If you own a trade mark and have your details on the UK IPO database then you could become a victim of a scam that sees owners written to or emailed by bogus companies offering you additional and unecessary services. These same and new scammers are now not only targetting trademark owners but domain name owners.

Previously, individuals posing as domain name registrars in Asia have tried to deceive the owners of trade marks and of domain names into buying a series of domain names with suffixes such as .com.cn and .asia. The bogus registrar purports to have had instructions to register the victim's name.

What is of greater concern is that they are now contacting trademark or domain owners by telephone and sometimes this can lead to individuals making rash decisions without thinking.

Here at the Trademarkroom we advise owners to be extra vigilant when dealing with unknown third parties contacting you about such issues. If you have an agent, all official dealings about your trade mark or domain will go through them. If you are unsure then contact the UK IPO.