Avoid Invention Scams

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Many companies that advertise through print, television, radio, and the mail claim to help inventors. While the services promised by many “invention marketing companies” may look okay upon the first look, many inventors find out too late that they have not gotten their money’s worth after hiring such companies. Do very thorough research before doing business with any company or individual that claims to help inventors patent, market, sell or license inventions. Note that some companies target you before you have your patent and others target you after you have been issued a patent. This page has resources to help you avoid being the victim of such unscrupulous companies. If you think you already are the victim of an invention promotion company scam this page also has information on how to file a complaint with the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO).

Joining a local inventors group is a good way to find out what inventor services companies may or may not be reputable. Inventorsdigest.com has a good inventor organizations list found at: http://www.inventorsdigest.com/?page_id=164

Another way to avoid scam companies is to go directly to a local reputable registered patent attorney or registered patent agent. Visit the US Patent & Trademark Attorney Finder web page to locate an patent attorney or agent in your area or look in your local yellow pages. The US Patent & Trademark Office’s Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OEDCI) can also tell you if the attorney or agent you may plan to hire is in good standing with the US Patent Office. Also ask your perspective patent attorney or agent for references if necessary.

You can also use Bob Harter’s “Scam Buster Machine” to research companies: http://www.bobharter.com/whototrust.php This page also has valuable information on how to evaluate your perspective patent attorney/agent.

The following websites and documents have a great deal of helpful information on avoiding inventor targeted scams.

InventorEd.com
RipOffReport.com Patent Complaints Section
InventNet.com Inventor Scam Warnings Page
US Patent & Trademark Office Inventor Resources Website
USPTO’s Inventor Targeted Scam Prevention Brochure (PDF)
US Federal Trade Commission Facts on Invention Promotion Firms
National Inventor Fraud Center
American Inventor Protection Act of 1999
Inventors Digest Scam Avoidance Article

Invention Promotion Firm Complaints Published on the US Patent & Trademark Website

Inventor complaints against invention marketing companies can be found at the links below.

The following link is to the Unites States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) invention promotion firm complaint website. Additional inventor complaints are added periodically by the USPTO so check back every month or so for updates. If you have been scammed by an invention promotion/invention marketing company you can add your complaint to this list, just follow the instructions also found on this same page:

Invention Promotion Firm Complaints Published on the USPTO Website

Formerly Unpublished Invention Promotion Firm Complaints Obtained from the USPTO via the Freedom of Information Act

The following complaints were obtained from the USPTO via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). These complaints cannot be found on the USPTO invention promotion firm complaint website mentioned above. The documents found at these links are PDF documents. You will need Adobe Reader to view these documents. We will update this list of documents approximately every 6 to 12 months, so check back occasionally for updates. July 2008 is the last time the complaints below were updated.

The following complaints are alphabetically organized by company name. The complaints following the company name are organized chronologically. The complaint titles includes the month and year the complaint was made followed by the last name of the inventor making the complaint. Some of the PDF format complaints listed below are text searchable while others have hand writing that cannot be keyword searched. We have provided text format copies of the forty eight illegible PDFs on a separate page in order to make them easier to read and keyword search.

A zipped copy containing copies of all the complaints listed below can be download by clicking here. This is a large file so it may take a while to download. The copies are in PDF format.