Scams in intellectual property or invention scams are a type of scam in which either inventors are lured to pay money for developing an idea but do not follow up on it, or investors pay money for a non existing product or for an invention never to be developed.

Intellectual property

Intellectual property

Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...

 (IP) is a very complex area and covers a vast range of diverse subjects. As a result, there are opportunities for unscrupulous individuals and organizations to take advantage of those wishing to secure protection for their IP.

Registration services

Registration services are organizations or individuals that contact IP applicants or owners and request payment for an apparently official registration of their IP.

Many applicants for and owners of patent

Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....

s, trademark

Trademark

A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...

s and industrial design rights

Industrial design rights

An industrial design right is an intellectual property right that protects the visual design of objects that are not purely utilitarian. An industrial design consists of the creation of a shape, configuration or composition of pattern or color, or combination of pattern and color in three...

 receive letters from such registration services and different IP offices and organizations around the world regularly issue warnings in connection with the offered services.

The registration services target applicants directly because patent, trademark and design applications are published a set time after filing or upon grant along with freely available information about a name and address for the applicant. Registration services use this information to send requests for payment to applicants shortly after publication.

Published warnings for different forms of IP

• American Intellectual Property Law Association
  American Intellectual Property Law Association
  The American Intellectual Property Law Association is a national bar association that was formed in 1897 to improve intellectual property laws and educate the public about such issues....
  
   (AIPLA) - Patent Registry Scams
• Australian Patent Office - Warning! Unsolicited IP Services
• Belgian Patent Office - Warning to inventors about fraudulent registration services, in http://mineco.fgov.be/intellectual_property/patents/news/warning_nl.htm or http://mineco.fgov.be/intellectual_property/patents/news/warning_fr.htm (with link to a Decision of January 14, 2005 of a Belgian Appeal Court (Brussels, R.G. 2003/AR/2192 and 2003/AR/2356) (pdf) - in French)
• European Community trademarks - Warning
• European Community design
  Community design
  A Community design is a unitary industrial design right that covers the European Union. It has both unregistered and registered forms. The unregistered Community design came into effect on 6 March 2002 and the registered Community design was available from 1 April 2003.-Legal basis:Council...
  
  s - Warning
• European patent application
  European Patent Convention
  The Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, commonly known as the European Patent Convention , is a multilateral treaty instituting the European Patent Organisation and providing an autonomous legal system according to which European patents are granted...
  
  s - Information from the European Patent Office
• French Patent Office - Warning
• International Trademark Association
  International Trademark Association
  The International Trademark Association is a worldwide not-for-profit association of member companies and firms that supports and advances trademarks and intellectual property as elements of fair and effective global commerce.- History :...
  
   (INTA) - Warning: Beware Unsolicited Trademark Services
• International Bureau of the WIPO
  World Intellectual Property Organization
  The World Intellectual Property Organization is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations. WIPO was created in 1967 "to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world"....
  
   (international patent applications) - Warning. A "Practical Advice" regarding the "Measures that are being taken by the International Bureau against fraudulent requests for payment of fees, and actions that can be taken by the applicant or agent" was also published in the PCT Newsletter, July-August 2011, No. 07-08/2011, pp. 13-16.
• International trademark
  Madrid system
  For the Madrid Protocol relating to mining in the Antarctic see Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic TreatyThe Madrid system for the international registration of marks, also conveniently known as the Madrid System, is the primary international system for facilitating the...
  
  s - Warning
• Swiss Patent Office - Warning
• United Kingdom patent applications
  United Kingdom Patent Office
  The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom is, since 2 April 2007, the operating name of The Patent Office. It is the official government body responsible for intellectual property rights in the UK and is an executive agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
  
   - Warning: Unsolicited mail about unofficial registration services
• United Kingdom trade marks
  United Kingdom Patent Office
  The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom is, since 2 April 2007, the operating name of The Patent Office. It is the official government body responsible for intellectual property rights in the UK and is an executive agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
  
   - Warning: Unsolicited mail about unofficial registration services

PCT registration services

Registration services are known to target applicants of international patent applications. The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has issued a warning about several of these services, including:

• RIPT - Register of International Patents and Trademarks
• IBIP - International Bureau for Intellectual Property
• ODM - Patent Trademark Register
• IBFTPR - International Bureau for Federated Trademark & Patent Register
• IOIP - Organization for Intellectual Property
• ODM - Register of International Patents
• ODM - Office Data Management
• IOPTS - International Organization for Patent & Trademark Service
• FIPTR - Federated Institute for Patent and Trademark Registry Inc. (see "State of Florida v. Federated Institute for Patent and Trademark Registry and Bernd Taubert" http://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsreleases/1F9988D229725B6B85257690006ADBB4)
• CPTD - Central Patent & Trademark Database
• CCIT - Commercial Center for Industry and Trade
• CPD - Central Patent Database
• Register of International Patents
• Register of International Patent Bulletin/Registre des données bulletin europeén des brevetes
• Institut of Commerce for Industry, Trade, Commerce/Wirtschaftsinstitut für Industrie, Handel, Handwerk AG
• Central Data-Register of International Patents

Domain slamming

Domain slamming is a form of scam in which an internet service provider

Internet service provider

An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...

 (ISP) or domain name registrar

Domain name registrar

A domain name registrar is an organization or commercial entity, accredited by both ICANN and generic top-level domain registry to sell gTLDs and/or by a country code top-level domain registry to sell ccTLDs; to manage the reservation of Internet domain names in accordance with the guidelines of...

 attempts to trick customers of different companies into switching from their existing ISP/registrar to the scamming ISP/registrar, under the pretense that the customer is simply renewing their subscription to their old ISP/registrar.

Invention promotion firm scams

An Inventor promotion scam or Invention promotion scam is a scam where inventors are lured to pay money for developing their invention, or promoting it, without following through.

Some invention promotion firm

Invention promotion firm

An invention promotion firm or invention submission corporation provides services to inventors to help them develop or market their inventions. These firms may offer to evaluate the patentability of inventions, file patent applications and license them to manufacturers, build prototypes, and market...

s have been found to engage in improper and deceptive practices.

Signs of an unscrupulous invention promotion firm include:

• Exaggerated claims about the market potential of the invention
• Refusal to offer advice in writing, or having all correspondence confined to promotional material and scheduling phone calls.
• Request for money immediately and upfront
• Money back guarantees - Reputable professionals charge a fee for service and are compensated for their work and, therefore, do not offer money back guarantees.

External links

• USPTO public forum for invention promoters/promotion firm complaints and responses
• Federal Trade Commission Consumer advice concerning Invention Promotion Firms