From its own internal estimates (source Yahoo group m-grapevine http://groups.yahoo.com/group/m-grapevine/ - this group is open for membership to anyone), American Mensa Lt spend more than 1.9 millions dollars on needlessly suing Inpharmatica, a drug company.
The waste is so infamous in legal circles that Intellectual Property Attorneys give it as an example of wasteful expense, here is an excerpt from Intellectual Property attorne Clement Cheng's website where he gives it as an example of wasteful practices: (http://www.clemcheng.com/html/welcome.html)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Example #1 in American Mensa, Ltd. v. Inpharmatica, Ltd. et al., No. 07-3283 (D. Md filed Dec. 6, 2007) Mensa (the high IQ society) spent over a million dollars in Ferderal Court and lost, unable to stop the sales of AdMensa IQ enhancing product. Mensa was then forced to raid $600,000 from life membership funds. If the lawsuit had only cost about $100,000 by hiring a small firm for a TTAB action (limited to likelihood of confusion), there would have been little pain and still enough money to fight a dozen battles. By hiring the expensive attorneys, Mensa lost the war before it even started. Thus, in the long run, high intelligence and education are no match for creative efficiency since creative efficiency is what keeps costs under control.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One would have thought that the misuse of the membership funds will stop after such a loss. Not really, American Mensa;s Name and Logo Chair, Ms. Robin Crawford continues to use its membership funds to have its Intellectual Property attorney harass its own members, even on issues unrelated to Intellectual Property!
Not only the AMC, the governing committee lacks diversity, it lacks respect for diversity.
And here is what a Maryland Attorney records in his blog (the above case was filed in Maryland):
http://www.marylandiplaw.com/2009/05/articles/trademarks/judgment-against-american-mensa-in-trademark-dispute/
American Mensa keeps raising its rates every year, and now charges $63 per member, collecting 3 million dollars. In return, members get vanity and a lousy bulletin 10 times a year and committee members get to run an empire.
