Trademark Xperts Reports & Reviews (4)
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SCAMPULSE
If you know any contact information for Trademark Xperts, help other victims by adding it!
Complete run around
Trademark Xperts is a scam
They first created urgency by sending an email stating that someone had already filed an application for the name we wanted to trademark, but that we could beat them to the punch. That should have been enough of a read flag to say "thanks but no thanks", but we were stupid enough to fall for it. So we went ahead and retained their services.
They gave some vague overview of the process and fees with credible jargon that seemed legit, and then they started requesting payment of fees at each alleged step in the process. After 2 substantial payments, they sent us the reference number for our submitted application--which was actually REAL. They had indeed submitted an application to register our trademark; it was searchable on the application status database of the USPTO. We asked if our latest payment was indeed the final one, but they evaded the question, asked for extra information and documents for some final steps, and sent more bills.
At that point we got annoyed and I got a bad feeling. So I spent 8+ hours doing research on the ins and outs of the USPTO application process and fees (precisely what we were trying to avoid having to do and that's why we paid someone to do it for us), and here is what I found out:
1) the fees they charged were either inflated, or entirely made up, and mostly for unnecessary work that may or may not have been performed (probably not). For instance, a "standard fee" of $35 per state to file the application in each state. Turns out a USPTO trademark covers all states so there is no need for individual state filing. While it is a real thing, it's only for people on a budget who just want their trademark to apply in select states, and there is no standard fee; it varies by state. They also charged a one-time "standard fee" for "specimen submission." While specimen submission is a mandatory part of the process, the USPTO fee schedule shows no fees for submitting specimens; it is just part of the application submission and covered by those filing fees. You get the picture.
2) the application they filed was 100% wrong. I checked the codes used for the "classes" of the trademark, and they had nothing to do with the nature of our services or the products they apply to (we are an animation and video game studio, the application they file would register our trademark name for products like rope, textiles, or telecommunication services). They basically spent 5 minutes to slap together a legit-looking application (if you don't know how to dissect and verify it) so you have no reason to question their process and the fees they charge, until you realize that you will not get your trademark registered as intended, because it was all a smokescreen and now you're out thousands of dollars in fees they made up or for work they didn't do.
Of course we never paid any further bills. Unsurprisingly, when we emailed customer support to complain, the email bounced back because the address doesn't exist. We then used the email of the "agent" we had mostly interacted with, and of course we never heard back. But they did have the audacity to send us another email from a different "agent", reminding us of the latest bill.
We have reported them to the USPTO, the FBI and the FTC.
I am also trying to get out of the TrademarkXperts scam.
Thank you.