Trademark Office Adds Directed Audits to Curb Invalid Samples

The US Patent and Trademark Office is adding more audits to crack down on trademark scams, pointing to “specimen farms” that deceptively promote online sales.

The trademark office has since 2017 randomly probed certain marks for their adopted use and will now amend its inspection program to execute directed audits of registrations, PTO Director Kathi Vidal said in a policy update on Friday. The directed audits will target companies with compliance issues, including files that “call into question whether a mark is in use,” such as specimens that have been “digitally altered,” she said.

The changes will “better position” the ...