I was just a freshman in college when I came up with this invention and saw the Patent & Trademark Institute of America ad on TV. I contacted them, they sent me a package which I filled out describing my idea and a drawing. For the research they claim they needed to do, taking my invention to tradeshows around the world and a US patent & trademark, they said it would cost me $12,000.00. I know I was just a kid and stupid but that's no excuse for these guys ripping people off.
Because they were so impressed and positive about my invention I decided it was worth a shot, I quite my full-time Computer Science & Engineering program and started working full-time and going to school part-time. I took my ~$2000 savings and I also took out a $10,000 personal loan which I gave to Patent & Trademark Institute of America (total of $12,000).
Years of phone calls with not a dime in return, the only thing I have is a cheap binder with some generic text where they fill in my invention name and a sealed envelope of the initial document I sent to them. They hooked me up with an attorney in CA that is suppose to file my patent application, his office told me earlier this year that PTI went under and they don't know what would happen...
The bottom line is I'm out $12,000 (plus interest I had to pay on the loan), took me 2 years longer to get my college degree because I switched to part-time to be able to work and make the monthly payments on the bank loan. These guys are skum, I can't believe that this day in America companies like these are able to get licenses and advertise on TV. What a shame.
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