I’ve heard of many cases where people would see TV commercials of companies that allegedly helped inventors develop their ideas, which turned out to be total scams. And I’m talking hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It was a bit of a shocker to me when I first heard about this because I assumed that if it’s a TV commercial it HAS to be real, right?
I guess the the lesson is research, research, research! Go by recommendations from people you trust. Search for client feedback on anything: patent lawyers, companies that offer to help you, anything.