RE: [Piug-Discussion-List] Student inquiry on Invention Promotion Companies

Further to Nancy Lambert's excellent advice, I have some additional
thoughts to pass on to Ms Hill:

Invention promotion firms have a very bad reputation because many
promise more than they can deliver. A number of them have been charged
with fraud, and a number of websites have been created to warn inventors
away from unscrupulous promoters. See the United Inventors Association
website, http://www.uiausa.org/, and the National Inventor Fraud
Center Inc. website, http://www.inventorfraud.com/, for detailed
information about handling your invention and avoiding pitfalls.

I realize that this doesn't tell Ms Hill what she's hoping to learn: is
the firm she found on the Internet reliable and are their fees
reasonable? My gut feeling is that the first steps are to determine
whether her invention is likely to be patentable and whether it would
infringe someone else's patents. She can do some searching for herself,
but patentability and infringement are best determined by someone with
experience. I suggest that she contact a local patent attorney who
works with independent inventors for preliminary advice and let the
attorney file and prosecute a patent application is he/she thinks the
invention is patentable.

Edlyn Simmons
The Procter & Gamble Company
5299 Spring Grove Ave.
Cincinnati, Ohio 45217
Phone: (513) 627-5664 Fax: (513) 627-6854




        "Lambert, Nancy (NELA)" <NELA_at_chevron.com>
Sent by: owner-piug-l_at_derwent.co.uk


11/05/2005 12:52 AM
        
        To: "PIUG Discussion List (E-mail)"
<PIUG-L_at_derwent.co.uk>, "PIUG New Discussion List"
<piug-discussion_at_piug.org>
        cc: randy_ward_at_byu.edu
        Subject: RE: [Piug-Discussion-List] Student inquiry on
Invention Promotion Companies




Mr. Ward,

You did not include an e-mail address for Ms. Hill, so could you please
pass this on to her?

Ms. Hill,

Before you hire a firm to patent your invention or (if you already have
a patent) market it, you should look into doing at least part of this
for yourself.

The first thing you should do is visit the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office Independent Inventor web site at
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/index.htm. This site includes
a great deal of information that the Patent Office has accumulated for
independent inventors. You can learn a lot of basic patent lore from
this site, and get some ideas on how you can know if your invention is
patentable. This site also links to information on the cost of getting
patents.

On this site, under "Information," is a link to "How do I finance and/or
market my invention?" where the Patent Office provides (with some
caveats) links to Small Business Administration sites. A number of
companies exist that will (for a hefty fee) promise to patent your idea
and promote the patent, but I believe they have a very low success rate.
I certainly can't recommend any.

If you decide to pursue patenting your invention, you should visit a
Patent and Trademark Depository Library. The people there can help you
do a patentability search on your invention. The nearest one to you is
in the Marriott Public Library at the University of Utah in Salt Lake
City. Here is their web site: http://www.lib.utah.edu/govdoc/. Their
phone number is 801-581-8394.

Typically, inventors consult a patent attorney or agent near the
beginning of the patenting process. If you want to find a registered
patent attorney or agent to help you write, file, and prosecute your
patent, here is a list of ones in Utah:
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/oed/roster/region/att-UT.txt

I hope this helps you.

Nancy Lambert
nela_at_chevron.com
510-242-3161


Dear Colleagues:

I'm not much of an expert on companies that (for a "percentage") will
patent and market your invention. A student came to me with the
questions below.
I gave the best advice I could about shoestring searching (i.e. proceed
at your own risk). Could someone help me with her questions?

Randy



Dear Mr. Ward,

This is Suelen, the student who came to talk to you a couple of days ago
about my wish to obtain a patent. I have composed an email with my
questions so you could forward that to (the PIUG) listserv. Here are my
questions:
1) I found a company online called Lambert&Lambert, their website is
http://www.lambertinvent.com/ and I would like to know if they are a
reliable company?
2) Do you know of any other companies that do the same thing? The one
mentioned above charges 25-35% of profits. Is that reasonable?
3) Is there a better way to get my invention out there? Keep in mind I'm
a starving college student with a dream.

Thank you so much for your time!

Sincerely,

Suelen Hill


______________________________________________

Randall K. Ward
Science Librarian
Lee Library 2320
Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah 84602

(801) 422-9066
(801) 422-0466 fax
randy_ward_at_byu.edu






Received on Sat Nov 05 2005 - 23:35:17