It has come to my attention that many businesses and owners of Intellectual Property Rights are receiving emails and letters from entities who are using the names of legitimate and registered Intellectual Property attorneys without authorisation. In many cases, these letters and emails are using scare tactics to falsely claim that Intellectual Property rights are at risk unless immediate action (typically involves payment of a fee) is taken to secure them.
Genuine Intellectual Property Attorneys are highly regulated and bound by professional codes which prohibit unsolicited approaches and aggressive pressure tactics, the type of which scammers use in their emails and letters.
In some cases, it has been reported that unsuspecting businesses will also receive follow up telephone calls from individuals claiming to be the Intellectual Property Attorney whose name appears at the end of the scam email/letter.
I am a fully regulated and registered Intellectual Property lawyer. You can find details of my regulators by clicking on the Legal & Regulatory link at the bottom of the home page of this website.
If you receive a suspicious email/letter claiming to be from me warning you to take immediate action to secure your Intellectual Property rights, this will be a scam as I do not issue such emails/letters.
Please bring any letters/emails which you believe to be suspicious to my attention, even if you are not a client of my practice. If in doubt, please do not hesitate to contact me on either of the telephone numbers listed on the “Contact” section on the Homepage of my website. Alternatively, you can email me at info@tierneyip.com
You can find further information about the misleading invoices and scams by clicking on the link below from the Intellectual Property Office of Ireland.