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Episode 876: Patent Deception

World Patent Marketing on Facebook

World Patent Marketing's pitch to inventors was simple: Pay us lots of money, and we'll take care of the complicated patent office details. Hundreds of tinkerers and would-be visionaries took this deal.

After all, the patent system is complicated. Marketing is tricky. It can be hard to find factories. But, for new inventors, it's hard to tell a legitimate service from a scam. It was especially hard to tell with World Patent Marketing, which boasted an advisory board that included Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.

If you want more, check out this piece in the Miami New Times, by Brittany Shammas, who joins us on this week's show.

Music: "Don't Cry To Me," "Haunted Highway," and "Truck Stop Party."

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Nick Fountain is a reporter and co-host of Planet Money.
Brittany Shammas