82 FR 29535 - Notice of Roundtable Related to Fraudulent Solicitations

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 124 (June 29, 2017)

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (``USPTO'') and its Trademark Public Advisory Committee will host a free public roundtable on fraudulent and misleading solicitations that are directed to trademark holders, to further public awareness of the problem, to provide U.S. Government officials with more information about its scope, and to facilitate a discussion among members of the public about how to address the problem.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 124 (Thursday, June 29, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29535-29536]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13612]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

United States Patent and Trademark Office

[Docket No. PTO-T-2017-0027]


Notice of Roundtable Related to Fraudulent Solicitations

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public roundtable regarding fraudulent solicitations 
to trademark owners.

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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (``USPTO'') and 
its Trademark Public Advisory Committee will host a free public 
roundtable on fraudulent and misleading solicitations that are directed 
to trademark holders, to further public awareness of the problem, to 
provide U.S. Government officials with more information about its 
scope, and to facilitate a discussion among members of the public about 
how to address the problem.

DATES: The public roundtable will be held on July 26, 2017, from 2 p.m. 
to 4 p.m. (EDT). Individuals wishing to speak at the roundtable must 
complete the on-line registration no later than July 17, 2017 (EDT). 
Please see ADDRESSES for further instructions.

ADDRESSES: The public roundtable will be held at the United States 
Patent and Trademark Office, Global Intellectual Property Academy, 
Madison Building (East), Second Floor, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, 
Virginia 22314, and via webcast at the Midwest Regional Office, 300 
River Place Drive, Suite 2900, Detroit, Michigan 48207; the Rocky 
Mountain Regional Office, 1961 Stout Street, Denver, Colorado 80294; 
the West Coast Regional Office, 26 S. Fourth Street, San Jose, 
California 95113; or the Texas Regional Office, 207 South Houston 
Street, Suite 159, Dallas, Texas 75202.
    Roundtable Registration: To register to attend the roundtable, 
please go to the USPTO Web site (https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/ip-policy/fraudulent-solicitations-trademark-owners). The 
agenda will be available a week before the meeting at the same URL. 
Attendees may also register at the door one half-hour prior to the 
beginning of the meeting.
    Roundtable Speaker Registration: To register to speak at the 
roundtable, please go to the USPTO Web site (https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/ip-policy/fraudulent-solicitations-trademark-owners).
    All members of the public are encouraged to submit written feedback 
regarding fraudulent solicitations by electronic mail message via the 
Internet addressed to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
regarding registration should be directed to the attention of Hollis 
Robinson, by telephone at 571-272-9300, or by email at 
[email protected]. Requests for additional information 
regarding the topics for discussion at the Fraudulent Solicitations to 
Trademark Owners Roundtable should be directed to Leigh Lowry, by 
telephone at 571-272-9300, by email at [email protected], or by postal 
mail addressed to: Mail Stop OPIA, United States Patent and Trademark 
Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450, ATTN: Leigh Lowry or 
Hollis Robinson. Please direct all media inquiries to the Office of the 
Chief Communications Officer, USPTO, at (571) 272-8400.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Numerous owners of U.S. trademark 
registrations, as well as applicants for such registrations, have been 
targeted by unscrupulous parties who extract their names from United 
States Patent and Trademark Office (``USPTO'') databases and offer them 
services, often trying to create the impression that they are acting on 
behalf of the USPTO. In many instances, the services are never 
performed. In other instances, they are performed in an incorrect 
manner that puts the registration at risk of

[[Page 29536]]

cancellation. In addition, inflated fees may be charged for the alleged 
services.
    The USPTO has taken a number of steps to help raise awareness of 
these schemes. First, it provides information about the problem 
together with various official documents that it issues to registrants 
and applicants for registration. In addition, it maintains a Web page 
that describes the problem (please see https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-getting-started/non-uspto-solicitations), provides a list of 
entities that are known to make fraudulent solicitations, and lists an 
email address ([email protected]) through which parties can send 
suggested additions to the list. Finally, the USPTO also produced a 
video that highlights the potential harm posed by non-USPTO 
solicitations, which is available at https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-getting-started/process-overview/trademark-information-network.
    The USPTO has worked closely with other Federal agencies, including 
the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the 
United States Postal Inspection Service, to combat the fraudulent 
solicitations. Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice secured five 
criminal convictions in federal court in California related to one of 
these scams, including convictions on charges of mail fraud, money 
laundering, conspiracy, and other crimes, all arising out of a scheme 
that defrauded more than 4,400 trademark owners out of $1.66 million. 
The USPTO continues to provide its full support to U.S. law enforcement 
officials working on this matter.
    To provide U.S. Government officials with more information about 
the scope of this problem, and to continue to raise public awareness 
about it, the USPTO encourages parties who have been victimized by 
these scams, or attorneys whose clients have been victimized by them, 
to speak at the roundtable. The USPTO has invited the U.S. Department 
of Justice, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Federal Trade Commission, 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Small Business 
Administration to hear about experiences with these scams and offer 
their insights.
    The roundtable will provide an opportunity for interested parties 
to share ideas about how to address the problem. The USPTO has invited 
various intellectual property law organizations to participate, 
including the Intellectual Property section of the American Bar 
Association (ABA), the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), the 
American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), the Federation 
Internationale des Conseils en Propriete Intellectuelle (FICPI-US), the 
Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), and the International 
Trademark Association (INTA). The USPTO encourages all interested 
members of the public to attend.
    Requests To Speak at the Roundtable: Individuals wishing to speak 
at the roundtable must complete the on-line registration no later than 
July 17, 2017, and include their name, contact information (telephone 
number and email address), the organization(s) the person represents, 
if any, the topics they wish to address, and the approximate length of 
the presentation. To ensure a balanced array of views, there is the 
possibility that not all persons who wish to make a presentation will 
be able to do so given time constraints; however, the USPTO will do its 
best to try to accommodate as many as possible. Selected speakers will 
be notified thereafter. Nonetheless, all members of the public are 
encouraged to submit written feedback regarding fraudulent 
solicitations by electronic mail message via the Internet addressed to 
[email protected].
    Parties who have been selected to speak may do so either at USPTO 
main campus in Alexandria, Virginia, or via webcast at one of the 
following USPTO Regional Offices: the Midwest Regional Office, 300 
River Place Drive, Suite 2900, Detroit, Michigan 48207; the Rocky 
Mountain Regional Office, 1961 Stout Street, Denver, Colorado 80294; 
the West Coast Regional Office, 26 S. Fourth Street, San Jose, 
California 95113; or the Texas Regional Office, 207 South Houston 
Street, Suite 159, Dallas, Texas 75202. Please check the appropriate 
location when completing the on-line registration.
    Public Availability of Transcripts: The transcript of the 
roundtable will be made available for public inspection upon request at 
the Office of the Commissioner for Trademarks, located at 600 Dulany 
Street, Madison East Building, Tenth Floor, Alexandria, Virginia, and 
via address: http://www.uspto.gov.
    Accessibility for People With Disabilities: The roundtable meeting 
will be physically accessible to people with disabilities. All major 
entrances to the USPTO Madison Building (East) at 600 Dulany Street, 
Alexandria, Virginia 22314 are accessible to people with disabilities. 
Individuals requiring accommodation, such as sign language 
interpretation or other ancillary aids, should communicate their needs 
to Hollis Robinson at the Office of Policy and International Affairs, 
by telephone at (571) 272-9300, by email at [email protected], 
or by postal mail addressed to: Mail Stop OPIA, United States Patent 
and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450, ATTN: 
Hollis Robinson, at least seven (7) business days prior to the 
roundtable.

    Dated: June 23, 2017.
Joseph Matal,
Performing the Functions and Duties of the Under Secretary of Commerce 
for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and 
Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2017-13612 Filed 6-28-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P