|
Please Notify Us Of Any Errors Of Fact
- Click ErrorOfFact
Patently Dishonest? - Have
you been Scammed? Find out
what to do here.
Professional
inventors wish to help invention promotion
companies do the best job possible. To that end
we are collaborating with numerous State and
Federal agencies to help invention promotion
firms achieve their full potential.
The following list documents how we evaluate
whether or not invention promotion companies or people merit
much more caution then normal.
|
 |
It has been
widely reported that many companies whose
services are of questionable value - or even
outright fraud - threaten to sue, and in some
cases even threaten to hurt, those who speak out
about the problem. A warning for those who
would try to quell free speech in the inventor
community. I work extensively with many
journalists and other media. Any threats,
to sue or otherwise, will be promptly passed to
the media. This will get the questionable
party much more publicity than this page alone
does.
Any company who
actually brings a SLAPP
suit will be counter sued, and all appropriate information
gleaned in discovery will be passed to the appropriate law
enforcement authorities.
|
InventorEd does not add organizations to
the extreme caution list unless there are multiple indicators of
problems.
The types of things which trigger addition to the list are usually more
then one of the following reasons, but not necessarily all of them:
1) Deceptive sales tactics, such as a representation that something is
free or contingency, when in fact there are significant up front
charges.
2) High pressure sales, such as claims that the party must engage the
promoter within some short period of time or miss some significant
opportunity.
3) Indiscriminate solicitation of business, as in a shotgun approach, as
opposed to targeting very specific markets.
4) Minimal information being provided as to who the players are in the
business. This is important because there is a history of known
bad players launching new companies, and on occasion using other people
as fronts.
5) Lack of association with known good players in the business.
6) Absence of published success rate, as in xxx clients purchased
services and xx made significant money, as in a profit in excess of
their expenses. The success stories must be verifiable!!
7) Customer complaints.
8) Civil or criminal action has been taken against the promoter
(InventorEd does check legal and news databases for such information).
9) The threat of or actual use of SLAPP
suits to silence clients, inventor advocates, or
employees.
10) The creation of impressive sounding
organizations which serve as references.
11) Telling clients that the promoter is
not subject to the terms of the American Inventors Protection Act of
1999, i.e., failure to disclose success rate.
Have you been
Scammed? Find out
what to do here.
Please Notify Us Of Any Errors Of Fact
- Click ErrorOfFact
Site Index - Contact
Us -
© InventorEd, Inc., Page last revised 4-2-2004
 Unhappy
Customer
|
|
$10,000
to $20,000 Wasted money
Source FTC Jodie
Bernstein
|
|