Here's an interesting insight into new product development:
http://www.insightdirection.com/docs/Ma ... opment.pdf.
Looking at what's involved when a company starts a new product development project,the cost,anxieties,and the possible rewards,and shortening product life-cycles, seem like a powerful incentive for companies to seriously consider the new product ideas of inventors,especially if they are well-researched and put together,one way or the other.
There is an implication that the inventor,in the light of this, has something potentially valuable to offer.They are not just a beggar,but have some commercial grounds to be taken seriously.