I just saw something on TV that made me sick. It was a slick advertisement for these people:
These people are almost certainly scammers and conmen. The central player in this scheme is probably a man named Julian Gumpel. See
'Sporky'
Your description of these guys as conmen is appropriate, but I'm not sure that they fall into the category of scammers.
You have to understand their operation to understand this distinction. First of all, their pitch is aimed at would be inventors who usually have ideas that are not patentable, and even if they were patentable are not marketable.
A real patent attorney would make this distinction clear to the applicant, but if the applicant persists will advise him of the cost of a patent search, and application, and all the fees that would normally follow. (Figure that for an uncontested patent, about $2,000-3,000 in search, filing, and misc. fees from a legitimate patent attorney.)
The 'Conmen' will always encourage the applicant (no matter how ridiculous the thing being patented), and one he is hooked hit him with a series of fees metered out over a period of time that will total more than twice what a legitimate patent attorney would normally require.
Pitches such as, we need your payment of $500 to conduct a search of existing patents and technology, but encourage him with the prospect of a major firm being interested in his 'ultrasonic pot cleaner'. Needless to say, there is in actuality no interested "major firm".
After the search which alway indicates positive findings for the applicant, he is told that he needs a working model (why I have no clue, since this is not required under patent law, although you would likely need one to market the product to an interested manufacturer, if indeed any existed).
Now product development is expensive, and there is no limit here to the extraction of money from the dupe, since he believes it is going to be an investment in his future. This part of the con is good for the extraction of maybe $4,000 to even $10,000 from the person being conned. What the conmen gloss over is that product development has no influence on the patent application itself.
Simultaneous to this, there is the need for a patent application to be prepared, along with the USPTO style application drawings. Figure another couple of thousand dollars for this 'service'.
When the rube is thoroughly drained, he is abandoned, but given the hope that when he comes up with more money, "the prosecution of his patent application can proceed."
These outfits target suckers thinking themselves clever inventors. It's an exploitation of the victim's personal ego and ignorance.
Any serious and credible real professional researcher or inventor with a legitimate idea that he/she believes is patentable will usually first consult their personal attorney and be referred him/her to a patent attorney that he/she knows to be both competent and honest as well. This route will generally cost you $1,000-2,000 on the front end, and circa $5,000 for an awarded patent, but in going this route you will know exactly where you stand in each step of the game, without being fed conman bullshit!
Excellent post, Harry. Thank you for expanding on the theme. OK, perhaps "scam" is too strong a word . . . but not by far. Any would-be inventors should be advised against dealing with these people regardless. Instead, they should read up on numerous resources both on the Web and in book form. One such resource is a book called "Will It Sell?" by a fellow named James E. White. He has a Web site
Mark 'Sporky' Stapleton Watermark Design, LLC
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