USTPA: Confusing solicitation for trademark monitoring services

A client who has filed a trademark application before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) received a notice from the United States Trademark Protection Agency (USTPA) about an electronic trademark monitoring service. Trademark watch services follow trademark filings in the US and abroad, and notify trademark holders of similar marks. Their threshold for "similar" is a lot lower than that of the USPTO, so you often get notices for marks that are not really that similar- they just want to make sure you get your money's worth. Anyone with a valuable trademark should have their marks watched through such as service.

The problem I have is that USTPA is perhaps going too far with their solicitations. It looks more like correspondence from the USPTO than from a private company. The header states that it is "Form 104B 01/02 - Supplementary," and names USTPA in full. The font does look similar to the font on correspondence from the USPTO in trademark matters. The letter quotes trademark laws, and warns about allowing similar marks to exist- stating that they may weaken your mark. The letter does not state at all that USTPA is not associated with the USPTO in any form.

The client contacted me because they thought that this was indeed an official communication from the USPTO. The trademark application was filed before the USPTO with the contact info of my law firm as the correspondence address- and the USTPA used the info pertaining to the applicant to contact our client. I have received solicitations for trademark watch services before, and have forwarded them to my clients. I feel that this letter is almost deceptive, and in the end, also too expensive. They charge $395 per year. There are other services that can do so for less money, including your current trademark attorney.



Click on the image of the solicitation from USTPA to view a larger image.