A client forwarded me a recent letter about renewing their trademark registration from Trademark Renewal Services with an address at
1229 Chestnut Street, Front 1 #449
Philadelphia, PA 19107
See the image of their mailing below.
The document could easily be mistaken as coming from the government – the name, the look and feel of the document, the registration number.
The mailing is a scam because they sent it a full year before renewal could actually be filed. And because they lied about the renewal date and the registration date.
If this was a legitimate service at a reasonable value, why would they mask who they are, and why would they choose the odd (generic!) name of “Trademark Renewal Service”? Properly protecting trademarks – and trademark registrations – is more than just filling out a form. And for proper trademark registration renewals and Section 8 and 15 filings, calculating the dates and deadlines accurately is crucial.
Beware of such scams. Read the fine print. Contact your attorney. Report scams to the FTC and USPTO.
For more information, see USPTO’s WARNING: Non-USPTO Solicitations That May Resemble Official USPTO Communications
I got one in the mail today too. Red flag was no return address on the envelope and I actually have already been scammed once around my TM. The website also does not work when typed in.
Today, I received a letter in the mail identical to the letter shown in this article. It’s the most convincing scam I’ve ever seen, and I’ve encountered dozens over the years. I immediately recognized it as fraudulent because I had already renewed my trademark. The letter arrived on September 23, just days before my trademark’s September 27 renewal date. This relates to the urgency associated with the request.
I appreciate your ongoing support in identifying these scammers!
I’m glad you recognized the scam – thanks for sharing your experience.
And 1229 Chestnut appears to be a residential apartment building, an unusual venue for a supposed “Trademark Renewal Service.” This may make it a bit easier to identify the scammer. I received a very similar letter during the first week of January 2025, so he/she/they are still scamming.
Thank you very much for this PSA – I just got one in the mail here in Canada. They obviously time it well as we had some renewal deadlines / it is near front of mind lately.
1st. clue was we received it 5 days after the supposed deadline. Then their contact number didnt work properly, it said in Spanish I had chosen the incorrect option (which was the only option offered). A quick google and your result comes up, thankfully.
Thanks thanks thanks!
Same experience here. My company is in norway.
Recieved an identical letter, after “deadline”. I wrote a mail to them since i thought the letter was stuck in internal mail. Got a respond telling me i could just scan the letter with a signature and send it to them via email.
Got a bit suspicious and checked uspto.gov. Noticed that the letters deadline was 1 year earlier than earliest renewal date.
Found this post and im certain they tried to scam us.
Thank you
I am working for a company in Germany.
we got physical postal letters from them as well, thank god we recognize the scam (or at least misleading solicitations) in time, thanks to our patent lawyer. we also reported them to USPTO.
at EMP&A : thanks for having created this blog and warning about them as well.
My pleasure – glad you found the info!
Thanks for sharing. Our company in Taiwan recently received exactly the same scam letter, and seeing your post gave us much more peace of mind.
Thank you for the thread!! I got one of these today 11/22/2024. Identical to the above example.
I just got one in the mail the other day. I was skeptical at first because the registration date is wrong off by a year (I registered officially in 2020, it said 2019) and when I got an email response this morning, how the email addressed “Hello Sir/Madam” was the last red flag I needed to know it was another “fake renewal” scam. Then I noticed the email was “Trademark Renewal Service Inc.” That’s not a very government type name either. Plus I never got a reminder email from USPTO about it either.
I just received the exact letter today. I already assumed it was a scam because I received another scam attwmpt a few years ago that looked very legit. These jerks are so frustrating because the first one I almost fell for. Luckily I looked at my paperwork and realized the dates didn’t match.
SCAMMERS !!!!!
Thank you for the warning. It confirmed my suspicion,
We are your customer at Snowspring dba Kinder Haus Toys
Why are these people not prosecuted
Thank you all for posting as it had everyone in my office fooled that they advised me to process it for payment. It was only when I went to pay it that I realised the bank details looked odd and their website looked light on details. All the details on the invoice were correct so it didn’t flag. I don’t think calling their office number would have made a difference, as instructed by my bank, because I am sure they would have a legitimate sounding voicemail, which they did.
I was about to send a check and I’m so thankful to all of you for sharing this information! What did anyone do in order to make sure they are being caught and stop doing this?
I received a letter as well. I quickly googled and came here.
Thank you for your post.
There are so many scammers around and it’s getting worse.
I even received an email requesting everyone’s W2!
I received the same invoice. It is a scam for sure. Trademark renewal can be done online without an attorney.
We fell for it and sent in over $1200 for the renewal. They cashed the check in March of this year but our lawyer (who we contacted after the fact) said it still has not been filed and isn’t due until April 2026. Do you know if they actually file eventually or what happens if you sent the money?
Unfortunately, I do not know. Keep us posted if you are able to get law enforcement or FTC do do anything about them.
I just received the same letter. Ironically, the Maintenance fees were due. I called the number and all you can do is press 1 for an agent and it just rings and the message is to email. I also tried. No response. I sent a check because I had to make sure any gees were up ti date but something in my gut said this is a scam so I stopped payment right away. I just saw this post. Thx for sharing
1229 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19107 is a UPS store. Looks like they have a mailbox #449 opened there.
Scammers!
This scam as alive and well, I got the a very similar letter from the same “service”. It’s hard to believe they’ve gotten away with it for so long. Buyer beware!!
How is this scam still going with the same adress and no one is getting caught? I got a letter today.
We received one and I was just about to pay for it when I decided to Google the company and found this. Thank you
You’re welcome!
I wish I had found this site before my 501c3 greyhound adoption group sent these scammers a check for $1950 in August. When I didn’t hear anything about our trademark being renewed by late September, I started filing complaints. To date I have notified the BBB, the ICCC, the FTC, the USPTO, the FBI Fraud Division, the PA Attorney General’s office & the Phil. DA’s Office/Consumer Protection Division. I’ve also filed a dispute with our bank. On 11/3, after sending countless emails to the scammers, I received an email from info@trademarkrenewalservice.com that said, “Dear Sir/Madam, Thank you for your email. We would like to inform you that the refund check has been mailed out. Please inform us once you receive it. We look forward to hearing from you soon.” The email was sent to me and to the BBB caseworker assigned to my complaint. However, as of 11/8, I haven’t received a check in the mail.
Thank you for this post and all of the informative responses.
We received a couple renewal letters, though I remembered collecting images for proof for our real renewal just a couple years ago. After looking at the website, it motivated me to do a search with the word “legit” at the end, and thus I found this entry about the scam.
My pleasure – I’m glad you found it.