Advent Product Development Inadequate market research and patent search. Boiler plate information that is readily avalible on the internet. A TOTAL RIPOFF Pawleys Island South Carolina

I found this website and a lot of supporting evidence about the total scam that Advent is after I had already paid them $1190. In total denial I figured it was a few bad seeds that had it out for Advent, after all, I do not get scammed, right? Read on. I went into Advents Chicago office and was greeted by two men who gave me a presentation on what Advent is all about. "The only invention promotion company that can successfully market your idea to manufactures such as [insert large corporate name here]". In order to qualify for their services, however, your idea must be submitted to the main office to see if its a viable invention. After that you purchase their marketability and patent search report at a low low price of $1190 and you are on your way to being a millionaire.

It all sounded great, less the $1190 fee, but it is all part of an investment, isn't it? Big surprise, the main office thought my idea was a great one and they recommended I move forward to the next step without delay, before someone else came up with my idea. I mulled it over for a few days , but was told they needed to know within five days if I was going to peruse it.

This should have been the first red flag. While moving forward with your idea and getting it patented is important, it is not something that should be rushed. Deadlines have no place in this process whatsoever, it is just part of Advents high pressure sales tactics. I finally decided to make the "investment" in my idea and gave them my credit card number, and was charged without delay. The whole "research" process takes two and a half to three months to complete, which in my opinion, is because there are so many folks out there like me that got scammed and signed up for this report as opposed to them giving you three months worth of research.

It was after I paid this fee that I decided to do my research on Advent, big mistake. Like I said above, I did not believe what I read, and gave Advent the benefit of the doubt. My report had finally arrived, the same two individuals presented me with the reports highlights, a page and a half paragraph describing my invention with some fancy unnecessary words, then applauded themselves at how well Advent had "hit it right on the head". They moved on to the patent search portion of the report. Low and behold, nothing in the world even came close to my idea, and it was imperative that we move forward with the patenting and marketing process. The cost for the patenting, virtual prototyping and marketing was to be about $8500.

At this point I was onto the Advent game, and went through my report with a fine tooth comb. Turns out what I read prior to receiving my report was dead on. The report was full of irrelevant statistics, demographics and definitions which are readily available on the internet. All of the information was boiler plate in nature, and none of which addressed my idea specifically as promised. It was junk, pure and simple. A complete and total waste of $1190. I contacted the two individuals I had been dealing with in the Chicago office that same day and let them know how I felt about what they had given me. They said a district manager would contact me, and never did. They did tell me, that the patent search by the lawyer was worth at least $1000 and surely the rest of the information they compiled was worth $190.

I called the attorney they had give the legal opinion of patentability who deciphered the legal jargon and said it would most likely be difficult to obtain a patent on this particular idea, a far cry from what they were telling me. The attorney also told me a typical patent search they did cost $600. I have since had a patent search done by a patent search firm which cost $250 and was far more thorough than what Advent provided me with. It uncovered some existing patents which are much more relevant to my idea than the ones than Advent had provided me with (what a surprise).

I contacted the main office and told them I would like a refund and would happily return the report they had given me. They dismissed the whole idea promptly, as expected. I have since filed reports with The Better Business Bureau, Federal Trade Commission and State Attorneys office. I am in the process of filing a complaint with the US Patent Office. If you are an individual who has found themselves in the same boat, or one of those poor folks who have lost tens of thousands of dollars do not give up. File complaints with all of the offices mentioned above, if you put it on a credit card be ruthless with your credit card company to dispute the charge. Get second opinions from professionals that work in the field that will be willing to go on record and give their opinion as to what junk the service Advent provides is. Be ruthless, you may not get your money back, I sure have not. I have yet to hear a rebuttal from Advent on any of the three reports I have filed thus far.

I will continue to knock on their door and file my reports. Hopefully this will get to someone in time before they become tangled in ADVENTS SCAM. Do your research, the patenting process is not as simple as they make it sound. There are many great websites out there that can help you educate yourself on the patenting process as well as the scams that exist such as Advents. Do not give up!

Patrick
Chicago, Illinois
U.S.A.