I have worked with Patent Assistance Worldwide and I can tell you they are a scam to take your money. Looking back I cant believe how foolish I was to continue working with them, but Im glad I stopped. They do tell you that there is an initial fee to get the ball rolling, to get legal/patent advice, to see if your idea is marketable etc. They tell you this is the only fee you'll have to pay, and afterwards if they think your product can be successful, they will pay for all the marketing fees, licensing, going to trade shows etc, and all they want is 10%, you keep 90%. This sounds good but wait. First off, their initial fee is way too expensive - they charge $1279. They will give you a weekly update to pretend they are busy on your project, that they are running tests in the "university" etc. The updates are very brief without substance, no specifics. I decided to upfront the initial fee because I believe in my product and was told it was the ONLY fee. 2 - 3 months later, I get a binder from Patent Assistance Worldwide going over my idea. It is very simple, a bunch of simple graphs showing me that based on several analyses, my idea has the potential to be very successful. They then want at least $10K to go further to help you get a US patent. If you take them up on the other patent protection plans you can easily spend >$30K. But wait! I was told there was NO more fees and my initial letter states "you can work through our affiliate company to help market your invention to the industry on a contingency basis!" They will then say well this money is to help pay for helping you to get your patent, marketing costs, trade shows etc. But read their initial disclosure carefully and it states " PAW does not engage in the business of invention development or marketing services. No inventors have received a net financial gain as a result of PAW services..." "PAW only provides patent assistance services and informational services related to the invention industry". As you can see, PAW promises many things, but they are really simply a scam to take your money and at the most they can do is to possibly help you get a patent. I asked if I could speak to the lawyer they work with and they replied "only after you pay for the $10K (or whatever patent protection plan you decide to buy). Also, never was told what university my idea was being sent to for review. Face it: there is NO university, the lawyer is questionable, and they will use your money to help you get your product to trade shows et. In fact, read the other disclosure before giving your $10K which reads: "If no interest is generated at a trade show, through the efforts of the ILA, PAW will NOT be required to notify the inventor" See - they never intend to take your product to a trade show and they dont even have to tell you about it. Please do not fall victim to this organization. Hope this has been helpful to at least one person out there!