American Inventors…be wary
March 21, 2006 on 12:55 pm | In Independent Inventors |ABC’s new show American Inventor apparently has the nation’s invention promotion companies in a frenzy, gobbling up “American inventor” Google/Yahoo ads as fast as possible. For instance, run this Google search for “American Inventor” and check out the ads in the right hand margin.
BEFORE you ever do work with any company, patent attorney, patent agent, marketing company, etc…DO YOUR HOMEWORK (and search the Internet).
A good starting point for your research is reviewing my post on Independent Inventors and Invention Promotion Companies. Also read: Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Alert “Spotting Sweet-Sounding Promises of Fraudulent Invention Promotion Firms“
If you are getting a high pressure sales job and/or they are telling you (before having a patent search done) that your idea is the best idea they’ve ever heard…beware!
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American Inventor…reviews mixed
March 16, 2006 on 11:56 pm | In Independent Inventors, Television |I had the pleasure of watching ABC’s new show "American Inventor" earlier tonight. It is no American Idol, but certainly had its moments. Overall, it was worth watching. FINALLY my wife can appreciate the interesting types of personalities I see in my own clients.
What would a story about independent inventors be without a poor lady talking about an invention promotion company charging her $7000 ($12,000) for "a big book." However, she also mentioned that she had a patent. A quick patent search reveals that she has TWO patents. USPN 6,848,132 (one of the shorter patents I’ve ever seen) and USPN D471,049.
We’ll see how the show progresses. The first episode(s) was 90% wacky inventors. Whether or not they can follow in American Idol’s steps and keep people watching when the "fun" inventors are gone, is to be seen.
Other blog coverage: here and here.
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I saw on the first episode a woman who had made a video for little kids - it was called something like “Time Out Timmy”, or something like that. I got the impression that she already sells it somewhere and was just looking to improve it. Does anyone know where I can research to buy such a video? I think it was awesome.
Comment by Sharon Heddle — March 20, 2006 #
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There’s a lively debate of “Did American Inventor Suck?” at http://www.AmericanInventorSpot.com
if you are interested.Comment by Simmssays — March 20, 2006 #
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After the American Inventors show I decided to find the lady “dismissed” by judge Doug Hall claiming he had a Bed Organizer on his bed at home so her “invention” was not new. She claimed to have spent a lot of money on getting it to the point it was at then. Hall asked why she’d spent so much. Apparently she’d gone to an “800#” company; some of whom advertise on TV commercials.
Attorney Carl Oppendahl posted somewhere on the web her two patent numbers. I could not find a phone listing for her so I sent her a letter to learn which company she went to. In the meantime, I noted her patents were written by “Goldstein Law Offices.” I printed all 435 of them then began a phone blitz. I found quite a lot of inventor phone numbers. Common denominators 100% of them shared: Allegedly paying “Advent Product Developemnt” between $13,000 - $15,000. One claimed her patent search had been farmed-out to an attorney in Las Vegas. She did not know who it was. However, two/three years ago one Matthew J.Pierce phoned me hoping I would refer inventors to him (we live in the same town). I asked for his experience in writing and having patents issued to which he responded (paraphrased): I’ve written them for Invention Submission Corporation (ISC) and Advent Product Development.
Note: Anyone noticed ISC is not using in their TV commercials “ISC” but is now calling itself “Inventhelp”?
PJ
PS. Catch me “live” on Internet Radio March 23rd at 1:PM Central Standard Time by going to http://www.youinventit.com Type Qs then send them to the show under the link provided. I will answer them over your ‘puters sound system.
Comment by Penny Ballou — March 23, 2006 #