jeremy Green Eche via E-trademarks 
> <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
> *Date: *Friday, October 25, 2024 at 6:40 PM
> *To: *For trademark practitioners. This is not for laypersons to seek 
> legal advice. <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
> *Cc: *Jeremy Green Eche <jeremy at jpglegal.com>
> *Subject: *Re: [E-trademarks] Attorney Identity Theft
>
> Dockettrak tracks your trademarks by correspondent email address, so 
> that wouldn't tell you if somebody was filing trademarks in your name 
> using a different email address.
>
> I don't blame non-TM attorneys for not checking the database 
> regularly. There are many different settings in which people might 
> pretend to be you and you can't monitor all of them.
>
>
>>
> Jeremy
>
> Jeremy Peter Green Eche
> Founder and Managing Attorney, JPG Legal
>
> Office: (917) 268-7054 | Direct: (917) 310-2207
>
> www.jpglegal.com <http://www.jpglegal.com>
>
> 157 13th Street, Suite 111
> Brooklyn, NY 11215
>
> On Fri, Oct 25, 2024 at 6:08 PM Lindsey Corbin via E-trademarks 
> <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com> wrote:
>
>     We use DocketTrak and it searches based on the attorney.  You
>     receive an email if a new record is added, so you can easily
>     monitor for fraudulent applications.  Having said that, I agree
>     with Carl - non TM attorneys/paralegals would have no clue how to
>     search their credentials.
>
>     On Fri, Oct 25, 2024 at 3:01 PM Carl Oppedahl via E-trademarks
>     <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com> wrote:
>
>         Over the past couple of years I looked at several clusters of
>         trademark filings where it turned out some lawyer's name had
>         been appropriated.  In each case that I looked at, the victim
>         was a lawyer who had never touched a trademark file ever
>         before in his or her life.
>
>         Those lawyers are not going to have a clue that it is somehow
>         important to make a stop at the USPTO web site once a month to
>         do a search for their own name in the trademark search system.
>
>         On 10/25/2024 3:43 PM, Annette Heller via E-trademarks wrote:
>
>             To monitor your applications on a regular basis by doing a
>             search on your name and see what comes up.  I do a search
>             on a monthly basis and have a follow up to remind me.
>
>             Annette
>
>             Annette P. Heller
>             Trademark/Copyright Attorney
>             TM Law & Associates
>             400 Chesterfield Center Ste 400
>             Chesterfield [St Louis] MO 63017
>
>             www.TrademarkAtty.com <http://www.trademarkatty.com/>
>
>             314-469-2610 Fax 314-469-4850
>
>             In a message dated 10/25/2024 11:55:22 AM Central Daylight
>             Time, e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com writes:
>
>                 This is absolutely terrible. What would be a good way
>                 to prevent such identity theft?
>
>                 Maria
>
>                 *--------------------------*
>
>                 /*Maria Eliseeva*/
>
>                 /Patentbar International/
>
>                 /617-332-5800/
>
>                 /maria at patentbar.com /
>
>                 /www.patentbar.com <http://www.patentbar.com/> /
>
>                 *From:* E-trademarks
>                 <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com>
>                 <mailto:e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com> *On
>                 Behalf Of *Diane Gardner via E-trademarks
>                 *Sent:* Friday, October 25, 2024 12:23 PM
>                 *To:* e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com
>                 *Cc:* Diane Gardner <diane at mmip.com>
>                 <mailto:diane at mmip.com>
>                 *Subject:* [E-trademarks] Attorney Identity Theft
>
>                 Today the ABA Journal Weekly Newsletter ran a story
>                 about Ana Belén Vinueza, a corporate attorney for
>                 Illumina (California) whose identity and credentials
>                 were stolen and used to file more than 2000 trademark
>                 applications.
>
>                 According to the article, female attorneys licensed in
>                 California currently run the highest risk of this type
>                 of identity misappropriation. The USPTO is aware of at
>                 least 30 such cases of similar identity theft for the
>                 purpose of filing new trademark applications.
>
>                 Kind regards,
>
>                 /**/
>
>                 /*Diane L. Gardner*/
>
>                 /*Reg. No. 36,518*/
>
>                 /_____________________________________________________________/
>
>                 *Please note our new corporate address as of February
>                 1, 2023:*
>
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>                 /tel/./▪ /diane at mmip.com/  e-mail/
>
>                 CA Lic. No. 196214   DC Lic. No. 470855   USPTO Reg.
>                 No. 36518
>
>                 *Please note our expedited mail processing address as
>                 of February 1, 2023:*
>
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