Procedure manual on handling misleading communication for intellectual property system users

During the intellectual property protection period, intellectual property rights (IPR) applicants and owners are being targeted by legal business structures (LBS) trying to defraud them. Perpetrators are attempting to mislead their target for additional fees or the alleged ‘offer’ of an unrequested service through various means, including the impersonation of competent Intellectual Property (IP) offices or the mimicking the legitimate IP offices.

This procedure manual describes the key issues when facing a misleading invoice or other payment requests. It covers information on misleading invoices, how to identify them, reporting misleading invoices, and preventive measures IP applicants and offices can take against such fraud attempts.