Honing Discernment

Between the advancing sophistication of scammers to AI-generated content to who and what information to believe, we are being called to cultivate a stronger sense of discernment. To trust our inner knowing over what’s outside of us, and to know when to pause to FEEL INTO that inner knowing. We DO know truth from lies if we remember how to tune into it.

I recently filed for a Trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office. The automated response to my application was that it would move on to an examining attorney as the next step and I would hear back from them within three months.

Within four days, I received what looked like an official email from the USPTO asking me to call in to a scheduled appointment to be interviewed by my assigned examining attorney, Janette Adams, the very next day (within 19 hours of the email). There were warnings that I would only be allowed one rescheduled interview before adversely affecting my ability to be approved. The sent email name was “USPTO” and the contents had my official application number, my name, the name of my LLC and my DBA (Doing Business As).

I rearranged my schedule to make the meeting. When I called in to the Virginia area-code number, I got an automated voicemail where I left a message to confirm I’d made my appointment on time and to verify I was not at fault for missing it. I called back a few times within the ten minutes following my scheduled appointment and got the same voicemail outgoing message. I assumed her prior appointment went over, or she was having a personal emergency.

Two hours later, I received a call back from the same number, but my phone’s spam filter automatically blocked it. Which was funny to me since I get spam calls all day long that I have to manually block. Here was a call I was expecting and it got denied. I unblocked the number and returned the call. Voicemail again.

An hour later, the examining attorney Janette called me back. This was three hours after our scheduled time, but she let me know her previous examination interview had gone longer than expected, which is why she missed our appointment time, and this was her first break in the day at what would be 5 PM EST.

She went on to say some big words and official language about the trademark approval process, then let me know the call would be recorded and saved on file with my application. She asked me a few basic questions that seemed in line with affirming I was the owner and applicant, then asked me to explain how I first started using my intended trademark and to give her the history.

I did so and she replied, “Yes, I see a lot of that in the information of your application as well as on the websites you listed for the application. I’m pleased to inform you that you’ve moved on to the next phase of the process, which is to file a Trademark Declaration. Once that is received, you are allowed to use the ® instead of ™ on all references to the trademark.”

She went on to say that she’ll send me this declaration form to sign and return so she can attach it to my filing. And that there is a procedural fee of $1,000 to do so, which is the final payment amount that covers protection nationally for the next 10 years, at which time I would have to renew for only $350 that extends an additional 10 years of trademark protection.

I gasped at the cost and said, “There was no mention on the site of any additional fees beyond what I already paid when I submitted the application.”

She told me that I must have not read things clearly.

I told her I needed time to seriously consider whether I wanted to move forward. She told me I didn’t have time, not even a day. Otherwise, my application would be considered abandoned and I would have to start the process over again, including repayment of initial fees.

My gut had already been telling me something felt off. This is when the alarms sounded in my body.

I pulled back up the appointment email and looked at the full email address. As I stalled for time, I asked her to confirm whether she was an official employee of the USPTO or if she was simply a trademark attorney looking to provide services in support of my trademark application. She replied she was my official USPTO examining attorney.

I read the email address: TEAS@office93.com. I was familiar with TEAS, it’s the Trademark Electronic Application System and where I initially applied through. However, @Office93 and a dot com may sound official, but it wasn’t USPTO.gov from which I received all my automated confirmations, including payment receipt, after applying.

I responded to Janette that Office 93 isn’t the official email address for the USPTO. She once again affirmed it was the official office for examining attorneys within the USPTO. At which point I told her I would need to call her back. She said if I took any longer my application would be considered abandoned. I told her that’s fine and got off the phone.

I am so glad I listened to my gut. This was a very sophisticated scam operation that was counting on urgency to bypass any time for questioning and research. The more I dug into the official USPTO website, the more I saw how scamming is a huge problem they’re having. I walked right into it.

We read every day about scammers targeting the elderly. I practically grew up hearing about the Nigerian Princes who offer to give away their fortunes in exchange for small favors. I have friends’ parents who have been financially scammed. This was my first close call with a stranger.

Later that afternoon I ran into my neighbor, Barbara, while we were both checking our mailboxes. That same morning, she herself had almost been scammed by someone pretending to be from the fraud department at her bank. When she gave me the details of the experience, I was shocked at their level of believability.

The amount of information they already had access to, such as her bank account information and login details where they themselves transferred money from her Savings to her Checking account as proof she was actively being targeted and needed to stop it by doing what they said, which would have resulted in her being scammed out of $24,000. The sophistication with which they executed upon a multi-layered approach was astounding.

The solution isn’t living in fear and stress. In fact, that will only add to potential deception. Scammers are using our physiological reaction from fear and the sense of urgency to create a bypass around grounded truth.

The solution is in developing your own discernment to the point where you trust that you’ll know truth when you hear it and lies when you hear them. That trust is the confidence. When you’re in trust, you pause long enough to recognize when outside forces are manipulating.

This skill of discernment is at the foundation of my Tune In, In Tuscany retreat. In addition to this, we’ll also be playing with the power of presence and living in the now, which is also what helps us stay out of fear of the future or reliving past pain. Pure presence is where embodied freedom and truth reside.

Workshops aside, there will be plenty of time for integration, relaxation, and play. One of the attendees, Becky, will be leading yoga for those interested. Our private estate in the Chianti hills offers an infinity pool, tiki bar, tennis court, beautiful grounds and gardens, horses, alpaca, chickens, and the ability to take short excursions off property to local sites.

We’ll enjoy home-cooked, organic, Italian meals with the freshest of ingredients from the property’s own gardens and bee hives as well as neighboring farms and wineries.

If this resonates with you and you’d like more info, visit: https://www.jennbauerhealing.com/tune-in-in-tuscany