First of all I must apologize. You know emails and posts can be misconstrued and are hard to set the correct tone. I called your office twice but could not get through to you. Even my partner Andrew Krauss has tried but has been unable to speak with anyone at your office. To tell you the truth Gene I was not aware of your site until recently. It does appear that you have some very good content though.

My goal for the last 10 years of helping inventors along with Andrew Krauss, has been to educate them on the ways to bring their ideas to market. You see for the last 30 years I have brought over 20 ideas to market and yes they were ideas. Most had no protection at all. No patents, copyrights or trademarks. Such as the Michael Jordan Wall Ball that sold for over 10 years in Wal-Mart, KMart and many others. It never had any protection what so ever.

The first thing an inventor does, because of fear, is to build a prototype and spend thousands of dollars or calls a patent attorney and files a very expensive patent without doing any market research first. It does take hard work. It takes really good information and relying on others to bring your idea to market I have found does not work. This is why we educate and do not provide services. I know we all wish there was an easy way to do this but there isn’t. Clearly filing patents is not the answer because the majority of patents never make the money back that was used to pay for them. What I have found is that most people supplying services or advice really don’t have first hand knowledge about how the process really works. Like yourself, you understand legally how to protect an idea but I am not aware that you have ever personally brought a product to market. Correct me if I am wrong.

You are right, there are not secrets when it comes to bringing a product to market. What I have found over the last 10 years of helping inventors is that they have no clue where to start and what to do. I have developed steps, secrets if you want, that takes someone step-by-step through the process. Showing them the correct order of steps to bring an idea to market. You can see that of course on my website and through my testimonials. We are very proud of it. We also provide one year of support with online training and phone support. Also, we have a 30 day money back guarantee. So, I do understand this process very well and feel fortunate that I can educate inventors and entrepreneurs not only in the US but around the world.

As I mentioned earlier I have licensed many products with no protection at all. Yes, there were just ideas. I know this does not sit particularly well with attorneys such as yourself. You are in the market of selling services such as patents, copyrights, trademarks and more. I completely understand. Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for patent attorneys and good legal advice in my system just not right at the beginning. I have been in federal court suing one of the largest toy companies in the world, Legos. My topic at the USPTO conference next week will be the power of patents and how my patents helped me with my case.

I must have really hit a nerve with you given the tone of your email and threat of a future lawsuit. Also, being called a pretender and someone that inventors should not take seriously does seem like you are tarnishing my reputation.

As you know I am the keynote speaker at the USPTO independent inventor conference on Friday this year. I look forward to sharing my information and my story with everyone attending. I believe the old method of filing patents and building prototypes is not what works in the real world. Or for that matter contests.

I think there has been a problem with UIA. They had asked me to participate and I gladly accepted but I could not get behind an organization with a certification program that has turned out to cause so much trouble.

I am sincerely sorry that we have gotten off on the wrong foot. That was not my intention but I am sure once we meet and get to know each other that you will realize that we are both on the same side of the fence.

Sincerely,
Stephen Key
InventRight

Allow me to be 100% clear and direct. I do not like your tone, and I find your insinuations insulting. You are really not one to talk about ethics given your misleading advertising and perpetuating the myth that ideas are valuable.

You advertise your “free” seminars by saying:

“Learn the secret techniques Stephen teaches his students to make millions from their ideas!”

The secret to be told is that there are NO secrets. Hard work, dedication, a good team, listening to advice and finding a market need are all it takes! No secret, just dedication and an INVENTION, not an idea are necessary.

You say on your website:

“A Simple Idea Can Be Worth Millions!”

Your website goes on to say that the products you have licensed make millions, but your advertising suggests that your clients make millions. I also find it ironic that someone who seems to be so holy finds it appropriate to perpetuate the myth that ideas are worth millions.

If you want to make this a fight, then be my guest, but you better be ready because I am not going to roll over like many others who allow you to bully them. If you want to question my ethics, be my guest. You should also be prepared for a lawsuit if you step across the line. I will not allow my reputation to be questioned or tarnished by a pretender like you.

As far as recommend service providers, obviously you are not such an important big shot or at all familiar with the invention industry if you think I am the first attorney who has recommended a service provider. Attorneys recommend that their clients work with other reputable professionals all the time. I believe Lambert & Lambert to be ethical and offer high quality services. If you have not noticed, in addition to being a patent attorney I also own and run one of the most popular intellectual property websites on the Internet, and like any other media outlet or magazine I am allowed by law to sell advertising. I take no referral fees, which would be unethical.

You have made a career demonizing and acting like you are the only legitimate source for information. Newsflash… you are NOT. And you are one of the folks that I was worried was misusing my resignation from the UIA. My resignation was for the stated purposes. The fact that you do not care enough about the inventor community to step up and be involved and try and make a difference is your problem, not mine. Nevertheless, I will not sit back and allow you to play games or use me, my reputation or my resignation to promote your own agenda.

I personally find it offensive and unethical for anyone to market themselves in a way that suggest money can be made from ideas. If you really think that then you are a big part of the problem, and hardly someone that serious inventors should work with or take seriously.

-Gene

IMPEX is very interesting. I always try to follow the USPTO’s lead. Since they have never been to one of these events and given that IMPEX is part of InventHelp, I think that tells the story. So, if I completely understand what you just said you endorse IMPEX.

Given that I have been in the inventing community a few years and have worked with many attorney’s and patent firms, large and small you are the first one I have noticed that recommends service providers. Along with taking ad money. I would like to discuss this further with you and everyone else at the USPTO about what is appropriate. This way I have my facts straight and not making any assumptions. I am sure you would agree that what has happened in our community is something that needs to be discussed. If there are any problems they need to be addressed.

Look forward to your response.
Stephen

I do endorse Inventors Digest, and I do endorse Lambert & Lambert. I would not accept an ad from Absolutely New or Invention Home, and would never get to the point where I consider whether I endorse them because Lambert & Lambert is an advertiser and they are too close. Lambert & Lambert are the good guys, and I am sure you know that.

In terms of Absolutely New, I believe in the tried and true American way, which is everyone deserves a second chance if they admit wrong-doing and change. It is my understanding that Absolutely New has done exactly that. It is my understanding that they fired all those who were involved with previous scams and have a new business model. I don’t know anything more about the company, and I recommend folks go to Lambert & Lambert instead because I know them to be ethical.

In terms of INPEX, I don’t know whether I would run an ad for them or not, but given the Invent Help hatred of me I doubt they would ever inquire. I think what Inventors Digest did was appropriate, although it would appear as if you do not. Why would you begrudge inventors going to INPEX and getting a licensing deal? You do realize that those inventors savvy enough to have a product worth demonstrating at a trade show are not going to fall victim to Invent Help scams, right?

No need to wonder why I left the UIA, I have set forth my reasons. In terms of it taking so long, that is one way to look at what happened, although I certainly don’t think it is the right way to view things.

I do indeed plan on being at the USPTO Inventors Conference, for at least some it. Perhaps I will see you there.

-Gene