• UIMP Summer Course: ‘Protecting innovations in Spain: the new Patent Law’
• EPOPIC comes to Madrid
• Measures by the SPTO to warn against fraudulent requests for payment
• New educational material from SPTO to create awareness in the fight against counterfeiting
• Tribute to Professor Carlos Fernández-Nóvoa

Measures by the SPTO to warn against fraudulent requests for payment

Industrial Property applicants and agents have been receiving fraudulent letters and e-mails requesting payment of fees for services related to Patents, Utility Models, Trademarks, and/or Industrial Designs. The Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO) has been taking the following measures to warn about these activities:

Trademark

• Electronic applications:
• A warning is sent together with acknowledgement of the Trademark application.
• A warning is displayed on the URL from which granting certificates for registration and renewal are downloaded.
• Presencial applications and on paper support:
• A warning is handed out together with acknowledgement of the filing of a Trademark application.

Patents, Utility Models and Industrial Designs

• For Patents and Utility Models, a warning is included in the information given at the end of the acknowledgement of electronic filing.
• For Industrial Designs, the warning appears on the application website. In addition, under Designs, a message stating “Important Warning” has been included at the end of the acknowledgement of electronic filing.

These measures, and others to be adopted in the future, are listed on the home page of the website under the heading ‘Advertencias OEPM: No se deje engañar’ (SPTO Warnings: Don’t be fooled) along with specific examples. In addition, a warning is published regularly on social networks, together with photos of real cases.