This article is intended for individuals who have applied to register a trademark or design, with the aim of preventing them from falling victim to fraud carried out by sending letters and notices demanding improper payment, impersonating the identity of the registration body.

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Specifically, the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, hereinafter OEPM, has been informed that applicants and agents are receiving fraudulent letters and emails in which they are required to pay fees for services related to trademarks, drawings, and models. Occasionally, these writings fraudulently use the OEPM name, even reproducing letterheads, stamps, and false signatures of the OEPM.

These "alleged companies" use the information they obtain from publications officially made by the OEPM in application of the corresponding law and send misleading payment letters to applicants or agents, indicating a current account into which the deposit is intended to be made.

The OEPM warns that these types of fraudulent writings are not issued or endorsed by the OEPM, nor do they have legal validity. The companies sending them have nothing to do with the OEPM, nor is there any relationship with any of its official publications. Remember that fees for registering a trademark are paid at the very last moment, as the final step, of its registration.

Any communication from the OEPM is always made through a document duly identified with the institutional coat of arms, the name of the Ministerial Department to which it is attached (Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism), and with the official logo and denominations. Interested parties must carefully study the documents sent to them in this regard, consulting the OEPM in case of doubt, and not making any payment until verifying that it comes from an official source.

Therefore, the best advice we can give is that before paying any amount, consult with your consultancy or directly with the official body, and thus avoid being another victim of this type of fraud.