George Davidson III and his company, Davidson Design and Development, Inc., has been in the news quit a lot recently. He's of particular interest in the Inventor community as a result of a lawsuit filed against them for misrepresenting its services to inventors.
On March, 2006, the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania ordered that Davison Associates, Inc. (now known as Davison Design and Development, Inc.), Manufacturer's Support Services, Inc., George M. Davison III, Gordon M. Davison, Barbara Miele-Davison to pay $26 million for misrepresenting its services to inventors. Davison Design has appealed the court's decision.
Forbes magazine has recently come out with an eye opening article called "Inside InventionLand". Inventionland is an innovative workspace designed inside the Davison Design warehouse in Pittsburgh to foster creativity among its staff. Davison claims that the company gets 55,000 calls a month. Any inventors calling should be aware of Davison's success rates with licensing its inventors' products. The article states "[a]s of late October, only 0.001% of Davison's revenue was derived from royalties paid on licensed products. Assuming the company doesn't have trouble with decimal points, the royalty business provides Davison $250 a year in sales. (It's probably closer to $25,000)." With such a small percentage of income coming from royalties, you don't need to be rocket scientist to figure out that Davison's company is not that successful at licensing its inventors products. Inventor Beware!!!
Check out the rest of the article Inside InventionLand.
Alexis
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http://www.AmericanInventorSpot.com
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I applaud you!
Submitted on December 12th, 2006 by bottleslingguyThanks for staying transparent on these invention scam issues.It makes this place unique. These firms exploit the fact most "inventors" don't have a clue and are vulnerable targets. A patent attorney is something altogether different, these companies (like Davidson and ISC) are parasites and scam artists.
It's like our very own inventor guru Doug Hall and his "eighteen household products you use everyday" pitch to promote his ranch which, unfortunately he can't talk about. Then it turns out one of the products is a glazed ham. His head looks like a glazed ham.
Thanks for spelling it out in decimal form. Keep up the good work and this sort of honesty will ensure the success of this site.
Bottle Sling - Invention Gallery .
Thanks for your support
Submitted on December 13th, 2006 by MichelleThanks for your support Bottle Sling. We appreciate the kind words.
If you could build anything on a website to help inventors, what would you build?
If you could truly have a one-stop resource, what would be helpful?
What be helpful for inventor?
Submitted on December 13th, 2006 by Anonymous (not verified)A list of companies that do and do not accept outside inventions. An example of the latter being Milton Bradley (Hasbro). Note: tokk the word ace only for the T.V. PR.
Also, what market and types of inventions they are more consdering of? Example: toy manufacturers are looking for electronic type games. Not partial like the word Ace.
Magic wish.
Submitted on December 13th, 2006 by bottleslingguyA crystal ball that would connect me to licensees searching for what I have to offer. It would be a portal to another site teeming with visionary and enthusiastic members of my target market.
Maybe someday I'll meet the equivalent of Snow White's Prince Charming with a license agreement, but in the meantime, please check out my invention at Bottle Sling - Invention Gallery .
What would be helpful to inventors
Submitted on December 13th, 2006 by AlexisHi What would be helpful -
There is an ongoing discussion in our forums about companies you can submit your invention to. Click here to get to the Forum Discussion.
Alexis
AmericanInventorSpot.com Team
In for the money
Submitted on January 10th, 2007 by RichardDavison is in for the money. They are expensive because they have the convenience of everything in one package. they prototype,market foot work, and sell. also do the patent work if get a co. aggreement. As far as marketing your invention? About the same as all inventions. A lottery ticket may be better for riches.
well
Submitted on June 4th, 2008 by Anonymousit's a business. I guess that's a good thing and a bad thing. he's still got some good ideas, whether you agree with his business or not. check out this interview with davison, pretty interesting.
worked there
Submitted on August 14th, 2008 by Anonymousif anyone cares enough to know what the inside scoop on this company is you can email inspiredcreator@yahoo.com
Davison is a SCAM!
Submitted on October 2nd, 2008 by AnonymousI should have known it was too good to be true! I submitted and idea to Davison corp a week ago. I have found No positive feedback at ALL regarding this company and found out it was a 100% scam. I told them to never contact me again and to take me off their list.
Its been 24 hrs and I am getting other telemarketing scam companies calling my cell phone since 6am this morning! Davison sold my information to other telemarketing companies since I refused to use their service!
I know they have done this because one simple fact... I have just changed my cell phone number 4 days ago and Davison is the ONLY company I have given it to since.
Beware to anyone who tries their service... They will sting you!
just spoke to Davison rep
Submitted on November 28th, 2008 by AnonymousI just got off the phone with a Davison rep, and proceeded to fill out the questionaire online.
Gave a brief description of my idea, and of course, my cell#!! blah
Now after reading this, I'm wondering if they are in the business of taking peoples ideas for their own profit?
I don't think I'll be going with them after reading about all the problems people have been having with them.
Any responses would be appreciated.
davison scam
Submitted on December 8th, 2008 by AnonymousI cant believe innocent people like you and myself are being ripped off by davison, it is disgusting what they are getting away with. I parted with £400 of money i really didnt have and i have lost it, all they did was post glossy magazines to me and print outs fromt the internet of a 'targetted' company for my idea. And he patent search can be done by anyone for free. They then said they need many thousands more dollars to proceed with a prototype for my idea. DONT DEAL with them. I dont know how they sleep at night.
Davison won't stop spamming me!
Submitted on January 10th, 2009 by AnonymousI submitted my invention to them over a year ago. Someone from the firm called me. The whole conversation was him telling me I'd made mistakes - filing a patent was the first mistake. He insisted I couldn't possibly know enough about the technology to file a patent. He seemed to think he could insult me into using their firm.
For the last few months, they've been sending me emails almost daily. I've asked them to stop. They keep sending them. Badgering and insulting is not a way to get clients, but they'll keep at it. Steer clear!
How is Davison still in business?
Submitted on February 11th, 2009 by AnonymousI don't understand why this company is still around doing the same exact thing that they got busted for in 2005, 2006. They changed their name, but their business tactics are still the same. I am sure more people have been taken by their empty promises. How are they still getting away with this, and is there anything that can be done against them besides filing a complaint with the FTC? If there are enough people with complaints, can another class action suit be filed?
Almost scammed this past few months-- Davison54--
Submitted on February 24th, 2009 by AnonymousI decided to go with them a few months ago for my invention. Being from NJ from the beginning I was weary of this fast/ smooth talker. But I decided to go with them but made sure to charge the initial $600 to my Amex which if it didn't turn out good, I could dispute the charge within three months, which I just did a couple weeks ago. Still waiting on the result which I already know will be in my favor. I found it strange that I never got a receipt or anything, just had to give me credit card info over the phone. I also was lied to multiple times by the guy I was dealing with. I didn't call him out on it yet but he definitely slipped up on his game. I can't believe after all the bad experiences people had with this company I read online, that this scheme of a "business" could still be running. I wish someone could sue them again for what they're doing. They're getting rich and not really providing any thing of a service for it. Reminds me of a casino, except they pay out more often than Davison. "It's like selling dreams for cash"
plastic caps
Submitted on March 4th, 2009 by Anonymousi cant understand what has happened to you i submitted an idea to davison and i received a lot of feedback and they thought my idea was fantastic and it is going really well and it has gone on to the second stage so icant understand where these other people are coming from.