USPTO Issues Yet Another Show Cause Order Against a Chinese Firm for Fraudulent TM Filings

In a show cause order dated September 7, 2022, the United Stated Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) accused Shenzhen Seller Growth Network Technology Co., Ltd, et al. of “unauthorized practice before the USPTO in trademark matters and providing false, fictitious, or fraudulent information in trademark submissions with the intent to circumvent these rules.” The order  requires Respondents to show cause as to why the USPTO should not
immediately sanction Respondents. This order follows another recent order alleging Chinese firms were using a dead attorney to submit trademark application documents.

The USPTO stated, “that the evidence indicates that Respondents are not qualified practitioners under 37 C.F.R. §§ 11.1 and 11.14, yet still engaged in the unauthorized practice of law through the use of names and bar credentials of U.S.-licensed attorneys, intentionally provided for the purpose of concealing Respondents’ involvement and circumventing USPTO rules.” Further, “Respondents’ efforts to mask their participation in the unauthorized practice of law include improperly entering the electronic signatures of at least three U.S.-licensed attorneys and providing false, fictitious, and/or fraudulent attorney information in trademark filings in violation of USPTO Rules.”

Potential sanctions are quite serious including the potential invalidation of over 13,000 trademarks by “strik[ing] or otherwise giv[ing] no weight to all trademark-related documents submitted by Respondents.”

The respondents have until September 21, 2022 to respond. The show cause order is available here.

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