35 U.S.C. § 297 — Improper and deceptive invention promotion

(a) In General. Before a customer signs a contract for invention promotion services, an invention promoter must disclose the following to the customer in writing: (1) how many inventions it evaluated for commercial potential in the past 5 years, and how many of those got positive versus negative evaluations; (2) how many customers it contracted with in the past 5 years — not counting customers who only bought trade show services, research, advertising, or other nonmarketing services, or who defaulted on payment; (3) how many customers it knows received a net financial profit directly because of its invention promotion services; (4) how many customers it knows received license agreements for their inventions directly because of its invention promotion services; and (5) the names and addresses of every invention promotion company the promoter, or its officers, have been affiliated with, individually or together, over the past 10 years. (b) Civil Action. (1) A customer who signs a contract with an invention promoter, and whom a court finds was injured by a material false or fraudulent statement or representation, by an omission of a material fact, or by the promoter's failure to disclose the information required under (a) — made by the promoter or any of its agents, employees, directors, officers, partners, or independent contractors — can bring a civil action against the promoter (or its officers, directors, or partners). Along with reasonable costs and attorney's fees, the customer can recover either (A) the amount of actual damages, or (B) at the customer's choice, made any time before final judgment, statutory damages of up to $5,000, as the court finds just. (2) If the customer proves, and the court finds, that the promoter intentionally misrepresented or omitted a material fact, or willfully failed to make a disclosure required under (a), in order to deceive the customer, the court may increase the damages to as much as three times the amount awarded — taking into account past complaints against the promoter that led to regulatory sanctions or other corrective action, based on the records the Commissioner of Patents compiled under (d). (c) Definitions. For this section: (1) a "contract for invention promotion services" means a contract under which an invention promoter agrees to perform invention promotion services for a customer; (2) a "customer" is any individual who signs a contract with an invention promoter for invention promotion services; (3) "invention promoter" means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other entity that offers or performs invention promotion services for a customer and advertises those services through mass media — but this does not include (A) any federal, state, or local government department or agency; (B) any nonprofit, charitable, scientific, or educational organization qualified under state law or a named tax code section; (C) anyone evaluating the commercial potential of, or offering to license or sell, a utility patent or a previously filed nonprovisional utility patent application; (D) anyone taking part in selling a business's stock or assets; or (E) anyone directly engaged in retail sales or product distribution; and (4) "invention promotion services" means procuring, or trying to procure, a firm, corporation, or other entity to develop and market products or services that include the customer's invention. (d) Records of Complaints. (1) Release of complaints. The Commissioner of Patents must make public all complaints the Patent and Trademark Office receives about invention promoters, together with any response from the promoter. Before making a complaint public, the Commissioner must notify the promoter and give it a reasonable chance to reply. (2) Request for complaints. The Commissioner may request complaints about invention promotion services from any federal or state agency, and add them to the public records kept under (1), together with any response from the promoters.