Why Invention Submission Companies Are Still Around
Dr. Natalie L. Petouhoff teaches in Pepperdine’s business school, coaches inventors and is the author of the upcoming book: Smart Inventors Finish Rich: Ten Steps to Reaching the American Dream.
She wanted to share some important information about the inventing process with the readers of InventorSpot.com. Here’s an excerpt of her article: “Why Invention Submission Companies Are Still In Business if they are NOT Really in the Business of Putting Your Product on the Marketplace.”
If you have ever seen one of those commercials for help with your invention, beware. Some and most of those companies are not real. In fact invention promotion companies have a track record is terrible. So if the success rates are so poor, why are these companies raking in the dough at $300M/year?
The reasons primary are:
- 1. Inventors need better education and resources so they don’t get scammed.
- 2. Invention submission companies revenue model is not based on putting inventor’s products on the shelf.
The first point you might not be surprised about. And fortunately, in more recent years, there are sites like InventorSpot.com and WorkingInventor.com where inventors can find honest answers. The second point is what confuses most people. Here’s why. Most inventors don’t understand that an invention submission company’s revenue model is different from a licensor’s.
A licensor makes their money when they put a product on the shelf and it sells. But an invention submission company’s revenue model IS NOT based on generating revenue from selling a product. Their business model is to charge upwards of $15,000 for a quick evaluation, a report, file a patent (generally a design patent), write up a generalized marketing plan, and supposedly submit your invention to licensors. And they probably don’t see any need to change it because the industry reports show they are making $300M a year doing things this way.
Read more.
Photo by gizmodo.com.
Shukree Abuwi on February 13th, 2008 9:00 am
Great post. I always had a passion to invent things but the patents cost so much money and I am really suspicous of the companies. Very enlightening post. Thanks!
Dane on February 13th, 2008 3:42 pm
Don’t forget that you can get a provisional patent for practically free.
Leave a Reply