Expert: George H. Morgan, P.E., Patent Agent - 1/15/2010

Question
My boyfriend has just been in contact with patent assistance worldwide and has sent them his idea. They e-mailed us a piece of graph paper with their heading on it and his name and address on the bottom. He drew his idea and described it and we scanned and sent it back to them.  They said it was a marketable and profitable idea. They have yet to ask for money, but said there will be some cost involved. After reading the posts on your site I am a little concerned. Do they just steal money or ideas too? What should we do from here?  

Answer
Their scam is telling you what a great idea you have, and then taking  your money & then keep after you for more money. I doubt they steal ideas, as that takes hard work to develop.

Just ignore them, an talk to resources such as your local SCORE (service corps of retired executives) or your local small business development corporation, usually available through your local chamber of commerce.

My web site has a lot of free info on it, especially the book review page.

For patent assistance, deal only with registered Patent Agents or patent attorneys. You can access the Patent Office through my web site at http://www.evansville.net/biz/patagent & they have a list of registered practioners.

Patent Assistance Worldwide, Davison, Invent Tech, Absolutely New Idea, all birds of a feather. The Ron Riley website, accessible through the link on my  inventors resources page of my web site has the gory details on many of these and other scammers.

Hope that helps. Best wishes on your project!

George H. Morgan
Professional Engineer
Patent Agent