North Dakota Code 9-14-05 – Disclosures made prior to contract
1. In either the first written communication from the invention developer to a specific customer or at the first personal meeting between the invention developer and a customer, whichever occurs first, the invention developer shall make a written disclosure to the customer of the information required in this section.
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 9-14-05
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute means the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Individual: means a human being. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- written: include "typewriting" and "typewritten" and "printing" and "printed" except in the case of signatures and when the words are used by way of contrast to typewriting and printing. See North Dakota Code 1-01-37
2. The disclosure must state the median fee charged to all of the invention developers’ customers who have signed contracts with the developer in the preceding six months, excluding customers who have signed in the preceding thirty days.
3. The disclosure must include a single statement setting forth the total number of customers who have contracted with the invention developer, except that the number need not reflect those customers who have contracted within the preceding thirty days, and the number of customers who have received by virtue of the invention developer’s performance of invention development services an amount of money in excess of the amount of money paid by those customers to the invention developer pursuant to a contract for invention development services.
4. The disclosure must include a single statement setting forth the names of all individuals and entities that possess an ownership interest in the invention developer and have held or presently hold more than a ten percent ownership interest in any other invention developer. The statement must include for each individual and entity the information required to be disclosed by subsection 3.
5. The disclosure must contain the following statement:
Unless the invention developer is an attorney or patent agent registered with the United States patent office, the invention developer is not permitted to give you legal advice concerning patent, copyright, or trademark law or to advise you of whether your idea or invention may be patentable or may be protected under the patent rights, copyright, or trademark laws of the United States or any other law.
No patent, copyright, or trademark protection will be acquired for you by the invention developer. Your failure to inquire into the law governing patent, copyright, or trademark matters may jeopardize your rights in your idea or invention, both in the United States and in foreign countries. Your failure to identify and investigate existing patents, trademarks, or registered copyrights may place you in jeopardy of infringing the copyrights, patent rights, or trademark rights of other persons if you proceed to make, use, distribute, or sell your idea or invention.
6. If the invention developer provides invention development services involving the evaluation of inventions, the disclosure must include a statement setting forth the percentage of evaluated inventions that have been successfully marketed or licensed by the invention developer. If the invention developer does not provide invention development services involving the evaluation of inventions, the disclosure must inform the customer that there is considerable risk involved in proceeding with the development and promotion of the invention without an evaluation and must further recommend that the customer obtain an evaluation of the invention by an evaluation source. The disclosure must contain the following statement:
It is likely that no more than two percent and probably less than one percent of all inventions are successfully developed and promoted. You should evaluate your chances of success accordingly and not rely solely on the opinion of an invention developer.