Fraud or proper business activity? How to properly look at false or misleading invoices for the registration of patents and trademarks?
Abstract
This article deals with the issue of misleading letters or invoices for registration or renewal of trademarks or patents. In recent years, thousands of people have complained to intellectual property protection authorities around the world, including the Czech IPO, that they have received fraudulent invoices.
The scenario is always the same - a company or natural person who has a registered patent or trademark in one of the national or international databases will receive a letter or email that at first glance acts as a document issued by the official authority - most often the European Union Office for Intellectual Property (EUIPO) or the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). So is it a so-called "catalog fraud" or is it a proper business activity carried out within the framework of the freedom of business? The answer does not seem to be as simple as it might seem at first glance.