Guarding Your Brand: Trademark Scams In The UK

Trademark phishing campaigns are rising, with businesses increasingly being targeted by highly sophisticated, AI-driven trademark scams. Alice Wright analyses a prominent registration scam recently circulating in the UK to offer advice on how to identify trademark scams, what immediate steps to take if targeted, and how to proactively protect your business through legitimate channels. 

Intellectual property rights are highly valuable. Unfortunately, this value has not gone unnoticed by cybercriminals, who are increasingly targeting businesses with highly sophisticated, AI-driven trademark scams designed to exploit brand owners’ fears of losing their proprietary names, logos or domain rights. These fraudulent schemes often impersonate legitimate law firms, misusing the credentials of genuine solicitors and utilising high-pressure legal jargon to coerce businesses into paying unnecessary fees.

Identifying the scam: The anatomy of a trademark phishing campaign

To protect your business, it's crucial to understand how these scams operate. At present, the most common variation of this threat is the "urgent third-party filing" scam. In this scenario, a business receives an unsolicited email from an entity claiming to be a legal practice or trademark office. The sender alleges that another party is on the verge of registering the business's brand name as a trademark but offers the business a "priority" window to register it first – for a fee. 

A recent real-world example of this scam in the UK involves emails misusing the name of a real legal firm and a genuine solicitor, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). This type of phishing campaign represents a highly sophisticated form of "firm cloning" and professional identity theft. However, by dissecting the correspondence sent by these scammers, we can isolate the key red flags that expose the fraudulent nature of the communications. 

Red flag 1: Artificial and extreme urgency

The scam email asserts that a pending trademark application is scheduled for "imminent submission to the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO)". It demands that the recipient clarify their position and provide a written objection within an incredibly short timeframe, typically 48 hours. 

The reality: Legitimate legal proceedings and trademark applications do not operate on 48-hour administrative ultimatums. Real law firms and the UKIPO provide reasonable notice periods (typically months, not hours) for rights holders to respond to potential registration conflicts. 

Red flag 2: The "mandatory pre-filing due diligence" fallacy

The fraudulent email claims that the correspondence "constitutes a formal legal notice issued as part of our mandatory pre-filing due diligence under the Trade Marks Act 1994 and UKIPO regulatory practice”. 

The reality: There is absolutely no statutory or regulatory requirement under the UK Trade Marks Act 1994 that obligates an applicant or their representative to conduct "mandatory pre-filing due diligence" by contacting potential competitors before filing a trademark. This is entirely fabricated legal jargon designed to intimidate the recipient. 

Red flag 3: The "bait-and-switch" representative offer

In perhaps the most glaring logical contradiction of the scam, the sender writes: 

"Notwithstanding the foregoing, should you be actively trading under the name and wish to secure exclusive statutory protection, we are able... to prioritise the preparation and filing of a UK trademark application on your behalf ahead of the current submission."  

The reality: A genuine solicitor or trademark attorney is bound by strict professional codes of conduct, including conflict of interest rules. An attorney representing a client who wishes to file a trademark cannot suddenly drop their client to represent the opposing party they just threatened. The offer to switch sides and file the trademark on your behalf is a clear sign of a scam designed to extract money from you directly. 

Red flag 4: Domain spoofing

The fraudulent emails in this campaign were sent from a domain which does not match the details listed on the SRA. 

The reality: As confirmed by the SRA in its official warnings, the genuine, SRA-authorised firm operates under different email/web domains from those indicated in the scam email and has no connection to the phishing emails. Scammers frequently register lookalike (spoof) domains to bypass basic spam filters and deceive recipients. 

Red flag 5: Identity theft and professional cloning

The scam email lists a real solicitor's name, a real London address and a genuine-looking SRA ID number (SRA: XXXXXX) in the footer. 

The reality: Scammers scrape public registers to find active, legitimate legal professionals and copy their details exactly. The genuine solicitor is regulated by the SRA but has absolutely no connection to the fraudulent domain or the scam emails. 

What to do: Immediate response, verification and reporting

If your business receives an unsolicited email that matches any of these characteristics, it is vital to handle the situation calmly and systematically.

1. Step 1: Do not engage or reply

As with any phishing campaign, do not reply to the email, do not click any links and do not call the telephone numbers provided in the message. Engaging with the scammers confirms that your email address is active and monitored by a responsive target, which may only invite further, more aggressive phishing attempts. Indeed, it is important to block any suspected scam email address and the associated domain as soon as the threat is identified to prevent ongoing targeting. 

2. Step 2: Conduct independent verification

Never rely on the contact details provided within the suspicious email to verify its authenticity. Instead, use independent, official public registers: 

• The SRA register: If the sender claims to be a solicitor in England and Wales, verify their details directly on the Solicitors Regulation Authority website. Compare the email domain and telephone number listed on the official register with the one in the email.
• The IPReg/CITMA Register: If the sender claims to be a trademark professional, search the official registers of the Intellectual Property Regulation Board (IPReg) or the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (CITMA).  
• The UKIPO trademark register: If the scammer claims a third party has "pending" or "scheduled" applications, you can independently verify if any legitimate filings actually exist under that brand name by searching the UK Intellectual Property Office registry for free – or asking your attorney to check on your behalf.

3. Step 3: Report the scam

Help protect the broader business community by reporting the fraudulent correspondence to the relevant authorities: 

• SRA Scam Alerts: Report the misuse of legal credentials directly to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
• National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC): Forward the phishing email to the NCSC ([email protected] ).
• Action Fraud: If your business has suffered financial loss or disclosed sensitive information, report the incident to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre. 

Step 4: Seek professional advice

Before taking any legal or commercial action, consult a reliable, independent legal professional to review the matter. If you do not already have a Novagraaf attorney, you can contact our UK trademark specialists, or find a registered trademark attorney or solicitor belonging to a regulated IP practice or law firm through their official, public contact channels. 

How to protect your business: Turning a threat into proactive brand security

While scam email notices are entirely fraudulent, such phishing campaigns often inadvertently highlight a very real corporate vulnerability: a lack of registered trademark protection. 

When a scammer targets an unregistered brand name, they exploit the fact that the targeted business has been trading under a name without securing the exclusive statutory rights to it. Business owners should evaluate this underlying risk and take proactive steps to secure their intellectual property. 

Unregistered rights v registered trademarks 

Many businesses mistakenly believe that because they have registered their company name at Companies House, or have used a trading name for years, they are fully protected. However, this is not the case. 

• Unregistered rights (passing off): If a third party attempts to copy your brand, you may have common law recourse in the UK under the tort of "passing off" . However, passing off can be difficult and expensive to prove. You must provide extensive, localised evidence of your established goodwill, demonstrate that the third party's use constitutes a misrepresentation, and prove that your business has suffered or is likely to suffer damage.
• Registered trademarks: Registering a UK trademark under the Trade Marks Act 1994 grants you an exclusive, nationwide statutory right to use the mark in relation to specific goods and services. It acts as a powerful deterrent, is easily enforceable, and is listed on a public register, enabling you to prevent competitors (and legitimate applicants) from registering confusingly similar names. 

Evaluating the risk: Is filing an application worth it? 

If a scam identifies a gap in your protection, you should assess whether filing a legitimate trademark application is a justifiable business expense. In the UK, official UKIPO filing fees start at a modest £205 for a single class of goods or services. 

Compared to the potential costs of:

1. Rebranding your entire business if a competitor legitimately registers the name first,
2. Pursuing a costly passing-off lawsuit in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) or even the High Court, or 
3. Resolving a complex domain name dispute under the Nominet Dispute Resolution Service (DRS). 

The cost of proactive trademark registration is remarkably low. If your brand carries market reputation, actively generates revenue and distinguishes your business from competitors, securing a registered trademark is an essential defensive measure. 

Reasons to partner with a trusted professional

While it is possible to file a trademark on your own at the UKIPO, there is a risk of costly errors, such as selecting the wrong classes of goods and services, failing to identify pre-existing conflicting marks, or drafting a specification that is too narrow to offer meaningful protection. 

To ensure your application is legally robust and strategically aligned with your commercial goals, it is advisable to work with a qualified professional. In the UK, trademark attorneys are regulated by the IPReg, while CITMA is the primary recognised professional body for regulated trademark practitioners. 

An IPReg-regulated registered trademark attorney will: 

• Conduct professional, comprehensive clearance searches to ensure your mark is free to use and register. 
• Draft precise specifications that protect your current operations and allow room for future business expansion. 
• Manage the application process through the UKIPO, handling any official objections or third-party oppositions. 
• Provide ongoing watch services to monitor the register for any future infringements or confusingly similar filings. 

Key takeaways about trademark scams

Trademark scams are designed to exploit fear, uncertainty, and a lack of legal familiarity. By recognising the red flags – especially fabricated 48-hour deadlines, highly suspicious email domains and illogical offers to "switch representation" – UK businesses can easily neutralise these threats through simple verification and reporting. 

However, rather than simply dismissing these scams, smart business leaders should also treat them as an opportunity to review their IP portfolios. By partnering with a legitimate, registered professional, you can close security gaps, secure exclusive rights to your valuable brands and ensure your business's long-term commercial success is fully protected.