After nearly four years of proceedings dating back to December 2020, in September 2024 the court in Munich found three defendants guilty of fraud related to sending misleading invoices to applicants of European Union trademarks. Each of the defendants was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison, suspended with three years of probation. The court also ordered the confiscation of around 200,000 euros, the amount the defendants had illegally acquired as a result of payments made on the fake invoices sent. The ill-gotten €200,000 was obtained from payments to unsuspecting trademark applicants between November 2020 and April 2021.
The EUIPO notes that this is the second time that a criminal court of an EU member state has classified the sending of misleading payment requests to EU trademark applicants as a fraud offence. The first case dates back to 2017 in Sweden. These two decisions pave the way for future criminal proceedings in other jurisdictions.
The fraud scheme consisted of sending misleading invoices sent under the name “IP Register UG”, very similar to official fee invoices. The letterhead bears the designation “European Register of Intellectual Property” and the payment basis states “Publication of data by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM)” – the former name of EUIPO. These misleading invoices contain a total amount due, payment due date and bank details. Only in very small, barely legible print, at the bottom, was the invoice described as an offer.
We always warn our clients about these illegal practices in a timely manner. We advise you not to pay before you have checked. Always check very carefully any communication you receive regarding the payment of trademark fees and consult your intellectual property professional first.
Over time, in the past years (from 2025 until today), we have published several times on the website of the law firm materials related to these misleading invoices at: