In a recent ruling by the German Courts, three defendants were found guilty of fraud for sending scam invoices to EUIPO consumers. The actions of the perpetrators serve as a stark reminder of how sophisticated modern day fraud has become, and the necessity of vigilance against individuals who attempt to disguise their fraud as routine communications.
The defendants sent invoices, largely mimicking official correspondence from the European Intellectual Property Office, under the fake business name “IP Register UG”. These invoices targeted IP users and featured misleading elements like the letterhead name “European IP Register” and the subject line “Data publication from Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM)”- OHIM being the EUIPO’s former name. The fraudsters unlawfully obtained €200,000 from the scam.
The defendants were convicted of commercial gang fraud by the Munich Court. Each defendant received a prison sentence of 1 year and 10 months, suspended by 3 months’ probation. In addition, the Court ordered the compensation of the €200,000 proceeds of their crime, to be paid to the victims.
This ruling confirms that sending misleading invoices to IP users constitutes criminal fraud, marking an important precedent. The German ruling follows a Swedish judgement handed down in 2018 in which we saw four individuals convicted of attempted and completed gross fraud. In this case, the men behind the Swedish scam sent fraudulent trade mark renewal invoices to IP users. The Swedish District Court initially held that it was unable to find the defendants guilty of completed fraud as this would require proof of victims of the scam making the payment due to actually being misled. It stated that it could not be shown beyond reasonable doubt that some of the recipients understood that it was a case of fraud, but payed the invoices anyway. The Court of Appeal rightly reversed the decision and increased the sentences imposed.
Both the Swedish and German cases highlight the serious legal consequences of invoice scams, with the finding of criminal fraud in the German decision acting as a welcomed development towards stronger protection for IP users and a deterrent to scammers. However, with a growing number of IP-related scams it is imperative that IP users remain vigilant of copy-cat scammers or like-minded wrongdoers. Similar scams have been running at a national level, and offices such as the Intellectual Property Law Office of Ireland have issued warnings. The necessity of IP users remaining vigilant of these scams is clear.
IP users should look out for communications from legal business structures purporting to be a genuine IP office or legitimate business offering services. The fraudsters appear primarily to be targeting intellectual property rights applicants and owners through fraudulent invoices or payment requests. Communications will mimic the names and logos of legitimate IP bodies and use recognisable symbols. A searchable list of scam letters are published by the EUIPO here.
Europol has advised of the following suspicious elements to look out for:
We urge IP users to carefully review any communications related to IP matters and verify the authenticity of payment requests. If you have any concerns, please feel free to contact us.
