What Happened to World Patent Marketing?
RATED A+ BY BBB
Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission put the kibosh on World Patent Marketing (WPM), an invention promotion company that rose from out of nowhere in 2014 to become one of the most hyped invention companies on the Internet. WPM is said to have defrauded inventors out of more than $10 million with promises of patents, licensing, manufacturing, and distribution agreements. None of the inventors WPM worked with made money and many ended up in debt or losing their life savings.
I first became aware of WPM when one of their clients submitted an invention to Invention City for a Brutally Honest Review. He had spent over $35,000 with WPM to protect and promote an invention idea that was obviously and totally, technically impossible. If he'd spent $185 with I-City he could have saved himself $35,000+, but I digress.
WPM figured out how to game online reviews so that it looked like they had a great reputation. On sites like Trustpilot.com and ConsumerAffairs.com, WPM once showed 5 star reviews that gushed with praise. Even today, five months after the FTC shut its doors, WPM still shows 4 stars on Trustpilot and 3 stars on ConsumerAffairs!
The scam ran deep and wide and was powered by the irrepressible optimism and hope of naive inventors. WPM may be dead but there will always be inventors ready to spend money on their dreams and companies ready to scam them. Be careful. Learn how to identify honest companies here.
WPM and the FTC links:
Update on World Patent Marketing 6/18/2020:
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