Be Warned Against Unsolicited Correspondence Regarding Your Intellectual Property

Recently, many Australian businesses have become the target of a surge in intellectual property scams that charge substantial amounts of money for services of little or no commercial value. We have received numerous inquiries from business owners questioning the veracity of unsolicited correspondence purporting to offer IP related services. Invariably, these 'service providers' have no association with IP Australia, the official government administrator of intellectual property. IP Australia warns that such services "do not affect official trade mark registration or trade mark rights in Australia...or in any other country".

Unsolicited IP Services

While generally aimed at trade mark owners and domain name holders, owners of any registered IP rights should be aware of the types of scams currently circulating and how to avoid incurring expenses for services that ultimately afford very little or no commercial use.