I remember some years ago, when I was young and naive about the world of inventing. I sent my idea to a company, and asked them what they thought, told them I was putting all my trust in them, Yep they took they idea and ran with it ,now every one of you own the swiffer,
I did have a spiral not book back then, but after not hearing from them I tossed it, now they make millions…. me I keep trying

Good luck to everyone. Money is ALWAYS the object.

Hi Ralf Very sorry to hear your story . You say “they have had me sign over patent rights”. Ralf what was that all about. Was it cash flow it usually is but i would of kept my name in the document or had a contract etc. I have also been stitched twice and still people want to rip me off now if they got half a chance. The only tool i have on my side is experience of what i have been through so if i am to do a deal or licence agreement i have it checked by someone working for me not just sign any bit of paper pushed in front of me. They don’t like it but they are frightened that you have a little more control than them. This should be so simple but greed makes it complicated. I want companies to make lots of money from my ideas and i do not care if they make more than me as long as i get a fair share as long as the product has a life. Or patent term.
Let 2012 be a great year for you Ralf
Dave

Stuff like this piss me off, it reminds me when I gave $10,000 to have my novel Peter Carrot-top edited and fixed up worthy for publishing, yeah! well the guy took off, the account was gone,there was no such guy, and my novel was a mess, I manage to somehow get it halfway better, and I published it it made me a few thousand, but I never recover I put all I had in this guy who vanishes, I reported it to editors and predators or something like that,but this guy was long gone, fake web pages,fake name, maybe not even from this planet :) I was heart broken so I know or can only imagine how others feel, My heart goes out and I hope they get a huge settlement. and the dirt bags ends up in the gutter.

Ralph, I too have been taken for alot of what I once had; The phrase “money is no object” and others similar, spoken to creative minds that are too trusting is so cruel. Unfortunately, you can no longer take anyone for their word alone; a lesson taught that is so very expensive.

Wow..I read about this story in the Inventor’s Digest issue w/Rawlings! Hope these bad characters don’t win that appeal/or drag this out somehow…and justice is served for poor Mr. Fishman!

Ralph..welcome to EN! I’ll bet you come up with even more ideas/inventions than twice a month with all the great LPS here! Makes us think in areas that we normally might not delve! Best of luck to you!

This will be interesting to watch. Mr. Fishman represents the American dream. I hope the crooks and their “representative” go down hard!

Ralph, I hope you find success with EN. These are the lessons everyone needs to hear. Much better to learn the easy way!!!

Wow. Does that story ever sound familiar. Not to steal his thunder, but allow me add my own story. (worth maybe 2 cents)

…One day the world famous rock band people I work with hear I am an ‘Idea Guy’. After some friendly conversations they say we should move forward with these ideas I have and- “Money is no object”. Sounds like a dream, right? Turned into a real nightmare. After about a year of them soaking me for more ‘ideas’ and throwing a small amount of cash to fund one, they up and pull the rug from under my feet…this is after they have had me sign over patent rights and devalue my common stock in the company I started. They fiddle around with the patents and end up selling my first one for 30 million dollars…but they could have got so much more. Long story short: I now have zero income, lost my home, car, possessions, (a few years off my life) and had to start all over. 10 years of pure hell, or I as I call it the "Chateau d’if "!

Luckily, I didn’t give them all of my ideas or thoughts and I basically invent 1-2 new things every month. I will be submitting quite a few here and some other places. I do not carry all my eggs in one basket any longer. My revenge will be spectacular, sweet and long overdue. I am the quintessential “Count of Monte Cristo”. It will all be in my upcoming book, and hopefully a good resource for inventors and entrepreneurs. : )

This is the right place for that story Rainer. I see it as a lesson in vigilance against misplaced trust. I’ll bet a lot of us (I for one) have been taken by someone like that dirtball Vance.

Wow what a story that is !!! I would be willing to wager that in the LONG RUN… he will be the winner…after all he is a man of honor and no amount of money buys that !!!!

I sure hope he is able to recover the 26 million judgement!