Advent Product Development

Inventors should be aware that there are different kinds of patents, and that while many ideas are patentable, very few have real commercial potential. Some invention promotion firms apply for patents that provide such limited legal protection that it is easy for competitors to find a way to design around the patent. Some companies might say that registering your idea with the U.S. Patent Office Disclosure Program protects your idea, but that may not be true.

Typically these companies work on a commission basis, which means they are paid only when you earn income. If a firm is enthusiastic about up-front fees, you may want to take your business elsewhere. Ask the firm to disclose its success rate, the number of clients who made more money from their inventions than they paid to the firm for its services. Also ask for the names and telephone numbers of recent clients and check them out thoroughly.

On November 29, 1999, Congress passed the AIPA, which for the first time imposed a duty on Invention Marketing Companies to disclose information to prospective clients before they sign contracts. Specifically, a company must disclose the total number of inventions evaluated by the promoter in the past 5 years; the number of these inventions which received positive and negative evaluations; the number of customers who contracted with the promoter over the last 5 years, the total number of these customers who received a net financial profit as a direct result of the promotion services by the promoter; the total number of customers who have received license agreements for their inventions as a direct result of the promotion services by the promoter; and the names and addresses of all previous invention promotion firms with which the invention promoter or its officers have been affiliated for the last 10 years.

Any customer who has contracted with a promoter and has been injured by an omission to state any of these facts, or any other material fact, or by any material false or misleading statement by the promoter will have a civil cause of action for actual damages or statutory damages of not over $5,000, plus costs and attorneys fees. If the court finds the promoter's actions to have been willful, taking other complaints into account, the damages may be tripled.