LEASON ELLIS OBTAINS FAVORABLE SETTLEMENT AGAINST TRADEMARK SCAMMER

We have obtained a favorable settlement in our civil action against Patent & Trademark Association, Inc., a New Jersey corporation, after filing a multi-count Complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in July of 2017. Our Complaint alleged that defendant had engaged in false advertising, unfair competition, deceptive acts and practices, and tortious interference with prospective economic relations by marketing to trademark owners prospective “publication” of their trademark registrations in a database. This “service” offered no commercial value, as published trademark information is freely available in the online records of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Our Complaint further alleged that defendant was confusing consumers into believing that the database was legitimate by sending unsolicited notices designed to make it appear as though it was an official government enterprise. In successfully resolving the dispute, we negotiated a settlement in which PTMA is permanently barred from ever engaging in trademark or intellectual property-related activities in the U.S. and in which we recovered several of its domain names including ptma.us (

www.ptma.us). This victory follows in the steps of our previous triumphs against other companies whose disreputable practices preyed on unsuspecting trademark owners, as we previously secured consent judgments against Patent & Trademark Agency LLC in 2014 and USA Trademark Enterprises, Inc. in 2012. By vigorously taking legal action to combat these predatory companies, we continue to be an industry leader in the fight for fairer business practices and in the battle to protect trademark goodwill and trust from unjust exploitation.