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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. 

In the case of Inventor-Link, LLC they are requesting that all references to them be removed from InventorEd's web site and a variety of other forums. 

To give their opinions full and equitable exposure we have created this mini section and are publishing per our Publication Policy all of their correspondence.

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.

Re:    Inventor-Link LLC- Defamatory Materials on Inved.org

Dear Mr. Riley:

Please be advised that our firm has been retained by Inventor-Link, LLC to investigate and take legal action against you for engaging in the following activities (1) defamation of our client, (2) tortious interference with our client’s business; and (3) violation of our client’s website User Agreement.

Our client provides a professional service to inventors worldwide employing an experienced staff and a well-developed system for evaluation and development of inventors’ ideas. It provides prospective inventors with clear information and disclaimers, and it is very selective with regard to whom it chooses to represent.

As you may know, Ms. Ballou is a frequent contributor to your Inventor discussion group, Inved.org. In fact, Ms. Ballou claims to be the Advisory Board President of www.inventored.org, which is apparently a sister website of Inved.org. Please note that she has willfully posted false and defamatory comments about our client on your website. In addition, by republishing statements found on our client’s website, our client’s website User Agreement has been violated which may expose Ballou to additional federal and state claims.

Defamatory statements that we have found on your website at http://inved.org/pipermail/inventors-l_inved.org/2007-July/0l2l25.html and at
http://inved.org/pipermail/inventors-l_inved.org/2007July/0l2154.html include, but are not limited to, the following:

October 12, 2007
Page 2

• “Who is behind it? They use Paypal ® so no way to find out. Only the shadow knows and he’s not talking at present.”
• “Thus far three inventors (two from the northern England and one from Ireland) may become victims unless they take heed and it looks like they are.”
• “There is an Oregon-based invention company targeting UK inventors for  enormous upfront fees (£5,000 - £10,000) BEFORE they know what they are buying ($10,000 -$20,000).
• “Plus, why would a US-based company ONLY target UK inventors when the US  has many more inventors and free resources to find them? It makes no sense unless UK inventors have proven easy prey compounded by the fact that litigation for UK inventors would be out of the question due to issues such as (a) jurisdiction, and  (b) cost of a lawsuit across the pond”
• “He was suspicious wanting to know how I got his phone number, where I live, what is my full name...etc. Very weird (Spanish inquisition format)”
• “Upon site entry and after reading the usual prom promotional diatribe one fills in a generic “tell us who you are and what you have “form. Eventually one receives a free “Smart-Start Evaluation Program” (the bait).”
• “their Evaluation appears to represent an incomplete rendition of PIES   (Preliminary Innovation Evaluation System) pioneered in the 1970s by Dr. Gerald Udell”

The statements listed above depict our client as a company that: 1) is ‘fly—by-night’ and does  not have an experienced staff; 2) ‘hides’ and does not work at the address they provide to prospective customers for the purpose of ‘evading’ them; 3) does not provide unique evaluations to prospective customers; 4) does not provide a contract and/or clear description of its service to its paying customers; and 5) does not substantively serve it’s customers beyond collecting its fees. These conclusions, along with your statements in support of these conclusions, are false and their continued publication increases the damages that have already been suffered by our client.

In addition to the defamatory statements that have been published, our client’s website User Agreement has been violated as a result of Ballou's actions. She has not received permission to use the following text from our client’s website, which she has republished on your website: “Official Site of Inventor-Link LLC - Your Link to Success for Your ... We know how to get your idea from a rough sketch to a finished product in the market place. If your idea has what it takes, we can help you get the results you want www.inventor-link.com”. (http://inved.org/pipermail/inventors-l_inved.org/2007JULY/012125.html). By associating disparaging remarks about our client with bona fide text from our client’s website for the purpose of harming our client’s business and diverting actual and potential customers, your website may be held responsible for resulting damages. It is important to note that Ms. Ballou has misrepresented herself as an interested customer, perhaps on behalf of Inved.org or InventorEd.org, to retrieve information from our client, only to mischaracterize our client’s policies and services and to recommend competing service providers.

We hereby demand that you:

1. Immediately remove and retract all defamatory and disparaging remarks regarding our client from all posts and publications;
2. Immediately cease and desist from permitting the publishing defamatory comments about our client; and
3. Immediately remove and retract all text that was copied from our client’s website.

October 12, 2007
Page 3

Based on the foregoing, we request that you immediately take appropriate action. Damage has been done and our client continues to be adversely affected by Ballou’s efforts to keep customers away from Inventor Link by posting defamatory material on your website. If the defamatory materials continue to be found on your website, we will recommend that our client take all legal action necessary to rectify the situation. We request a response by October 19, 2007, and look forward to hearing from you.



Sincerely,
Donald E. Morris
Donald E. Morris, Esq.

DEM/dh

cc: Inventor-Link, LLC
 

This was not part of the original letter.

InvEd Commentary:

While I am not a lawyer I have reviewed the material and see no defamation.  What I see are:

1) Facts.
2) Reasonable questions for Inventor-Link.com.
3) Opinions rendered based on the conduct of Inventor-Link.com.

Professional service?  At this point there is NO DATA available to substantiate these claims.

Ms. Ballou is a frequent and valued contributor and she is the Advisory Board President of www.inventored.org.

republishing statements: Please, less hype.  This is fair use and you either know this or should know it.
 

Defamatory statements: You need to be specific and detailed when making such claims.  I see no defamatory statements.  Again what I see are:

1) Facts.
2) Reasonable questions for Inventor-Link.com.
3) Opinions rendered based on the conduct of Inventor-Link.com.

Please confirm Inventor-Link.com's fees.

suspicious As are we!  And with good reason!

PIES An opinion, one which appears quite reasonable to me.


And we are all entitled to express opinions. 

I have an opinion, and it is that churning out letters like this with light editing leads to errors like this one.  You have characterized my having an opinion which I had not yet expressed.  But at this point, based on both the facts and lack of meaningful information about Inventor-Link.com  I believe that Ms. Ballou's opinions have considerable merit.

Since when does anyone need permission to quote short portions? !! Be specific, cite case law.

Invention promoters misrepresent themselves all the time.  Ms. Ballou is simply trying to determine if Inventor-Link.com is a company which should be promoted or shunned.  You and your client Inventor-Link need to face the FACT that Inventor-Link.com blew a real opportunity.  First by failing to be forthright and building trust and then by hiring a third rate (my opinion based on the results you are getting) attorney to try and bully the inventor community.

DEMAND:  You can demand until you are blue in the face!  We are more than willing to correct errors of fact.  So far all you have done is bluster. 

I have spent all weekend taking appropriate action.  I have given your and your client, Inventor-Link.com's views considerable exposure.  The more you thresh around the more exposure you are going to get.

Your bully tactics may have worked in the past.  Most bullies develop inflated egos from their successes picking on the weak.  Eventually they pick the wrong fight and suffer the consequences.  It seems to me that Dozier Internet Law has managed to step into a number of steamy piles over the last few weeks.  It is time to reconsider your approach.

Regarding your threat of litigation, MAKE MY DAY ! !

The more Dozier Internet Law bothers us the more attention we will be giving both you and your client, Inventor-Link.com.  You are doing both your firm and your client nventor-Link.com a disservice.  Yes, that is another opinion and if you don't like it too bad.

Unhappy Customer

$10,000 to $20,000 Wasted money

Source FTC Jodie Bernstein