Inventor Beware: WARNING · WARNING · WARNING
There are “Invention promotion” firms and “Invention design” firms out there that make their money off inventors and provide little help in their success. According to the Inventor Protection Act of 1999, invention promotion companies must show “The number of consumers in the last five years who made more money in royalties than they paid to the company.”
Here’s information from the Davidson Design and Development, Inc. company, previously known as Davidson & Associates. 595 Alpha Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15238.
From the Davidson Website, you can find these figures:
Total number of consumers offered a Pre-Development agreement: 291,784
Total number who purchased this or a similar agreement: 60,690
Number who were offered a New Product Sample Agreement (Design services): 40,819
Number of people who signed this agreement: 18,335
The total number of consumers in the last five years who made more money in royalties than they paid, in total, under any and all agreements with Davison is 16.
The percentage of Davison’s income that came from royalties paid on licenses of consumers’ products is .001%. They make all but .001% of their money from fees they charge inventors.
Their FEES:
Since the company’s beginning in 1989 – well over 20 years ago –
the number of people who received a net financial profit gain
as a direct result of their services is 31.
Fees from the Davidson Company to prepare design images or graphics for presentation of the idea are typically between $8,000.00 and $15,000.00
Fees for “Representation agreement” for clients who have quantities of professionally manufactured goods is typically $5,850.00; plus 10% of all money received by the client for sale of goods or licensing their product.
How successful are they at representing inventors who already have their products professionally manufactured? The percentage of Davison’s income that came from royalties paid on licenses of consumers’ products is .001%.
These numbers are current as of September 26, 2014