COMPLAINT REGARDING INVENTION PROMOTER
DATE OF CORRESPONDENCE: April 10, 2007
Name of the Invention Promotion Company: Innovative Patent Services
Invention Promoter's Address: 17011 Beach Blvd., Huntington Beach, CA 92647
Complainant's Name: Lusine Galadjian
Complainant's Address: 15945 Hartland St., Van Nuys, CA 91406
Customer's Name: Lusine Galadjian
WHAT IS YOUR COMPLAINT?
Name of mass media invention promoter advertised in: Yellow pages, a friend who was also an existing client referred me
Invention promotion service offered to be performed: To file a provisional patent application and eventually obtain a patent for what I was told was an original idea.
Explanation of complaint between customer and invention promoter: I learned about Innovative Patent Services (IPS) while I was developing a new invention. My objective was to connect with a professional company experienced in obtaining a patent.
My first contact with IPS was in March of 2005. I spoke with Norm. I told him I had an idea I was very excited about but didn’t know if it was protectable or already on the market. He asked me a few questions over the phone and advised me to visit their office.
My first meeting at IPS was with Mr.  on April 23, 2005. I was accompanied by my husband. During our meeting a confidentiality agreement was signed by Mr. . During our first meeting he introduced us to Ms. whom we also went over our invention with. They both raved about it and said that it was a great idea. We were very excited since they’ve been in the business for years and seemed to know what they were talking about. During the meeting I specifically told Mr. that I was interested in (a) finding out whether my idea had been patented and (b) if it was marketable. About ten (10) days later I received a call from Norm stating my idea was approved and for us to set up a second meeting.
The second meeting was June 6, 2005 during which Mr. told me and my husband that the idea “wasn’t out there” and that it was “patentable”. We were thrilled and excited at what the future held. At that time Mr. gave us a “New Product Introduction Proposal” stating in big bold letters “ACCEPTED”. It made us feel very important knowing our idea was original. After a convincing promotional talk including major profits we could expect, we were told the cost would be $10,870.
We asked Mr. if we could pay in increments or put it on a credit card but he stated that it would have to be paid in full and he would only take a check. With kids, a home and bills it was a very difficult decision so we asked if we could think about it. He stated that we should make a decision as soon as possible because one, he didn’t want someone else to patent the idea before us and two, that the amount he had quoted us was for a limited time.
On July 19, 2005 my husband and I both visited Mr. at his office for a third meeting to sign their contract. In the end IPS’s method of doing business (not taking credit cards) forced us to have to transfer money from our credit card into our checking account. Mr. presented us with a contract and verbally went through the parts he stated were important and said to just sign it then review it in more depth once we got home; moreover, if we had any questions to call him. We wrote him the check and left. When we got home and looked over the contract we noted mistakes such as someone else’s name on it! I scanned through the contract in more detail calling him to ask about a couple of points that I didn’t understand. He told me not to worry as it was just “standard language.”
Over the next couple of weeks, we started dealing with the illustrator and engineer which all took about a couple of months. During these months we went back and forth and settled on the illustrations, which I had in mind as well as the description of the product.
On or around the week of November 21, 2005, I learned of a product on the market almost identical to my idea being sold in a boutique about ten miles from where we lived. I immediately contacted Mr. to tell him. He said he’d inquire into it the next day then call me back. I received a call from him the following morning stating he’d spoken to the owner of the PRODUCT and it was his belief she did not have a patent pending on it and not to worry. During our conversation I asked him why their search had not discovered the competitive product. He stated that he had “saved me $1,000 and had actually not done a search.” Additionally, I should have been grateful he saved me the search money. Needless to say, I was very upset. I told him that he shouldn’t have made that decision (not to do a search) as it could very well cost me $11,000. Later he changed his position to say that I knew he hadn’t done a search because I never paid for one. That was not true because he had not contacted me for two weeks after first meeting with him while leaving us with the impression he was conducting a search while he “checked into it!” So what was he doing for those two weeks!?
A couple of days later, I noticed a letter from the patent attorney, Mr. , a sub-contractor of IPS. I opened the letter and noticed a separate contract I had to sign. After reading it I noted the statement: “however, because you have elected to proceed with filing a provisional application without first obtaining a patent search, ATTORNEY will not make any determinations set forth in the preceding paragraph based upon lack of novelty or obviousness.” That statement begs the question, why was no such statement included in IPS’s contract alerting us to the fact that no search would be done? There is no way we’d turn over $11,000 had we known no search was to be done by a seeming “professional” company.
In regards to the attorney’s contract, I told Mr. that I refused to sign a contract stating a clause that wasn’t true in that I had been under the impression IPS was doing a search during the two weeks mentioned above and as a result, our invention had been “ACCEPTED”! Moreover, I would not sign something that was not true!
Mr. told me I had no choice but to sign it or I would have find a different attorney and pay them to do a search!
Eventually, with some help and advice from online inventors I did a free preliminary patent search on the US Patent Office’s website just to see if there was anything else out there like my idea. I found a 1989 patent identical to my invention which made me even more sure that if the attorney were to write and file a later formal non-provisional patent application just prior to the provisional patent application’s expiration he was to write, it would have been rejected by the patent office due to what I now realize is the existence of prior art. In fact, I have since learned that shoe in the boutique was also prior art. So being told by Mr. that the owner hadn’t filed a patent on it, didn’t matter because it represented prior art that should be disclosed to the patent office when writing the formal non provisional application.
In summary, I went to this company in the hopes of marketing and obtaining a patent on my idea. I was led to believe it could be done and was “Accepted” to prove it. Looking back it is obvious we were stalled for those first two weeks leaving us with the impression a search was being undertaken. At one point I remember Mr. stating that if I tried to take him to court, he would win the case. An arrogant statement but fitting his game plan.
In conclusion, we paid almost $11,000 for a bunch of worthless paperwork, which is still at Mr. offices in Huntington Beach.
Signed: /s/ Lusine Galadjian
Date: April 10, 2007 |
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