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Avoiding trouble
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There are many, many traps an inventor could fall into, you will find on this website details of the precautions you should take at every stage of developing your invention. Perhaps the greatest danger to the inventor is himself or herself–
And there could be other dangers – from SHARKS. Over the years, it has been demonstrated that only about 3% of inventions succeed. (The US Patent Office estimates that about 97% of all US patents issued each year will never make enough money to even pay for the patent). Sharks swim around in the "sea" of the remaining 97% of hopeful inventors looking for help in developing their invention. The inventor needs to be on constant guard in case of scams.
This warning comes from the US Patent and Trademark Office
Dear Inventor,
Every year thousands of Independent Inventors, like yourself, are targeted by unscrupulous invention promotion, marketing and licensing firms. These firms take advantage of an inventor's enthusiasm for their product. They not only solicit inventors with exaggerated promises to obtain valuable patents but they make false claims about the potential market success of those inventions. These firms provide you with basic market research at a large fee and ultimately obtaining an overly narrow or useless patent that is worthless in the marketplace.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
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These are the first "hooks". |
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Legitimate companies provide the answers in writing. |
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This is useless advice. |
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This should be provided to you. |
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No one can guarantee issuance of a useful patent. |
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This type of patent has limited applicability to most inventions. |
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Maybe there is no real office location or company. |
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Probably every client of this company is told that. Be sceptical. |
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Get at least five names to contact and show the forms to an attorney before signing. |
Beware of the "hooks" that lure you into a scam
Unscrupulous invention promotion, marketing or licensing companies use a series of "hooks" to lure you into the company's web:
Get answers to these questions in writing from any promotion, marketing or licensing company wanting to help you. Helpful hints are given in the brackets.
DO | Write a letter to any promotion, marketing or licensing company that seeks to help you and ask for written answers to the 10 QUESTIONS listed above. |
DON'T | Accept verbal promises, assurances or representations. |
DO | Use common sense in evaluating the answers. If they don't make sense, seek assistance from a patent attorney or agent* or, the Office of Independent Inventor Programs at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. |
DON'T | Be a victim of a scam. |
Why so many new products fail - You have a new product you intend to launch at the public? Don't risk it: Not until you have done a little hard research.
According to a Bank of America report, as many as 90 per cent of all new products introduced in the US fail, usually within four years. The proportion of failures elsewhere in the world is probably as high.
The report says that "weaning the infant too soon" is the biggest mistake made by the inventors. It adds: "Objective analysis about the product and its market with the help of outside assistance makes the chances of success more probable."
Here are some of the reasons why products fail, and roughly in order of frequency:
Inadequate market analysis, product defects, higher costs than anticipated, poor timing, competition, insufficient marketing effort, inadequate sales force and weakness in distribution.
And here are some of the pre-marketing questions that ought to be asked but often aren't:
If an inventor can answer these questions satisfactorily, he may be on a good thing. As a double check, he can always try the product on his wife.
(Reprinted from International Management September, 1965.)
ACCC - The little black book of scams
The little black book of scams highlights a variety of popular scams that regularly target Australian consumers and small business in areas such as fake lotteries, internet shopping, mobile phones, online banking, employment and investment opportunities. It also offers consumers tips on how to protect themselves from scams, what they can do to minimise damage if they do get scammed and how they can report a scam.
A printed version of this publication is available at no cost from the ACCC or an electronic version of this publication is downloadable at no cost from http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/TheLittleBlackBookOfScams08.