Beware of Scams on Inventors

* Many industries have their “scam artists” [“Patently Dishonest?” Small Business, Nov. 18], but what is particularly distressing about the situation in the inventing community is the fact that these unscrupulous activities not only defraud creative people of their money, but often their dreams--sidetracking or forcing into abandonment ideas that can help our economy and build wealth.

For two decades our nonprofit foundation has attempted to educate the public, via the media, about these scams, but these companies come and go, change their names and locations, and seem to proliferate. We even boldly published a “Dirty Dozen” list in the 1980s that was picked up by inventor clubs and consumer agencies across the USA.

It became so prevalent, with millions of dollars being taken, that the Federal Trade Commission stopped in and took action against the two largest invention promotion companies, Invention Submission Corp. and American Invention Co., resulting in a return of some money to consumers through a consent decree via a Consumer Redress Fund. Yet these companies continue to operate, along with many dozens of others, as pointed out in your article.

ALAN ARTHUR TRATNER

President

Inventors Workshop International

Santa Barbara