Trademark owners should be cautious of unsolicited trademark renewal notices that look official or government-issued. A client recently received a misleading solicitation from a company calling itself “Trademark Renewal Service” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The notice contained inaccurate trademark registration and renewal information and arrived well before the registration was eligible for renewal. Always verify trademark renewal deadlines with the USPTO or your trademark attorney before paying an unsolicited service.
Beware of “Trademark Renewal Service” in Philadelphia, PA
A client recently forwarded me a letter they received regarding the renewal of their federal trademark registration. The solicitation came from a company identifying itself as Trademark Renewal Service, using the following address:
1229 Chestnut Street, Front 1 #449
Philadelphia, PA 19107
See the image of the mailing below.
At first glance, a trademark owner could easily mistake this document for an official government notice. It references the trademark registration number and uses a name, format, and overall appearance that may make the solicitation seem official.
But it is not a notice from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
What Makes This Trademark Renewal Notice Misleading?
There were several significant red flags with this mailing.
Most importantly, the solicitation was sent a full year before the trademark renewal filing could actually be made. It also contained inaccurate information regarding the trademark’s registration date and renewal date.
Accurate deadlines are extremely important when maintaining a federal trademark registration. Depending on the age of a registration, trademark owners may need to file specific maintenance documents and fees with the USPTO during prescribed filing windows.
An inaccurate deadline can therefore create unnecessary confusion—and potentially cause trademark owners to pay for a service they do not yet need.
Why Do Trademark Renewal Solicitations Look Official?
Trademark registration information is publicly available through USPTO records. Third-party companies can use this information to send trademark owners solicitations for monitoring, renewal, publication, or other services.
Some of these notices use names, formatting, terminology, registration numbers, and other details that can make them appear connected to the USPTO.
Ask yourself: If a service provides legitimate value at a reasonable price, why would it need to obscure who is behind it or use a generic, official-sounding name such as “Trademark Renewal Service”?
Trademark owners should always look carefully at who actually sent a notice before responding or submitting payment.
Trademark Renewal Is More Than Filling Out a Form
Properly protecting a trademark—and maintaining a federal trademark registration—is about much more than completing a form.
Trademark maintenance filings can involve important legal requirements, including determining the correct filing window, confirming continued use of the trademark, identifying the appropriate goods or services, and providing acceptable evidence of use when required.
For Section 8 declarations, Section 15 declarations, and trademark registration renewals, calculating filing dates and deadlines correctly is critical.
A mistake can put valuable trademark rights at risk.
What to Do If You Receive a Suspicious Trademark Renewal Notice
If you receive an unexpected trademark renewal letter, invoice, or solicitation:
- Do not assume it came from the USPTO. Check the sender carefully.
- Verify the deadline. Confirm your actual trademark maintenance or renewal dates using official USPTO records.
- Read the fine print. Look for language explaining that the sender is a private company and is not affiliated with the USPTO.
- Do not pay immediately. An official-looking invoice does not necessarily mean that payment is required.
- Contact your trademark attorney. If you are uncertain about a notice, have an experienced professional review it.
- Report deceptive solicitations. Suspicious trademark-related solicitations can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the USPTO.
Protect Your Trademark From Misleading Renewal Solicitations
Trademark owners receive many types of unsolicited communications after registering a trademark. Some may offer legitimate services, while others may contain misleading information or be designed to look like official government correspondence.
Beware of trademark renewal scams and misleading solicitations. Read the fine print, verify every deadline, and contact your trademark attorney before sending money or providing sensitive information.
The USPTO also maintains information about private solicitations that may resemble official USPTO communications. See the USPTO’s warning about non-USPTO solicitations that may resemble official USPTO communications for additional guidance.
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.
I received an identical letter today ( 1 – 16 -26 ). It is still an active SCAM.
Thank you for this post! I was wondering when I saw the $1250 fee. I then went to the official site and saw that I couldn’t renew until next year! It almost got me!!
Well, I’m here in 2026 because I received two of these letters a few days apart for different trademark names for my company. I held on to them for a while before I planned to send them to my trademark team. I decided to search if it was a scam right before I was about to send them, and that’s how I ended up here. The same exact form. I can’t believe it. They must be reading this site because they put a return address on the envelope.
Thank you so much for this alert! I didn’t realize it was a scam. Thanks to you, I didn’t end up paying for this. I remember receiving this notice last year and I think I paid it not knowing it was a scam.
If you’re not sure of the status of your trademark, go here: https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/search
I do not understand why this scammer is still loose and doing what he/she is doing. I received one today, it’s 5/15/2026. I get so many phony emails and letters these days.
Some are from “my CEO”, at least I can google and check with Chatgpt. But still…
All i can say is I feel very stupid. this scam has gotten me and almost got me again. the reason I caught on this time…I am receiving emails from so called attorneys letting me know that someone else has filed for my exact same trademark. they gave me a time line to respond or my trademark would be given to them. I went to the trademark USPTO website and seen that my trademark is mine until 2027 and I can start the process as early as 6/2026 for renewal. In between that time. i received these letters ….again, thinking this was what I needed to sign, however when I went to the USPTO website…I was able to do everything there and i paid them direct.
the worst part is , we signed these letters and returned them already and now have received the invoice from them. Do I have to pay this invoice because I signed it?
I have been reading these posts that seems to have been going on since 2024! I received one on June 25th, 2026. Is there any agency responsible for stopping this scam? The letters are the same, the address on the scam letter is the same: 1229 Chestnut Street Front 1 #449? I am wondering where FBI is! This is like Nigeria where scammers live on without fear the law! I am angry!
OH shit! I paid to this a month ago and did not receive any confirmation of payment. Just went online to check on this trademark renewal service and realised I had been scammed.