Ten things you can do to protect your trademark application or registration

Check our Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) database to verify information and deadlines. Be sure your correspondence and secondary email addresses are accurate. And then regularly monitor your trademark filing information.
Set up an “alert” in your MyUSPTO account, which will notify you when there are changes or something is filed.
If you are an attorney, search your name in our trademark database with the [at] tag to see if your name appears in submissions that you did not authorize. Be aware that the attorney email field is not yet searchable.
If you receive suspicious correspondence, check our scam alert webpage, check TSDR to see if the USPTO actually issued the correspondence, or contact our Trademark Assistance Center (TAC) to help evaluate the validity of the correspondence.
1. If you receive a notice about endorsing, attesting, or authenticating your trademark in each U.S. state, do not pay anything, even if the notice looks authentic and has the Commissioner for Trademarks signature or letterhead. Scammers are forging the Commissioner for Trademarks’ signature and are contacting applicants stating they’re required to pay fees to certify their business in the United States. This is a scam with fake requirements and made-up fees.
Do not give your social security number to anyone claiming to be from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and only pay for trademark fees via our electronic filing system. The USPTO will never ask you for social security numbers or credit card numbers over the phone or by email. Be cautious of imposters claiming to be from the USPTO.
Never share your password for your USPTO.gov account, even with someone who helps you file your application. If you do, they may use your account to file without your knowledge, including in applications that don’t belong to you. This could result in your account being suspended.
1. If you hire an attorney to represent you, the attorney must have their own USPTO.gov account to file on your behalf. They do not need to file through your account. If they tell you otherwise, they are likely a scammer.
If you are using or considering using a trademark service company, check whether they are subject to an Order for Sanctions from the USPTO or listed as an entity on our Potentially Misleading Solicitations webpage.
If you are concerned about the validity of your application or the conduct of any of the entities involved in your application, consult with a private U.S.-licensed attorney who is knowledgeable about trademark law (and not connected to any entity listed in our webpages in #7 above) to evaluate your application.
If your trademark registered without your knowledge or authorization, consider filing a petition to cancel the registration with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Check Customs and Border Protection (CBP) records to ensure that no unauthorized registrations have been recorded with CBP and check our webpage to learn how to record your trademark registration with CBP.