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Companies all over Europe receive an increasing amount of unsolicited e-mails requesting payment for trademark and design services from companies, that pretend to be legitimate or official authorities.
Recently, the Court of Appeal in Sweden passed judgement in a criminal case, where the defendants had sent fake invoices under the name of the trademark and design authority OHIM (now EUIPO). In total, twenty people were charged with having planned and taken part in gross fraud, and the key persons were sentenced to imprisonment for two to five year for committing gross fraud.
In an attempt to fight similar incidents, the EUIPO has recently published a list of companies involved in fraudulent invoicing and gross fraud. The list can help companies that suspect they have been exposed to fraud or doubt the legitimacy of a specific invoice.
You can find the list here.
If you would like to read the full summary of the case, you can find it here.
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