The following report by Team 4 investigator Jim Parsons first aired on Channel 4 Action News at 6 p.m. on April 7, 2006.

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A nine-year-old lawsuit has been brought against Pittsburgh-based Davison and Associates by the Federal Trade Commission on behalf of thousands of would-be inventors.

Finally, consumers who say they were ripped off with false promises of success could be getting refund checks.

Unless Davison and Associates has invented a machine that makes money, the Aspinwall company will have to cough up $26 million.

Federal Judge Gary Lancaster has issued a permanent injunction against company president George Davison and his brother Gordon Davison, concluding that they have ripped off thousands of inventors, including Tom Manos, of Penn Hills.

Manos went to Davison and Associates with his idea for a bed table for stroke victims.

"And the sad part about the whole thing, Jim, I picked a local company because I could keep tabs on them. And here I turned around and I get the shaft," Manos said.

Manos gave Davison $13,000 after the company told him a manufacturer was interested in his invention. But Manos never saw any proof of that.

The Davison brothers have been silent with Team 4 over the FTC's allegations against them. But they weren't silent when a Detroit television reporter brought them a dangerous invention idea for deer hunters.

Davison and Associates told reporter Rob Wolcheck he had a great idea for an invention and wanted his money.

Wolcheck came up with the idea for the Buck Buddy -- a hunting hat with a deer head and antlers on top.

That's just one example among thousands.

In his order, Judge Lancaster wrote that Davison falsely represents that consumers stand a reasonably good chance of realizing financial gain; that Davison misrepresents its track record by making blatantly false claims of success; and the company also makes false claims of having special access to manufacturers.

As for Manos, he knows how he'll use the $13,000 refund he has coming.

"I'm going to have an investment that's going to be my grandson. He wants to go to college. He loves baseball and he'll be my investment," Manos said.

The permanent injunction against Davison also orders the company to make full disclosure about this case to future customers.

Davison has until May 17 to fork over the $26 million, but it has already filed a motion in court asking for that amount to be reduced to $8 million.

Inventors who believe they've been ripped off by Davison can call (216) 263-3434.