|
|
Don't be a victim! Thousands of inventors are targeted each year by unscrupulous invention promotion, marketing, and licensing firms. Some of these companies advertise widely on television, radio and in magazines. Their promises of riches sound too good to be true, and they probably are! Be an informed consumer of these services.
Here are some places to learn the questions you should ask:
Are You The Target? - Brochure from the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office.
United Inventors Association Red Flag Directory - The United Inventors Association's Red Flag Warning page.
"Spotting Sweet-Sounding Promises of Fraudulent Invention Promotion Firms" - from the Federal Trade Commission.
Find listings of companies that have had complaints registered against them:
The USPTO public forum for invention promoters/promotion firm complaints and responses - While the USPTO does not investigate complaints or participate in any legal proceedings against invention promoters/promotion firms, under the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999, [PDF] the USPTO will provide a public forum for the publication of complaints concerning invention promoters/promotion firms. Also, in the forum, the USPTO will publish responses to the complaints from the invention promoters/promotion firms.
To see if a company has been investigated and/or fined by the Federal Trade Commission visit http://search.ftc.gov and type in the word "invention".
Intellectual Property / Patent Searching / Inventor Links / "Patent My Ideas" Tutorial / Carlson Patent & Trademark Center Home / Inventor's Society of Western New York
Email the Patent Librarian: kmeddaug@libraryweb.org
The Chester F. Carlson Patent & Trademark Center is partially supported through a generous grant from the Chester and Dorris Carlson Charitable Trust.
Chester F. Carlson Patent & Trademark Center Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County 115 South Avenue Rochester, NY 14604 (585) 428-8110
Virtual Reference Desk
| LIBRAWeb |
Member Library Directory |
Explore the
Internet |
|
|||
