Harshaw Research Group has two web sites, located at
http://www.harshawresearch.com and http://www.buildingprototypes.com.
Mr. Dale Ream is apparently the company's president. A document
entitled "Developing a Prototype" by Mr. Ream is available for
download from The Mid-America Inventors Association's web site
(http://www.midamerica-inventors.com/PrototypeSeminar.doc). According
to Google's cache of
http://www.midamerica-inventors.com/meetings.html, accessible via
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:B_6Q5o3GpKAJ:www.midamerica-inventors.com/meetings.html+%22Harshaw+Research+Group%22&hl=en&client=REAL-tb,
Mr. Ream spoke at the May 19, 2004 meeting of the Mid-America
Inventors Association.
Mr. Tyler Harrell is also apparently affiliated with the company.
"Business Opportunities" American Pet Products Manufacturers
Association (April 7, 2004)
http://www.appma.org/referral/business_opportunities.asp
Based on a review of the firm's web sites, the basic pitch is similar
to that of other invention promotion firms. However, its emphasis on
prototyping and its venture-capital fund are unusual.
Invention promotion firms are frequently scams. I have visited the
"Inventor Resources" page at the United States Patent and Trademark
Office (http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/data.htm#LicensePromotion)
to see if Harshaw Research is listed in the "Published Complaints"
section. It is not.
I also used http://search.ftc.gov/ "Federal Trade Commission For the
Consumer" to look for information about Harshaw Research, Dale Ream,
and Tyler Harrell without finding anything.
Unfortunately, invention promotion firms come and go and try to
maintain a low profile with respect to government agencies, so there
is no guarantee that the firm is legitimate simply because the
searches did not produce any information.
Even if the firm is legitimate, inventors may be able to find similar
services through patent attorneys, patent agents, and machine shops at
reduced prices. As in the listing of an invention being available for
license at the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association web
site, at least some of the marketing services could easily be
performed by inventors, probably at substantially less cost. The
"market research" provided by such firms is frequently rather generic
and may do little to uncover the true market potential of an
invention.
To avoid being scammed, I encourage you to read the "Inventor
Resources" page at the United States Patent and Trademark Office
referenced above in its entirety and to visit the links on that page
that connect to the Federal Trade Commission. There is a great deal
of valuable information to be obtained about invention promotion firms
in general and problems inventors have experienced.
Harshaw Research is also required by law to provide you with written
information about its operations and success rates. If they will not
give you this information, they are almost certainly fraudulent.
Using this information, particularly material about invention
promotion companies its officers have been associated with, you can
perform the searches I performed on Harshaw Research to see if the
officers have been involved with companies with complaints against
them.
"If you decide to use the services of an invention promoter/promotion
firm, keep in mind that the firm must disclose specific information to
you regarding their past business practices. This mandatory disclosure
is required by law [PDF] and is intended to help you make an informed
decision whether or not the firm will meet your needs.
Specifically, before an invention promotion contract can be
established between you and the firm, each invention promotion firm
must disclose to you in writing each of the following items of
information:
(1) The total number of inventions evaluated by the invention promoter
for commercial potential in the past 5 years, as well as the number of
those inventions that received positive evaluations, and the number of
those inventions that received negative evaluations
In other words, how much experience does the promoter have? What is
their track record? Do they generally give mostly positive or negative
evaluations, or is there a balance between their positive and negative
evaluation history?
(2) The total number of customers who have contracted with the
invention promoter in the past 5 years, not including customers who
have purchased trade show services, research, advertising, or other
nonmarketing services from the invention promoter, or who have
defaulted in their payment to the invention promoter
This information will give you an idea of just how experienced the
promoter or firm is and the volume of services they provide.
(3) The total number of customers known by the invention promoter to
have received a net financial profit as a direct result of the
invention promotion services provided by such invention promoter
What financial impact, if any, has the promoter or firm actually made
to its customers?
(4) The total number of customers known by the invention promoter to
have received license agreements for their inventions as a direct
result of the invention promotion services provided by such invention
promoter
Like item (3) above, this information will also enable you to gauge
the effectiveness of the firm in evaluating its direct impact on its
customers. Note the key words in the last two requirements--"?as a
direct result of the invention promotion services provided by such
invention promoter". Be aware that just because a license agreement
was eventually secured for a given invention does not necessarily mean
that it was a "direct result" of the promotion activities of the firm.
(5) The names and addresses of all previous invention promotion
companies with which the invention promoter or its officers have
collectively or individually been affiliated in the previous 10 years
This information will help you to know the history of the promoter or
firm, even if the promoter changes firms or the firm changes its
name."
"Required information disclosure from invention promoters/promotion
firms" United States Patent and Trademark Office
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/data.htm#LicensePromotion
Sincerely,
Wonko |
