Here are three methods I endorse that, while not guaranteed, put the odds more in your favor that you will find competent and honest help:

Inventor groups. Call an inventor organization, preferably a local one, whose members may be able to recommend an agent. I think you will get a more complete picture of the situation and gain more confidence in the agent if you sit down with a satisfied customer.

Industry referrals. Ask the company to whom you would like to license your invention to recommend an agent. While not all companies are comfortable recommending invention brokers, many will. Some companies will even send you a list of names. You must, of course, talk to the agents and strike your own level of confidence and a fair deal; nonetheless, you know up front that the door is open to them. Furthermore, anyone recommended by one company likely has excellent relationships with other manufacturers, too.

Invention consultants. Do not confuse invention marketing firms with legitimate consultants. I strongly believe in paying consultants whenever their expertise can contribute to the progress and success of a project.

What is consulting? England’s Institute of Management Consultants defines consulting as “the service provided by an independent and qualified person or persons in identifying and investigating problems concerned with policy, organization, procedures, and methods; recommending appropriate action and helping to implement these recommendations.” There are as many types of consultants as there are problems to solve. These experts can bring new techniques and approaches to bear on an inventor’s work. This contribution can range from helping to bridge a technological gap to the special knowledge and talent required to successfully license or market a particular innovation.

“I actually made my consultant a partner,” says Richard Tweddell III, inventor of VegiForms, a device that press-molds vegetables, while still on the vine, into the likenesses of human faces. A former employee at Kenner Products, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Tweddell credits his consultant with moving his company from ground zero. “He showed me how to license the product, he reviews all our licensing agreements, and he found companies that were interested in taking the rights ….”

Advisers can provide impartial points of view by seeing challenges in a fresh light. They operate outside existing frameworks and free from existing beliefs, politics, problems, and procedures inherent in many organizations or situations.

Most consultants operate on the basis of an hourly rate plus expenses. You, however, as an inventor and by the nature of your work, may be able to make equity deals whereby in return for advice a consultant is given participation in any profits your invention might generate. Think long and hard before doing something like this, because it is often less expensive to risk the cash and hold all the points possible in-house.

Don’t think that consultants have all the answers. They don’t. Consulting is very hard work, and not everything can be solved as quickly as one would like. Don’t look for miracle solutions.

Shop around. Get references on any consultant or research organization you’re considering. Don’t be impressed by a consultant’s or organization’s professional association alone (such as a university affiliation). Their success rate in fields related to yours is what matters. How much can they do with a single phone call? Results are what you want, not just paper reports.