FICPI keeps a position in the Anti-Scam Network which comprises representatives from National IP Offices of the EU Member States, EFTA Countries, the European Patent Office (EPO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement (Europol) and several user associations. We have been informed of a scam involving EUIPO that we want to alert you to:
EUIPO has informed us of a new scam that has been reported to the EUIPO by its users over the past few weeks.
This new scam comes in the form of a Fake EUIPO decision and its modus operandi is highly similar to scams recently reported by the German (DPMA), Italian (UIBM) and Spanish (OEPM) national IP Offices.
Anonymised samples of all four of these fake decisions have been included in the searchable list on the EUIPO’s misleading invoices webpage.
The most notable feature of this fake decision scam is the use of the EUIPO’s logo, name, acronym and letterhead. It is mailed to users from Madrid, Spain, and includes a demand for a “registration fee” to be transferred to a Polish bank account with a PL IBAN prefix.
More details are available on EUIPO’s website, here.
Report EUIPO scams
EUIPO is already taking legal action against these scammers and is launching social media alerts on its Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook which they encourage everyone to like/share.
If you, your clients or others in your network have received a fake decision scam purporting to be from EUIPO, please report it to: [email protected]