InventionHome

They waited for my patent to expire 12 months. In 2015.then today on the phone they suggested I take the 12 months incase it doesn't make it. the 20 year patent is too expensive .9074441232.dds

The statements provided by Invention Home are simply untrue.  When I first contacted this business, the Customer Service Department ([redacted]) quoted "We specialize in assisting inventors at all stages of the Invention, Patent and MARKETING PROCESS." as shown in their email to me on 7/29/2014.  SEE ATTACHMENT.  Now Ms. [redacted] wants to state "Ms. [redacted]'s paid to Invention Home were for services provided, not for the marketing"????  As I had mentioned prior, their description of patenting packages were unclear and vague, and I would have never entered this process and paid them $1, 797.00 without a direct fulfillment of marketing my idea to the public.  If that is the case, why do they mention the phrase "THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING INVENTION HOME TO ASSIST YOU WITH YOUR MARKETING NEEDS"?  Also, after receipt of my money, I got a few replies on the personal portfolio they created of "responses" to my invention and there is no verifiable indication if the statements ever came from any valid company at all.  I expected more from this company than just a portfolio, I expected them to comply to my marketing needs as they advertised in their correspondence and on their website.  To offer no solution to my dissatisfaction and other than creating a simple portfolio and then give the silent treatment after payment from their clients is despicable.  I will not settle for less than a total refund for FALSE ADVERTISEMENT and FINANCIAL CONTEMPT by this company.  I do not plan to back down as I got a raw deal and nothing in return for a significant amount of money.  THIS COMPANY IS SIMPLY AN INVENTION SCAM PRACTICE and they are simply TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE PUBLIC WITH THEIR OWN INVENTION COMPANY SCAM TACTICS.  That is all they are.  I feel I have just given my money away to a bunch of crooks. They need to give me my money back in good faith, period.  
Regards,
[redacted]

We are in receipt of Ms. [redacted]’s complaint #[redacted]  To clarify, the fees Ms. [redacted]’s paid to InventionHome were for services provided, not for the marketing.  The patent search, provisional patent application and development of her website are all tangible services.  Our...

marketing efforts are done on a contingency basis.  Meaning, you do not pay us unless we successfully license your product (that's where the 20% commission comes in).  This information is clearly communicated in the attached Service Agreement that Ms. [redacted]’s agreed to on 5/1/2014. Ms. [redacted]’s complaint indicates InventionHome did not communicate with her after funds were received, however, this is incorrect.  InventionHome spoke with or exchanged emails with Ms. [redacted]’s over a dozen times from point of purchase to completion of paid services.  Additionally, Ms [redacted]’s had access to her marketing activity through our Marketing Activity Report.  This report is updated at the beginning of each month and provides a summary of all marketing that has taken place.  We clearly point out in our Frequently Asked Questions section that communication during the marketing phase is mainly through the MAP Program:    How often will you update me on your marketing progress? This is a very important question and one that must be understood clearly. While many inventors would like to receive an update phone call each month from our marketing team, this just isn’t feasible. If our staff spent days calling individual inventors each month with nothing new to report in terms of interest, we would be taking valuable time away from actually marketing your idea. Keep in mind that there is a difference between us marketing your idea (i.e. our efforts) and a company expressing interest and beginning the “facilitate interest” stage. Our efforts to market your idea are continual and ongoing and we have developed a very efficient way in which to share these activities with you. Each month, we post these activities to your MAP report to provide you with a snapshot of our marketing activities. We will contact you directly if a company expresses interest in your idea. We would not rely on the MAP report to tell you that a company was interested in your idea. In fact, most of the time this will require some additional information gathering that we would involve you in. Note: We realize that the MAP report is not the perfect communication solution, in that it does not provide specific company names. However, we can assure you that it is a reflective and accurate representation of our team’s efforts to contact companies on your behalf.   Ms. [redacted]’s complaint indicates she was unaware of the type of patent protection she purchased.  Please find attached the PPA Work Verification that Ms. [redacted]’s agreed to on 5/1/2014.  This document, as well as the literature on our website, clearly points out the following:   What is a Provisional Patent Application (PPA)? A Provisional Patent Application (PPA) is a quick, easy and cost-effective way to get your invention on file with the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). A PPA enables you to establish a priority filing date for your patent, and provides 12 months of protection to further develop, market, or prepare a Utility Application. Once you file a PPA, a 12-month clock starts in which time a non-provisional patent application must be filed before the end of the 12-month provisional application period. A provisional application is not examined by the USPTO and does not automatically convert to a non-provisional patent.   How does InventionHome simplify the application process? InventionHome uses a network of highly qualified patent attorneys and agents to assist our clients in filing Provisional Patent Applications at the lowest possible cost. Our streamlined system allows us to compile, edit and communicate invention information between inventors and patent attorneys / agents. Therefore we can offer a cost-effective service for preparing and filing Provisional Patent Applications.   What is a non-provisional patent? The non-provisional patent is what is traditionally thought of as the “full” patent. It can be of either a “utility” or a “design” variety, and it establishes the filing date and begins the USPTO’s patent review process. It is the only type of application that will result in the issuance of a patent, whereas, a provisional patent application acts as a placeholder for the priority date and allows you to retain “patent pending” status for your invention.     InventionHome is sorry to hear of Ms. [redacted]’s dissatisfaction; however, there is no merit to her refund request. The services Ms. [redacted]’s purchased were completed, approved of, and delivered, and InventionHome provided all the necessary documentation outlining these services.   Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions.   Sincerely, [redacted] Director, Customer Operations

I just got off the phone with Michael, and I found it to be an exciting experience. There was no pressure to buy immediately, or anything like that. He was very knowledgeable about patents, and was very interested in my invention. He patiently waited for my email to get to him so that he could look at the pictures that I had made of my product. If he was interested in scamming me, I think that he would not have been so interested in exactly what I was doing. Before the discussion started, I was asked to submit confidentiality acknowledgement. The cost of InventionHome services was brought up at the appropriate time, and I was given a clear picture of what my costs will be. When I asked how I would research his company, he immediately gave me two excellent references. He didn't tell me that my idea was a sure thing, but he didn't refuse to discuss it, either, which impressed me. He suggested the patent search immediately, which is exactly what I need to know, whether or not someone else already has my idea registered. I am very proud of what I have done, and he took the time to look at it. He spent a lot of time with me, and that gave me confidence. He is a very frank person, and I think that if he didn't think the project was viable that he wouldn't have hesitated to say that. I know that viability depends on luck, circumstance and hard work. I think that this company will work with me. At first, I wondered why the customer that had an initial interview (as I did) bothered to write a positive review, and then I read the two negative reviews. This company doesn't deserve a negative impression just because customers are frightened and confused by our current marketplace. It shows up in the "circle" stats, though, even though the overall rating is A+. I am hoping for a positive experience with my business endeavor, but it isn't the invention company's fault if it doesn't work out. This is a good chance to make it work, and I'm glad that InventionHome is working with me. Their attempts to resolve complaints made good sense to me, and I have faith that this is a very good company.

Review: I was lead to believe by Invention Home that I actually had an original invention. I've since found out through my own search that what I thought was a brand new idea had been done many times over therefore had almost zero chance of being licensed. I believe if a company is offering a paid service they should be very knowledgeable about that service. I feel Invention home did not know enough about the toy manufacturing business there fore they should not have encouraged me to submit my idea.

In good faith I paid them believing from what they said that they were very well connected to the toy industry. I have spoken to several toy manufacturers and found out that many had never heard of Invention Home and those who had did not have favorable things to say.Desired Settlement: I would like a refund of the $ 1589.00 I paid Invention Home

Business

Response:

Please find attached our response to Ms. [redacted]'s complaint, which was emailed directly to her on 5/23/2016 after she voiced her dissatisfaction directly to InventionHome. Ms. [redacted]'s initial complaint indicated she would be contacting the Revdex.com, as well as other consumer complaint-type platforms, if we did not refund her money, however, these is no merit to her refund request. As the attached letter clearly indicates, all paid services were completed and approved of by Ms. [redacted] and marketing is essentially done at no cost and without any type of guarantees that a licensing agreement will be secured. As per Ms. [redacted]'s request, all materials were returned to her via certified mail, however, the package is being held in a federal express facility as due to no one available to sign for the package when the 3 delivery attempts occurred. The package will be held in the facility for 5 business days. Please feel free to contact me directly should you have any questions.

Consumer

Response:

Review: I contacted [redacted] and spoke with him in reguards to my invention.He then went over the services they do so I signed up paying him 1699.00 they where sappose to advertise my invention with companys like [redacted] all big companys also lic the patent for the first year. So I kept looking at the reports and it says they showed it to all these new companys that just signed on but wouldnt give me any names.So then I wrote the patent company and there is no lic on my patent I have the letters from them.Also if you look at there MAP report you can see it repeats the same info each month and has not been shown to all these big companys like they advertise.[redacted]Desired Settlement: It was 699.00 to do the portfoliowhich I did all the work and 999.00 to advertise it to the BIG companys like they advertise.You can look at ther webpage www.homeinventions.com

Business

Response:

InventionHome is in receipt of Ms. [redacted]’s complaint #[redacted] and would like to clarify services purchased. Ms. [redacted] purchased patent protection services from InventionHome on 3/12/2013. At that time InventionHome compiled Ms. [redacted]’s invention information and after approval was received from Ms. [redacted], the patent firm prepared and filed the provisional patent application on her invention. The application was filed on 4/15/2013, application number [redacted], and is valid for a one-year period. Ms. [redacted] was emailed the filing receipt on 4/15/2013. Ms. [redacted] references lack of patent “license” in her complaint, which is correct, there is not a “license” associated with a provisional patent application. All applications are filed with the United States Patents & Trademarks Office and assigned an application number, which Ms. [redacted] is in receipt of. Once Ms. [redacted]’s provisional patent application was filed, a marketing portfolio website was purchased. All services associated with the development of the portfolio website were completed and approved of by Ms. [redacted], and her account was then transitioned over to our marketing team on 5/1/2013. In looking over Ms. [redacted]’s marketing activity, InventionHome has done quite a bit of work on her invention, and all information is summarized on her Marketing Activity Report. To summarize in this response, 74 Hotlinks were sent. HotLinks is our proactive and targeted system for matching and presenting inventions to prospective companies, and are direct submissions to one of our contacts at a manufacturing firm. Additionally, the marketing team has completed follow ups with those companies but they did not offer any other feedback. It is usually the case that if a company is not interested in a product, they will not provide feedback and usually don't even give the marketing team a definite "no". We will not release the company information because we have confidentiality agreements in place with our contacts. This is clearly communicated in our Frequently Asked Questions section on our website. This is done at their request so they can keep some distance between themselves and inventors and keep from creating ill will with inventors that were rejected. We can only release their information if they waive the agreement which typically happens when they are ready to sit down and begin a negotiation. If they have specific questions or want to review the product with the inventor, they can choose to reveal their information, but we will not do it on their behalf. Ms. [redacted] references in her complaint that InventionHome was to have advertised her invention to companies such as [redacted] and [redacted]. We clearly state on our website that our network of companies sells directly to these retailers. Typically retailers do not have the means to manufacture their own products, which is why InventionHome is submitting our inventor’s ideas to manufacturing companies. We are working directly with the types of companies that are applicable to inventors such as manufactures, distributors and infomercial companies. These are the companies that license inventions from inventors and distribute to national retailers, such as [redacted]. For example, if an infomercial company licenses one of our inventor’s inventions they not only produce and run national television spots they also push the products out to national retailers across the United States. Most inventors are not in a position to manufacture and supply a company like [redacted] with finished products, which is why we’re working with the right types of companies for inventors. Finally, the money Ms. [redacted] spent with InventionHome was for services related to the creation of her invention portfolio website, NOT the marketing of her product. All of these services were provided to Ms. [redacted], approved of as they were completed, and she was given the resulting finished online product that she paid for. The marketing services that we offer are essentially free of charge since we do not receive any monetary gain from our extensive marketing efforts unless the inventor receives monetary gain. We have worked incredibly hard to put Ms. [redacted]’s product in front of as many companies as possible, as her marketing activity above reflects. Please feel free to contact me directly should you have any questions or require any other additional information regarding this complaint. Thanks, [redacted]

I patent an idea and decided I didn't want to go through with it and cancelled my card so no money would be taken out and they accused me of fraudulent I don't appreciate that and it's not professional I wouldn't recommend them to anyone else

We just recently went thru the first step with Invention Home and we are very happy with the results and looking forward to the next step with Invention Home. My representative , Adam, was very knowledgeable about the process and very professional. We are eager and excited in moving forward and we are very glad that Adam will be representing us in the process. Thank You

Review: I was told that they would market my invention in their monthly product line for a fee. I was told they would market my product to numerous companies, manufacturers and clients they have a working relationship with. Once I paid them thousands of dollars, they ran my invention in the brochure one month. When I asked them about it, they told me that my provisional patent doesn't allow them to market it each month in the monthly brochure. The only way they could market it was if I had a utility patent. I had informed that I have a provisional patent and sent a copy to them before we entered into an agreement. They excepted it, and my money and said nothing about the lack of advertising it because of the type of patent I had obtained. It was only after they got my money and I began to ask why my product was not in the newsletter/brochure that they finally told the truth.Desired Settlement: I think they should have to give me my money back. There is no proof of them marketing my product. They provided a list of companies/clients that they contacted, but I have now way of verifying that they contacted anyone to market my product. When I would call them about it, they were evasive and full of excuses.

Business

Response:

February 20, 2014

Please find our response to complaint [redacted].

Mr. [redacted] purchased invention portfolio services from InventionHome on 5/1/2013 in the amount of $973.00. The money paid to us was for services related to the creation of Mr. [redacted]’s portfolio, NOT the marketing of his product.

Attached are the Work Verification and Service Agreement documents that Mr. [redacted] agreed to on 5/2/2013. Both documents outline the services that Mr. [redacted] purchased and that we can only market an invention for as long as proper patent protection is in place. For Mr. [redacted] to suggest in his complaint that, “he was told they would market my invention in their monthly product line for a fee” and “they said nothing about the lack of advertising because of the patent I had obtained” is without merit. InventionHome does not charge a fee for marketing nor do we have a “monthly product line”. InventionHome does provide inventors and member companies with a monthly newsletter, which is a regularly distributed publication that is generally about a few different topics of interest; however, the newsletter is not our main marketing strategy. InventionHome’s marketing strategy is clearly pointed out on our website, and we provide a Frequently Asked Questions section for inventor reference (see attached).

To summarize, HotLinks is our main proactive and targeted system for matching and presenting inventions to prospective companies. HotLinks is the primary communication process. That said, Mr. [redacted]’s invention portfolio was sent to 79 companies. We utilize The Marketing Activity Program (MAP) Report as an on-line summarization that provides inventors with ongoing updates about the marketing efforts. This page updates every month to display recent marketing activity. Each entry in the report represents a different company that has been contacted. We also utilize this report to communicate any unique feedback a company sends to us. Mr. [redacted] had continuous access to this report.

Mr. [redacted] contacted InventionHome on 8/19/2013 to inquire about the marketing of his invention (see attached). There was no indication that Mr. [redacted] was upset with our marketing efforts, and our response to Mr. [redacted]’s inquiry was not “evasive” or “full of excuses” as Mr. [redacted] indicates in his complaint. I would also like to point out, once Mr. [redacted] completed his invention portfolio with us, he sent a very nice email (see attached) thanking us for our efforts. Other than the communication on 8/19/2013, no other communications were sent to InventionHome from Mr. [redacted].

I would like to point out, InventionHome takes great pride in delivering excellent customer service and provides an abundance of detailed information regarding our process on our website and throughout the process. It is a shame that Mr. [redacted] did not contact us directly to try and resolve the issues and felt filing a complaint the only option available to him.

If you should require any other information, please feel free to contact me.

Thanks, [redacted] Director, Customer Operations

Review: I responded to an ad on-line for inventions/inventors ideas. When the company representative called me I gave him all the details for my invention. After I gave the information to this person, he began acting disrespectful, rude and condescending. I told the person that I was not interested in his company and what they have to offer. My issue now is that this company has stolen my idea and they will likely reap thousands or millions of dollars from my idea if they move forward with my invention.Desired Settlement: I want this company to apologize in writing. I also want them to acknowledge that they will not use my idea. I still plan to present my idea to investors so if this company steals my idea this could potentially result in hundreds of thousands of dollars of income for me.

Business

Response:

We have reached out to this customer via email, see attached.Additionally, in good faith, we had a patent search done on his product idea at no cost, see attached.A call was scheduled to discuss but the customer did not respond nor return the call.

Invention Home, Two years ago I made a contract with this company for $1,600.00 they ONLY sent me a two page letter and did nothing else. They RIPPED ME OFF.