Beware of unsolicited payment requests relating to intellectual property rights

Authors: Matthew Pryke & Irmak Baksu

Companies House and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) are campaigning to raise public awareness of fraudulent and misleading payment requests sent to businesses and trade mark owners.

These requests, which may be received by post or email, often relate to services such as trade mark renewals, company filings or procedural steps such as paying application fees. They can appear official and may seek payment for services at inflated prices, or for services that are available directly through official channels at a significantly lower cost.

Clients should be particularly cautious of correspondence that:

• Has links to a website that does not use the gov.uk domain;
• Contains poor wording or unprofessional formatting;
• States that the sender is not affiliated with the UK Government;
• Requests payment for trade mark renewals or other intellectual property services unexpectedly; or
• Imposes short payment deadlines that create a sense of urgency.

For clients of Hamlins who have appointed us as their representative, all correspondence and genuine payment requests from the UK IPO will be sent to Hamlins rather than to the business direct. If you receive an unexpected invoice, renewal notice or payment demand relating to your intellectual property rights, you should check with Hamlins before making any payment. The likelihood is, any correspondence received directly, will be confirmed as fake.

How Hamlins can help

Hamlins’ Commercial and Tech team helps businesses protect and manage their intellectual property rights by acting as an authorised representative before the UK IPO. This enables us to oversee official communication, manage key deadlines and provide reassurance that payment requests and renewal notices are genuine before any action is taken.

Please get in touch if you would like us to become your authorised representative or require clarification on any communication you receive in connection with your Intellectual Property Assets.