Owners of registered trademarks in Australia fall victim to scam
18 March 2025
Brands with registered trademarks and pending trademark applications in Australia are bothered by a scam that began in the second week of March 2025.
The scam involved changing addresses for service for registered and pending trademarks. The addresses were updated without the knowledge and consent of the owners and applicants.
According to a LinkedIn post by Mark Metzeling, principal lawyer at Macpherson Kelley in Brisbane, a search on the morning of March 12 yielded 158 trademarks with changed addresses for service. These addresses were updated in the last two days from March 12 to either Vargas Wyatt or Phillips Michael.
Mark Metzeling I principal lawyer @ Macpherson Kelley, Brisbane
“This may mean Vargas or Phillips can cancel the trademark,” Metzeling warned in his post.
Aside from cancelling a registered mark, Metzeling mentioned to Asia IP the other major consequences of a changed address for service: withdrawal of a trademark application, non-payment of the renewal fee and failure to notify the trademark holder of any adverse action brought against the mark such as an opposition, removal application, among others.
To address the problem, he advises brand owners to engage an IP law firm or trademark firm to act as their address for service. “Doing this will ensure any notices relating to the trademark are considered and acted upon. Additionally, if you receive any correspondence relating to your trademarks, send it to your IP lawyer or attorney so they can let you know whether it needs to be acted upon,” Metzeling said.
In its LinkedIn post, IP Australia announced it is aware of the scam and is taking steps to solve the problem and protect trademark owners.
“We have taken immediate action to freeze automatic updates for address for service in our online system and have reported this malicious activity to relevant authorities. Changing the address for service does not affect ownership or status
of the trade mark. We are working with impacted customers and the IP Attorney Profession to correctly update all details in our system. If you notice an unexpected change of address for service, or any other suspicious activity related to your IP Rights please contact us on 1300 651 010,” the post read.
- Espie Angelica A. de Leon
