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Invention promotion firm
An invention promotion firm or invention submission corporation provides services to inventors to help them in develop or market their inventions. These firms may offer to evaluate the patentability of inventions, file patent applications, build prototypes, license them to manufacturers, and otherwise market. They are distinguished from more conventional consulting firms and law firms offering the same or similar services in that they market their services primarily to amateur inventors through the mass media.
The US government estimates that hundreds of companies offer invention-promotion services and that “virtually all of them are either ineffective or outright fraudulent. One official at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says he believes there are fewer than a half-dozen legitimate invention promoters in the country”.
Prior to the 1999 American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA), accurate statistics of the success rate of invention promotion firms were difficult to come by. Nonetheless, as a result of certain legal actions taken against some of these firms, overall success rates have come to light. One such firm, Davison Associates, disclosed that of 900 ideas where a client had a prototype built of their invention at an average cost of $11,000, only 30 of those inventions were licensed within 6 months. Of the inventions licensed, only 10 made more in license fees than the cost of the invention promotion services.
Between 2007 and 2009, the Pittsburgh-based promotional firm signed agreements with 5,336 clients resulting in 86 licensing agreements. Only 27 clients (0.5%) received more money from licensing fees than they paid for their services.
Invention promotion firms generally make their money from fees charged to clients for services. These fees normally must be paid up front and a customer may be told that they may have very little time, such as three days or less, in order to make a decision. Invention promotion firms may also receive a portion of their fees as a share of the royalty that an inventor earns on his or her invention. The total fraction of an invention promotion firm's revenue obtained from royalties, however, may be less than 1%.
After a massive fraud was being launched by a significant amount of invention promotion companies the 1999 American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA) established disclosure requirements for invention promotion firms. These disclosure requirements include:
The American Inventors Protection Act also provides civil penalties that can be assessed against invention promotion firms engaged in fraudulent or deceptive practices, defined by the FTC as "invention promotion scams".
The USPTO and the FTC both provide guidelines for finding legitimate invention development, prototyping and promotion firms, that comply with the AIPA.
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Invention promotion firm
An invention promotion firm or invention submission corporation provides services to inventors to help them in develop or market their inventions. These firms may offer to evaluate the patentability of inventions, file patent applications, build prototypes, license them to manufacturers, and otherwise market. They are distinguished from more conventional consulting firms and law firms offering the same or similar services in that they market their services primarily to amateur inventors through the mass media.
The US government estimates that hundreds of companies offer invention-promotion services and that “virtually all of them are either ineffective or outright fraudulent. One official at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says he believes there are fewer than a half-dozen legitimate invention promoters in the country”.
Prior to the 1999 American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA), accurate statistics of the success rate of invention promotion firms were difficult to come by. Nonetheless, as a result of certain legal actions taken against some of these firms, overall success rates have come to light. One such firm, Davison Associates, disclosed that of 900 ideas where a client had a prototype built of their invention at an average cost of $11,000, only 30 of those inventions were licensed within 6 months. Of the inventions licensed, only 10 made more in license fees than the cost of the invention promotion services.
Between 2007 and 2009, the Pittsburgh-based promotional firm signed agreements with 5,336 clients resulting in 86 licensing agreements. Only 27 clients (0.5%) received more money from licensing fees than they paid for their services.
Invention promotion firms generally make their money from fees charged to clients for services. These fees normally must be paid up front and a customer may be told that they may have very little time, such as three days or less, in order to make a decision. Invention promotion firms may also receive a portion of their fees as a share of the royalty that an inventor earns on his or her invention. The total fraction of an invention promotion firm's revenue obtained from royalties, however, may be less than 1%.
After a massive fraud was being launched by a significant amount of invention promotion companies the 1999 American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA) established disclosure requirements for invention promotion firms. These disclosure requirements include:
The American Inventors Protection Act also provides civil penalties that can be assessed against invention promotion firms engaged in fraudulent or deceptive practices, defined by the FTC as "invention promotion scams".
The USPTO and the FTC both provide guidelines for finding legitimate invention development, prototyping and promotion firms, that comply with the AIPA.