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ARTICLE · 28 JANUARY 2025

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Be Wary: Sophisticated Scam Emails Impersonating IP Attorneys

K&L Gates
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Business owners should be aware of a new email scam circulating impersonating an intellectual property (IP) representative, containing false information, and offering trademark assistance.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Sally Foreman
Sally Foreman
Amelia-Rose Booth
Amelia-Rose Booth

Business owners should be aware of a new email scam circulating impersonating an intellectual property (IP) representative, containing false information, and offering trademark assistance. This nefarious email scam is sent by an operator impersonating a known Australia registered patent and/or trade mark attorney to garner legitimacy. IP Australia has provided an example of the scam and both IP Australia and the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys (IPTA) continue to publish alerts regarding this issue.

Thousands of Australians fall victim to email scams each year. In April 2024, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reported a 64.8% increase in email scams1 between 2022-2023. IP owners are not immune, often receiving misleading renewal notices sometimes causing payment of unnecessary fees to scammers that do not result in renewal of a trademark.

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