Company: North Carolina General Assembly

North Carolina Attorney General Opinion

§ 66‑210.  Disclosures made prior to contract.
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 may first occur, the invention developer shall make a written disclosure to the customer of the information required in this section which includes:
(1)	The median fee charged to all of the invention developer's customers who have signed contracts with the developer in the preceding six months, excluding customers who have signed in the preceding 30 days;
(2)	A single statement setting forth (i) 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 30 days, and (ii) 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;
(3)	The following statement:  "Unless the invention developer is a lawyer or person registered before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, he is NOT permitted to give you legal advice concerning patent, copyright, trademark law, or the law of unfair competition or to advise you of whether your idea or invention may be patentable or may be protected under the patent, 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, trademark, or copyright 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, or trademark rights of other persons if you proceed to make, use, distribute, or sell your idea or invention." (1989, c. 746, s. 1; c. 770, s. 62.1(1), (2); 1991, c. 235, s. 1.)

G.S. 66-210		Page