In the first oral communication with a customer or in the first written response to an inquiry by a customer, other than an oral communication or written response, the primary purpose of which is to arrange an appointment with the invention developer for presentation of invention development services, the invention developer shall cause the following disclosures to be made to each customer:

(1) A statement of the fee charged, if known, or a statement of the approximate range of fees charged; a statement that a portion of the fee charged will be paid as a commission or other similar payment if, in fact, it is intended to be so paid, to a person inducing, directly or indirectly, a customer to contract for the services of the invention developer; and a statement of the approximate portion of the fee charged, if any, that will be expended for services relating to patent matters;
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 47-25-1204

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Contract for invention development services: includes a contract by which an invention developer undertakes to develop or promote an invention for a customer. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1201
  • Customer: includes any person, firm, corporation, or other entity that is solicited by, inquires about or seeks the services of, or enters into a contract for invention development services with, an invention developer, except:
    (A) Any department or agency of the federal, state, or local government. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1201
  • fee: includes any payment made by the customer to such entity, including reimbursements for expenditures made or costs incurred by such entity, but does not include any payment made from a portion of the income received by a customer by virtue of invention development services performed by such entity. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1201
  • Invention: means :
    (A) An invention. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1201
  • Invention developer: means any person, firm, corporation, or association, and the agents, employees, or representatives of such person, firm, corporation, or association that develops or promotes or offers to develop or promote an invention, except:
    (A) Any department or agency of the federal, state, or local government. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1201
  • Invention development services: includes acts required or promised to be performed, or actually performed, or both, by an invention developer for a customer. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1201
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(2) A statement that the invention developer does not intend to expend more for the invention development services than the fee charged the customer, if, in fact, it does not, and if it does so intend, a statement of the estimated expenditures of the invention developer in excess of the fee received from the customer;
(3) A single statement setting forth both:

(A) The total number of customers who have contracted with the invention developer; provided, that the number need not reflect those customers who have contracted within the last thirty (30) days; and
(B) 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 such customers to the invention developer; and
(4) A statement as follows: “Any contract for invention development services between you and our firm will be regulated by law. Our firm is not qualified or permitted to advise you whether protection of your idea or invention is available under the patent, copyright, or trademark laws of the United States or any other law. The contract does not provide any patent, copyright, or trademark protection for your idea or invention. If your idea or invention is patentable, copyrightable, or subject to trademark protection, or infringes an existing valid patent, copyright, or trademark or a patent, copyright, or trademark for which application has been made, your failure to inquire into these matters may affect your rights to your idea or invention.”
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