IPO warns of spike in misleading invoices

Be aware of misleading invoices offering services to help protect your IP rights in return for a fee

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has warned customers to beware of misleading payment requests from unsolicited organisations. These requests often come as invoices for trade mark, design, or patent services.

Such 'services' - once paid for - may never be provided or may be of little to no benefit to the customer. For instance, they might offer inclusion on an 'exclusive online register' that is not recognised by the IPO or any other official body.

Additionally, these invoices may request payment at highly inflated prices for services that are available directly from the IPO for a much lower fee or even free of charge.

These misleading invoices typically come from organisations unknown to the customer and may be accompanied by a fraudulently 'signed' agreement to prompt automatic payment approval by accounts departments. These organisations are not connected with the IPO or any other government body.

To help customers spot a misleading invoice, the IPO has released examples of misleading invoices (ODT, 1.3 MB) received and reported by customers.

It has also published an updated list of names currently known to be used by such unsolicited organisations, as part of its guide on avoiding misleading payment requests.

The warning comes in response to a recent increase in misleading payment requests reported to the IPO. From April to June 2024, the IPO received 138 individual reports from customers, a 63% increase compared to the 85 reports received in the same period last year. So far in 2024, the IPO has received a total of 169 reports, compared to 278 in all of 2023.

Misleading payment requests can target all types of intellectual property, but they predominantly affect trade mark customers.

Customers are advised not to pay these invoices and report them to the IPO instead.

First published 2 August 2024