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.

 

Advent Product Development

 
January 2007 Kerby
November 2007 Ford
 

American Ingenuity

 
June 2006 Wageneck
 

Davison & Associates – Davison Inventigration

 
February 2003 Giammalva
July 2003 Giammalva
September 2003 Gotschall
October 2003 Scoggins
September  2004 Gardner
October 2005 Merrill Part 1
October 2005 Merrill Part 2
March 2006 Barnett
October 2006 Baker
November 2006 Hinson
 

Homax Products

 
June 2005 Prokop
 

InventHelp

 
Note: Invent Help and Invention Submission Corporation are the same company.

May 2006 Trushkov
June 2006 Trushkov
March 2007 Pierson Part 1
March 2007 Pierson Part 2
December 2007 Johnson
January 2008 Thomas
Missing Date Info. Waters
 

Invention Home

 
April 2006 Smith
July 2007 Smith
 

Inventors Publishing & Research

 
August 2007 Newbill
 

Invention Submission Corporation

 
Note: Invention Submission Corporation and Invent Help are the same company.

November 2000 Aquino
February 2001 Sephus
March 2001 Ryman
July 2001 Tropiana
July 2001 Sadouskaya
August 2001 Gilberti
August 2001 Lewis
November 2001 Mirana
February 2002 Gill
February 2002 Gill Part 2
March 2002 Repaci
May 2002 Wilson
May 2002 Wilson Part 2
July 2002 Buesing
November 2002 Giammalva
November 2002 McBroom
November 2002 Ingram
November 2002 Uloth
December 2002 Mercer
December 2002 Neves
January 2003 Traumar
January 2003 Hassad
January 2003 Odell
January 2003 Petrishon
January 2003 Arvelo
January 2003 Glussich
February 2003 Davis
March 2003 Barnes
April 2003 Beaver
April 2003 Rondall
June 2003 Alesandreli
June 2003 Alesandreli Part 2
July 2003 Lawson
July 2003 Jones
March 2004 Woolley
May 2004 Rodgers
March 2004 Rodgers Part 2
August 2004 Rodriguez
August 2004 Stamper
October 2004 Grimes
November 2004 Simon
November 2004 Burgraff
November 2004 Burgraff Part 2
December 2004 Mueller
February 2005 Kirlkland
August 2005 Jackman
October 2005 Hicks
March 2006 Casey
March 2006 Casey Part 2
March 2006 Tennesseee
April 2006 Fertil Part 1
April 2006 Fertil Part 2
June 2006 Trushkov
August 2006 Chaput
September 2006 Lobur
November 2006 Ketrow
May 2007 Cordau
October 2007 Teague
 

Invention Technologies Corp

 
Circa 2000 Holmes
 

Invent-Tech

 
Missing Date Info. Disnard
October 2001 Rice
 

Jacob Enterprises

 
July 2007 Stroughter
 

Lambert & Lambert

 
May 2004 Saalman
 

Millennium Marketing Group (MMG) – PatentMovers.com

 
July 2005 George
October 2007 Kunkle
 

National Invention Services

 
June 1999 Robinson
Missing Date Info. Robinson Part 2
 

Patent Trademark Marketing

 
July 2002 Overman
 

Society of American Inventors

 
February 2001 Morano
February 2001 Morano Part 2
 

Universal Payment Corp

 
July 2007 Wilson

 
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