Envelopes
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PCT applicants and agents have informed the International Bureau that some of these requests to pay fees are being sent in envelopes which appear to bear the WIPO/OMPI logo and the address of the organization. Please carefully review all such requests. The services which are being offered in these invitations do not come from WIPO.
WARNING: Requests for Payment of Fees
It has come to the attention of the International Bureau that PCT applicants and agents are receiving invitations to pay fees that do not come from the International Bureau of WIPO and are unrelated to the processing of international applications under the PCT. Whatever registration services might be offered in such invitations, they bear no connection to WIPO or to any of its official publications.
The invitations often identify a particular PCT application by its international publication number (eg: WO 02 xxxxxx), publication date, title of the invention, international application number, priority information and IPC symbols; examples of such invitations can be viewed below.
| First published on: | ||
|---|---|---|
| WBIP - World Bureau Intellectual Property | [PDF] | May 21, 2010 |
| IPTD- International Patents and Trademarks Database | [PDF] | March 2, 2010 |
| IBIP - International Bureau for Intellectual Property | [PDF] | February 3, 2010 |
| WBIP - World Bureau Intellectual Property | [PDF] | January 8, 2010 |
| WBIP - World Bureau Intellectual Property | [PDF] | November 11, 2009 |
| IOPTS - International Organization for Patent & Trademark Service | [PDF] | August 11, 2009 |
| IRTP - International Register for Trademark & Patent | [PDF] | May 7, 2009 |
| IBFTPR Service - Register of International Patent Application | [PDF] | May 4,2009 |
| ODM - Patent Trademark Register | [PDF] | March 23, 2009 |
| IPTR - International Patent and Trademark Register | [PDF] | December 19, 2008 |
| IBIP - International Bureau for Intellectual Property | [PDF] | December 10, 2008 |
| RIPT - Register of International Patents and Trademarks | [PDF] | August 21, 2008 |
| IBIP - International Bureau for Intellectual Property | [PDF] | April 15, 2008 |
| ODM - Patent Trademark Register | [PDF] | February 20, 2008 |
| IBFTPR - International Bureau for Federated Trademark & Patent Register | [PDF] | November 21,2007 |
| IOIP - Organization for Intellectual Property | [PDF] | August 10, 2007 |
| ODM - Register of International Patents | [PDF] | August 2, 2007 |
| ODM - Office Data Management | [PDF] | May 31, 2007 |
| IOPTS - International Organization for Patent & Trademark Service | [PDF] | May 31, 2007 |
| FIPTR - Federated Institute for Patent and Trademark Registry Inc. | [PDF] | January 9, 2007 |
| CPTD - Central Patent & Trademark Database | [PDF] | September 22, 2006 |
| CCIT - Commercial Center for Industrie and Trade | [PDF] | March 13, 2006 |
| CPD - Central Patent Database | [PDF] | June 22, 2005 |
| Register of International Patents | [PDF] | June 28, 2004 |
| Register of International Patent Bulletin/Registre des données bulletin europeén des brevetes | [PDF] | September 5, 2003 |
| Institut of Commerce for Industry, Trade, Commerce/Wirtschaftsinstitut für Industrie, Handel, Handwerk AG | [PDF] | September 5, 2003 |
| Central Data-Register of International Patents | [PDF] | August 9, 2002 |
The invitations typically refer to a payment, which is to be made in euro or US dollars, by cheque and/or money transfer to addresses in Austria, Germany, Hong Kong, Slovakia, Switzerland or the United States of America.
PCT applicants and agents should note that it is the International Bureau of WIPO alone which publishes all PCT applications promptly after the expiration of 18 months from the priority date (see PCT Article 21(2)(a)); there is no separate fee for such international publication, and the legal effects of international publication are set out in PCT Article 29.
In case of doubt in relation to such an invitation, please contact the International Bureau by telephone +41 22 338 83 38 or facsimile +41 22 338 83 39.
Other industrial property Offices have made similar warnings
- The European Patent Office has published the following notice on its website warning applicants about such invitations.
- The United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office has published the following notice: Warning: unsolicited mail about unofficial registration services.
- The sending of these notices appears to not be restricted to the patent context; within WIPO, the administration of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks has placed a general warning on its website in relation to such invitations to pay fees.
