Sporkman said:
I just saw something on TV that made me sick. It was a slick
advertisement for these people:
http://www.inventorshelpline.com/
These people are almost certainly scammers and conmen. The central
player in this scheme is probably a man named Julian Gumpel. See
http://www.uiausa.com/MirrorArticle.htm or
http://www.fraud.org/news/old/073097.htm
Your description of these guys as conmen is appropriate, but I'm not
sure that they fall into the category of scammers.
You have to understand their operation to understand this distinction.
First of all, their pitch is aimed at would be inventors who usually
have ideas that are not patentable, and even if they were patentable
are not marketable.
A real patent attorney would make this distinction clear to the
applicant, but if the applicant persists will advise him of the cost
of a patent search, and application, and all the fees that would
normally follow. (Figure that for an uncontested patent, about
$2,000-3,000 in search, filing, and misc. fees from a legitimate
patent attorney.)
The 'Conmen' will always encourage the applicant (no matter how
ridiculous the thing being patented), and one he is hooked hit him
with a series of fees metered out over a period of time that will
total more than twice what a legitimate patent attorney would normally
require.
Pitches such as, we need your payment of $500 to conduct a search of
existing patents and technology, but encourage him with the prospect
of a major firm being interested in his 'ultrasonic pot cleaner'.
Needless to say, there is in actuality no interested "major firm".
After the search which alway indicates positive findings for the
applicant, he is told that he needs a working model (why I have no
clue, since this is not required under patent law, although you would
likely need one to market the product to an interested manufacturer,
if indeed any existed).
Now product development is expensive, and there is no limit here to
the extraction of money from the dupe, since he believes it is going
to be an investment in his future. This part of the con is good for
the extraction of maybe $4,000 to even $10,000 from the person being
conned. What the conmen gloss over is that product development has no
influence on the patent application itself.
Simultaneous to this, there is the need for a patent application to be
prepared, along with the USPTO style application drawings. Figure
another couple of thousand dollars for this 'service'.
When the rube is thoroughly drained, he is abandoned, but given the
hope that when he comes up with more money, "the prosecution of his
patent application can proceed."
These outfits target suckers thinking themselves clever inventors.
It's an exploitation of the victim's personal ego and ignorance.
Any serious and credible real professional researcher or inventor with
a legitimate idea that he/she believes is patentable will usually
first consult their personal attorney and be referred him/her to a
patent attorney that he/she knows to be both competent and honest as
well. This route will generally cost you $1,000-2,000 on the front
end, and circa $5,000 for an awarded patent, but in going this route
you will know exactly where you stand in each step of the game,
without being fed conman bullshit!
