Invention Promoters/Promotion Firms Complaints

Under the Inventors’ Rights Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-113, sec. 4101 et seq.), as found in 35 U.S.C. § 297 and implemented by 37 CFR Part 4, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is required to provide a forum for the publication of complaints concerning invention promoters and responses from the invention promoters to those complaints. An individual may submit a complaint concerning an invention promoter to the USPTO, which will forward the complaint to the invention promoter for response. The complaints and responses will be published and made available to the public on the USPTO website. The USPTO does not investigate these complaints or participate in any legal proceedings against invention promoters or promotion firms. Congress enacted the Inventors’ Rights Act to protect independent inventors from being defrauded by invention promoters and promotion firms. Invention promoters assist inventors, particularly independent inventors, with developing, financing, manufacturing, and marketing their inventions. However, some independent inventors were paying large sums of money to these firms but not receiving comparable services from them. The Inventors’ Rights Act requires invention promoters to disclose certain information about their invention promotion services before entering into a contract with a customer. A complaint submitted to the USPTO must be clearly marked, or otherwise identified, as a complaint. The complaint must include: (1) the name and address of the complaint; (2) the name and address of the invention promoter; (3) the name of the customer; (4) the invention promotion services offered or performed by the invention promoter; (5) the name of the mass media in which the invention promoter advertised providing such services; (6) an example of the relationship between the customer and the invention promoter; and (7) a signature of the complainant. Identifying information is necessary so that the USPTO can both forward the complaint to the invention promoter or promotion firm as well as notify the complainant that the complaint has been forwarded. Complainants should understand that the complaints will be forwarded to the invention promoter for response and the complaint and response will be made available to the public as required by the Inventors’ Rights act. If the USPTO does not receive a response from the invention promoter, the complaint will still be published without the response. The USPTO does not accept complaints under this program if the complainant requests confidentiality. This form is available for download from the USPTO website. Use of this form is not mandatory as long as the complaint includes the necessary information and clearly marks their submission as a complaint filed under the Inventors’ Rights Act. There is no associated form for submitting response to the complaints.

The latest form for Invention Promoters/Promotion Firms Complaints expires 2022-06-30 and can be found here.

Complaint Regarding Invention Promoter

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Economic Development - Intellectual Property Protection

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