Invoices of unknown authorities
We regularly hear of invoices for registration of patent publications in databases being sent to patent assignee's or inventors by "unknown authorities". Registration of a patent requires only payments to the national patent offices (and your patent attorney).The national patent offices register the patents in their own databases and eventually offer the data to Inpadoc and/or commercial database providers (e.g. STN, Questel-Orbit, Dialog). No additional payments are required for submitting the data to these databases. In the national patent offices, you (the applicant) have already paid these costs via the appropriate fees (e.g. filing, examination, and grant fees). The commercial database providers charge their costs to the users of their systems.
You are advised not to pay these invoices for unsolicited registrations.
This page lists examples of invoices by "unknown authorities" known to us.
In case you know of other examples, please send a scan of the invoice (preferably .pdf, in color if necessary) to webmaster@won-nl.org.
Known examples
PCT patent applications
- Central Data-Register of International Patents
- Central Institut of Commerce for Industry, Trade, Commerce
- Central Register of International Patent Bulletin
- Central Register of International Patents
- Commercial Center for Industrie and Trade. The spelling error is as on the invoice. Comparable to trademark invoice:Commercial Centre for Industrie and Trade
- CPD - Central Patent Database
- CPTD - Central Patent & Trademark Database Almost identical to CPD - Central Patent Database
- Federated Institue for Patent & Industry, Inc.
- FIPTR - Federated Institute for Patent & Trademark Registry, Inc.
- IBFTPR - International Bureau for Federated Trademark & Patent Register (Register of International Patent Application)
- IBIP - International Bureau for Intellectual Property (Register International Patent Applications)
- IOIP - International Organization for Intellectual Property
- IOPTS - International Organization for Patent & Trademark Service
- Register of International Patents, a slightly modified one, and another one
- RIPT - Register of International Patents and Trademarks
EP patents
- The FIPTR - Federated Institue for Patent & Trademark Registry, Inc. as listed above for PCT is reported to send invoices for EP patents as well.
- The IOIP - International Organization for Intellectual Property as listed above for PCT is reported to send invoices for EP patents as well.
International Trademarks
Community Trademarks
- Commercial Centre for Industrie and Trade. The spelling error is as on the invoice. Comparable to patent invoice:Commercial Center for Industrie and Trade.