!100394 Patent consumer news from the FTC and Germany Patent brokering and promotion companies in the United States have long had a history of delivering few results for their clients, often with success rates less than one percent (after charging thousands of dollars in fees). The Federal Trade Commission has received so many complaints about such companies that it has started to pursue any that misrepresent their services. The FTC has already got one firm in Pennsylvania to pay $1.2 million over two years into a fund for aggrieved clients. To help inventors, the FTC has published a factsheet with tips on evaluating firms that promote inventions. Single copies are available free from the FTC's Public Reference Branch, Room 130, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20580. Across the Atlantic, similar help is being given to German inventors. In international comparison, Germany has traditionally registered fewer patents at Munich's Patent Registry Office than a number of other countries. This, researchers at the Technical University in Dresden (Saxony) say, is not because Germans are less inventive; rather, they are less adept at making the transition to package and marketing a completed product. The Dresden researchers have initiated a project to help make that leap. Aimed especially at inventors at the university, the project provides guidance in approaching industrial firms that might have a use for the product, particularly smaller and mid-size companies. If an industrial partner cannot be found, the inventor will still receive support through specialists in patent law. Any product is eligible for support through the Dresden initiative, but strong emphasis is placed on applicability. The first invention to be supported, for example, is a new kind of building block that conceivably have wide application in the construction industry ==================== The September 13 PTO OG had the following announcement in regards to the FTC's action. 1. A Consent Decree eneter in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in FTC vs. American Idea Management Corp. (AIM), a corporation; Technology Licensing Consultants Inc (TLCI), a corporation; Anita French, individually and as an officer of the corporations; and Lowell French, individually and as an officer of the corporations, Civil Action Number 91-1500; 2. A Consent Decree entered in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts in FTC vs. American Idea Management Corp. (AIMC), a corporation; Idea Management and Patent Assistance Corp. (IMPAC), a corporation; and Suzanne Kameese, individually and as an officer of the corporations, Civil Action Number 91-12353K; and 3. A Consent Decree eneter in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in FTC vs. Invention Submission Corp. (ISC), a corporation; Western Invention Submission Corp. (WISC), a corporation; Intromark Incorporated (Intromark), a corporation; Technosystems Consolidated Corp. (TCC), a corporation, and Martin Berger, individually and as an officer of the corporations, Civil Action Number 93-616. The Consent Decrees settle charges and prohibit the corporations and individuals, their successors, assignees, transferees, agents, employees, representatives and all persons acting or claiming to act on their behalf from future misrepresentations of the nature, quality and success claims of invention promotion services sold to inventors. The Consent Decrees do not constitute an admission of a violation of the law. A copy of the Consent Decrees is available at the PTO's Office of Enrollment and Discipline. Greg Aharonian Internet Patent News Service