Do you want to save yourself $10,000? That is about how much you will be paying those "invention assistance companies" you see on TV. Be very careful when dealing with them and the promises they make. I have read a number of agreements offered by these companies to inventors and all of them have many terms that are not in favor of the inventor. Yet every year many inventors will hand over thousands of their hard earned money to these "invention assistance companies" and get very little as a result. So what should you be looking for when you approach one of these companies? I would say body armor, but seriously here are some pointers:
Because of the number of inventors being taken by invention assistance companies the US government has written 35 USC 297 to protect inventors. 35 USC 297 is nice but it is best to talk with an attorney first before signing the agreement. 35 USC 297 allows you to ask the invention promoter the following:
Finally an attorney has certain ethical duties owed to their inventors. An invention promotion company owes no such ethical duties. An attorney who breaches their ethical duties to a client may lose their license to practice law in their state and to represent inventors before the patent office. Those licenses are very hard to get and represents years of hard work in school.
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You see them on TV advertising services to promote and protect your new idea so that you can leave you current place of employment and move to Tahiti. Remember that these firms do not hold any ethical duty to you as patent attorneys do. If a patent attorney breaches their ethical duty to you it may mean a loss of their license and their income. It takes years of study to become a patent attorney and to lose it all over unethical dealings is just not worth it. However it is a far different story for Invention Promotion Firms and their craftily worded contracts that you will be signing. Click here to see a great article at the Federal Trade Commission's website providing some guidance when dealing with these firms. Click here to see more articles on this topic here on my website. |
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