Hi all.

We’re looking to license the cup holder as an easier way to get it out to the world. (Those people who AREN’T dedicated readers like yourselves.) One of the companies we’ve come across is a company called Davison out of Pittsburgh, PA. Davison’s bread and butter claim’s to take an inventor’s idea, and to the sum of $10k to $15k they will do an initial patent search, do design work yielding a workable product, make a prototype, and then attempt to license it out. Since the “Nearly” Universal OH cup holder is already in existence, we were directed to the licensing department and asked to pay $6,000.00 US, plus 10% on any royalties we would receive, and the company “guaranteed” they would submit it to 45 companies specifically targetted for our drink holder. Handling this matter personally, when I asked for references, I was told they have a strict privacy policy, and no references would be allowed. Fair enough, but could my email address and phone number be given to current clients who might be interested to share their experience? Negative, they don’t do that. Okay, so more or less I’m supposed to pay $6,000 with no guarantee and no actual person to talk to about their experience with Davison? When I pushed for a non-company reference I was directed to the corporate website, which contained a few. Push me to the web, I’ll go to the web, and lucky for us I found references, a lot of bad ones.

I went to Google (which I urge EVERYONE to do when dealing with a company, especially something that sounds too good to be true) and did a search for “davison licensing reviews” and found a few results. Most were calling the company a scam, and although it’s not an exact scam (some people did claim however they paid $10,000 to $15,000 and never received a prototype of their idea) it is important to note (from this Forbe’s magazine article on Davison) that the company does in fact make most of it’s money from the design process, and only a small fraction of a percent of its income comes from royalties of sucessfully licensed products. Another big problem stated by the website (here’s the website for Davison complaints) was that the company’s customer service was horrible once you handed over your money.

Key lessons to be learned here.

1.) The internet is a wonderful tool, so use it. If something sounds too good to be true, don’t assume it is, just check it out on Google. Although you’re rarely find positive reviews (keep this in mind if you find nothing on a company or service as that might be a good thing) if people are unhappy, you’ll definitely find out it’s not worth doing and why the person feels that way. Another good place to search after Google is the Better Business Bureau, of which Davison also had like 200+ complaints.

2.) The design process is expensive. Although I’m personally unsure of the follow through on their services (since I will now not be paying them), Davison’s price tag for the design budget is in the ballpark. I think for the design and patent application itself was right around $12k for our universal cup holder. I would suggest not cutting any corners though, and if you’re truly confident in an idea (and you can find more helpful info on the patent process on our blog) take the time to meet with a patent attorney and at least do an initial patent search. Should the results be positive, look for a qualified design firm (usually an engineering firm) that you can work personally with to monitor how your funds are being used.

Other than that, good luck, and it’s still possible to bring a product to market, just don’t expect it to happen overnight.