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Lloyd & Mousilli, a leading law firm specializing in intellectual property, technology and business law, is set to host a webinar titled "Don't Get Tricked: Unmasking the Most Common Trademark Scams," in collaboration with Alt Legal, a premier provider of IP docketing software. The event is scheduled for October 29, 2024, at 2:00 PM CT and will shed light on various fraudulent schemes targeting trademark applicants and their attorneys.

The webinar, sponsored by Alt Legal, aims to help participants recognize and navigate the increasing number of trademark scams, including fake email and phone solicitations that often deceive businesses and individuals seeking trademark protection. The discussion will focus on practical advice for avoiding these common pitfalls and the steps necessary to safeguard trademarks against such threats.

Topics Covered in "Don't Get Tricked: Unmasking the Most Common Trademark Scams"

• The sinister scams trademark attorneys and applicants are facing today
• Clues and red flags to watch for in email and phone solicitations
• Ways to protect your clients from falling into a scammer’s trap
• How to "exorcise" fraudulent uses of your credentials from the US Trademark Register

The Hosts

Rachael Dickson, Senior Trademark Counsel at Lloyd & Mousilli, will lead the presentation, drawing from her extensive experience in handling trademark law cases and protecting clients from fraudulent trademark practices. She will be joined by a panel of experts—Erik Pelton (Erik M. Pelton & Associates), Kayla Jimenez (US IP Attorneys), and Ana Vinueza (Commercial Counsel in Biotech)—who will share insights and best practices to equip trademark attorneys with the knowledge to protect themselves and their clients from fraud.

""While these types of trademark scams have existed for years, they've clearly gotten worse in recent months. Thousands of applications have been fraudulently filed at the USPTO using stolen attorney credentials! Applicants are also being constantly inundated with faux threats to their trademarks and faked invoices for unnecessary services. This event is designed to raise awareness of these scams and provide applicants and attorneys with the tools to spot and combat them," says Rachael Dickson.

Webinar Registration

To register for the event, visit https://www.bigmarker.com/alt-legal/Don-t-Get-Tricked. The webinar is recorded and all registrants will receive a link to the replay.

About Lloyd & Mousilli

Lloyd & Mousilli is a boutique law firm specializing in intellectual property, technology law and related litigation. From its founding over a decade ago, headquartered in Houston, Texas, Lloyd & Mousilli has championed the strategic use of intellectual property, counseling businesses from new startups to enterprises.

About Alt Legal

Alt Legal is an innovative IP docketing solution focused on making trademark professionals’ lives easier. Driving automation across all phases of the trademark lifecycle, Alt Legal has direct connections to the USPTO and CIPO and integrates other data to provide global trademark docketing coverage. Thousands of IP professionals benefit from their one-click reporting, smart email templates, personalized email reports, calendar sync, TEAS integration, collaboration tools, and Alt Legal Trademark Protection monitoring service.

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Established in 2015 and founded by two young, creative entrepreneurs, Instafuel is an innovativecompany that delivers fuel directly to customer vehicles, eliminating the need for consumers tospend time at gas stations. While there are a number of competitors in the mobile fuel deliveryindustry, Instafuel has successfully differentiated themselves by taking several measures to createa unique business model.

Similarly, Booster Fuels is a mobile fueling company that began with an initial business model ofdelivering fuel to single customers. However, recently, Booster Fuels pivoted its business modelto more closely mirror Instafuel’s practices of delivering fuel to commercial fleets.

In 2015, Instafuel engaged with an investment entity interested in a potential businesspartnership. This partnership included the disclosure of trade secrets and confidential informationpertaining to Instafuel’s business model and company practices. In 2019, it was later discoveredthat these investors were strategic investors with Booster Fuels.

After further review, an internal audit and competitive analysis of Booster Fuels’ business modelwas conducted by Instafuel, only to discover that Booster Fuels implemented Instafuel’s sensitiveand confidential information directly into their own business model. This would allow BoosterFuels to secure funding faster and expand into competitive markets ahead of Instafuel.

Shortly after Instafuel filed suit against Booster Fuels in late 2019, Booster Fuels moved to dismiss the claims based on Texas’s Anti-SLAPP statute. In motions filed with the trial court, Booster Fuelsclaimed Instafuel’s suit should be dismissed because it was filed “with the intent to impedeBooster Fuels’ exercise of its First Amendment rights, specifically its rights to freely associate andfreely speak with whomever it so chooses...”

In responding to Booster Fuels motion to dismiss, Instafuel asserted that communicationsbetween co-conspirators to steal confidential and proprietary information was not the kind ofspeech protected by the First Amendment.

The trial court found in favor of Instafuel and denied Booster Fuels’ motion to dismiss. BoosterFuels then immediately filed an interlocutory appeal, effectively staying the entire case. After twoyears, on January 11, 2022, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals issued a decision affirming the trialcourt’s denial of Booster Fuels’ motion to dismiss.

Discontent with the appellate court’s ruling against it, Booster Fuels appealed the appellatecourt’s decision to the Supreme Court of Texas on March 28, 2022.

The latest ruling from the Texas Supreme Court on August 2, 2022 comes as a huge relief toInstafuel’s Co-Founder, Wisam Nahhas. “This has been a very long process and Booster Fuels hastried their best to constantly delay our lawsuit. We hope to see an end to their delay tactics andhope we can get the justice Instafuel deserves.”

Litigation Partner, Lema Barazi, serves as lead counsel in this matter with Feras Mousilli serving as strategic counsel. Llyod & Mousilli is proud to serve as counsel for companies like Instafuel to prevail against egregious and predatory business practices.

Lloyd & Mousilli is a boutique firm specializing in trademark, copyright, trade secret, and patentlitigation and transactional matters and represents numerous startups around the world.

“We are proud to be the law firm clients call on when David is bullied by Goliath-sized companies.Our expertise in intellectual property matters rivals the best in the nation and we arestaunch advocates of protecting small businesses,” said Feras Mousilli, managing partner atLloyd & Mousilli.