Guide
Is this letter from the USPTO?
Last checked against the USPTO's page: October 23, 2026
After you file a trademark application, and again after it registers, you will likely get letters and emails that look official and ask for money. Many are not from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO describes them on its page Recognizing common scams; this guide sums up what it says and how to check a letter in a few minutes.
TMHawk is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. This page states public facts and points to the USPTO's own instructions.
1. Signs of a misleading notice
The USPTO lists these patterns:
- a sender name built from words like United States, Trademark, Office, Registration or Agency, so it reads like a government body;
- a threat of fines or of losing your rights if you do not pay quickly;
- an offer to record, publish or "monitor" your mark in a private register, or to file your renewal, for a fee;
- fine print, often on the back, saying the sender is not a government agency.
2. How to check a letter
- Look at the record. Your real deadlines are on the USPTO's own record of your mark, TSDR. If the letter's deadline is not there, it is not a USPTO deadline.
- Look at the sender. Official USPTO emails come from addresses ending in @uspto.gov. The USPTO also suggests comparing the name on the letter with the examining attorney named in your latest Office Action.
- Look at where you would pay. USPTO fees are paid to the USPTO, on uspto.gov.
- Research the company before paying anything, and if a firm offers to file for you, check that it has a U.S.-licensed attorney.
3. Where to report it
The contacts the USPTO gives on its scams page:
- [email protected] — websites that imitate the USPTO, attorneys listed on your record without your consent, and signatures you did not enter;
- [email protected] — improper appointments of attorneys (the USPTO's Office of Enrollment and Discipline);
- an email-address change on your record that you did not make: reply to the alert the USPTO sends from [email protected];
- the Trademark Assistance Center, 1-800-786-9199, for questions about your record.
4. What TMHawk does about it
- If you watch a mark, TMHawk reads its USPTO record every day and emails you when the owner, the attorney or the correspondence address on the record changes, with the before and the after.
- TMHawk's emails come from [email protected]. They are not from the USPTO, they never ask you to pay a fee to keep your mark, and every one names its source and date.