What if my trademark received non-final Office Action because the USPTO cited a fraudulent trademark filed by bad-actor?

This is a consultation from a trademark applicant:

My new trademark applications are being given non-final actions because the USPTO examiner cited a fraudulent trademark filed by a foreign entity for my mark. Even though:

1) I already own the registered trademark for the same name in another class,

2) The filing by the foreign entity already received a non-final Office Action for their fraudulent mark.

What should I do here? I have around 4 marks being given non final actions mentioning this mark.

Response:

You can wait until the fraudulent applications are abandoned, assuming the applicants cannot overcome their current refusals. In the meantime, it may make sense to request suspension of your applications until those matters are resolved.

If you prefer to take proactive action, you could file Letters of Protest, although these often take months to process and may not have much impact in this situation.

If the fraudulent applicants manage to overcome their refusals, you will then have the opportunity to oppose their marks during the opposition period.

Finally, if there is ongoing counterfeiting or other infringement, you may need to consider more direct enforcement steps to protect your rights.

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