The Worldwide Database of Trademarks and Patents’
recent “invoice” to a federal trademark registrant
I’ve discussed this before, but it’s worth discussing again.
An unsuspecting trademark owner obtains a federal trademark registration. Guess what happens next? He/she/it starts receiving “invoices” from official-looking third parties requesting payment in connection with their registration.
My client recently received two: one from the “Register of International Patents and Trademarks” and another from the “Worldwide Database of Trademarks and Patents.”
The Register of International Patents and Trademarks, with the formal name of “RIPT s.r.o” of Bratislava, Slovak Republic, issued a “charge of registration” fee of $2,662.50 and urged he registrant to “pay the amount above, on acceptance, within 10 days by wire transfer or cheque!”
The Worldwide Database of Trademarks and Patents, with the formal name of “WDTP s.r.o,” also of Bratislava, is a relative bargain. Its invoice is for “only” $2,327.
So what does one get for these services? Nothing of value, but it’s buried in the fine print.
The Register states: “The publishing of the public registration of your patent is the basis of our offer. We offer the registration of your Patent dates in our private Database.”
The Worldwide Database states: “Present form is exclusively the offer of our company for the concluding of the contract, the subject of which is a year-long registration of your international patent application in our internet database of the international patent applications published in www.wdtp.biz.”
Never mind that these notices are sent to trademark registrants, not patent holders.
The punch line? You get your registration published in a private database.
Heck, I’d put a registration in my own private database for half of what they’re charging.
Kidding aside, don’t waste your money. And don’t be fooled by unsolicited invoices. Heed the warnings of WIPO and Europe’s trademark office, which have started collecting such invoices — if not my own.