TIA Newsletters
The Tennessee Inventors Association sends a monthly newsletter to members and visitors. The newsletters contain notes on the previous meeting and information on other items of interest.
The newsletters and the handouts linked below are pdf files. To view these files, Adobe Acrobat or other pdf file reader/viewer program must me installed on your computer.
2009 Newsletters
| Patent attorney and TIA Vice-President Tom Kulaga talked about patents, including the what-why-how-when of protecting inventions. Information on the reasons to consider patent protection were provided, along with a description of the various types of patents and patent applications, including provisional and non-provisional utility patent applications. The handout is here. | |
| February | Paul Blizzard, President of Diesel Head & Parts (DHP) spoke about his extensive experience sourcing components from China. He provided information on his experiences in finding and working with manufacturers in China. |
| March | Van R. Irion spoke on licensing for inventors at the March meeting. Van was a medical researcher and co-founder of a medical device company before he entered law school in 2001. See his handout here. |
| April | Bill Felknor is the inventor of the Topsy Turvy® Upside Down Tomato Planter. He has two patents on the Topsy Turvy (6,874,278 and 7,171,782) and another patent (5,163,357) for a popcorn popper. Bill spoke about how his invention came to be and how he promoted it into a successful product and ultimately licensed it to another company. |
| May | Igor Alexeff spoke about his current projects and his efforts to market them. We also used, for the first time, the TIA's new pojector. |
| June | Dave Icove, a fire safety expert, was our June speaker. He spoke about the science of using passive microwave engineering technologies in detecting both flaming and smoldering fires. |
| July | Tom Whisman, the Business Reference Manager at the Knox County Public Library / Lawson McGhee Library, is scheduled to present information on how to research companies and products. |
| August | Louis Foreman, the executive producer of Everyday Edisons, founder of Enventys and Edison Nation, and the author of the new book The Independent Inventors Handbook, provided a very informative talk. |
| September | Sam Weaver, an East Tennessee based serial entrepreneur, is tentatively scheduled to speak at the September meeting. |
| October | Kathy Russell from the TN Dept.of Revenue will speak about obligations for Tennessee Businesses. Her presentation will cover who needs to register, where to register, what the registration requirements are, and the responsibilities of being in business. |
| November |
The tentative shedule for this meeting is to discuss the prospects for the TIA to have another seminar. AJ Beal, as chairman of the last seminar committee, will present information on what it takes to put on a seminar. Steve Levy will discuss offering an invention evaluation review as an alternative to a seminar. Also, November is the month that the TIA holds their annual elections. |
2008 Newsletters
| January | AJ Beal is a member inventor who has a patent and is working on a new invention. AJ spoke about managing the invention development process. |
| February | Jerry Hollyfield is a Knoxville lawyer with an accounting background. He spoke on the various tax consequences of being an inventor. Jerry said the IRS has more information on R&D at the IRS website. |
| March | Bruce Hayes of the Tennessee Small Business Development Centers (TSBDC) was the featured speaker. Bruce spoke on the business aspects of profiting from an invention. |
| April | Sam Weaver is a serial entrepreneur and gave an informative talk. A copy of his slideshow is available. To find out more about Sam and his companies, visit his website. As a successful businessman who has started many companies, Sam spoke about his experiences as an innovator and a businessman. One of Sam's current projects is Sizzle, a business incubator for small companies. |
| May | Craig Weaver, a Crossville inventor and member, showcased his invention called the Lift Walker. |
| June | Susan and Tim Lee presented marketing information. Susan is a graphic artist with extensive experience in magazine art direction and layout, photography, logo design, and other aspects of visual presentation. Tim has spent the last decade editing and writing for various publications, mostly in the autyo racing and entertainment worlds.
The Seminar Committee presented a progress report. |
| July | Discussion and preparation for the August 16 Seminar. |
| August | The TIA Seminar on Opportunities for Innovation in East Tennessee was held on August 16 in Oak Ridge, TN. |
| September | Bruce Hayes of the Tennessee Small Business Development Centers (TSBDC) presented information on business plans for inventors. |
| October | Steve Levy discussed solar and renewable energy. The newsletter includes a ballot for the November elections. |
| November | Elections! See the Contact Page for the election results. Ben Nibali of APTUS DesignWorks Inc. spoke on "Product Development and Sourcing" |
| December | The December meeting included informal presentations from various members regarding the status of their inventions. |
2007 Newsletters
| January | A Patent Searching Handout is available from the presentation made by patent attorney Tom Kulaga. Tom talked about different ways to search patents and published patent applications using the Internet, including the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) database. |
| February | Charlie Smith, an inventor from Kingsport, spoke for a few minutes about his emergency tracheotomy kit he invented. Bruce Chaffins, a Knoxville inventor, spoke extensively about his invention, a three-dimensional printer, or rapid prototyping machine, that he calls Whizzit. |
| March | Fred Dyer, Vice President of Industrial Instruments in Tazewell, TN, a manufacturer of instruments for Non Destructive Testing and quality monitoring of electroplating, gave a presentation on his inventions and information on how he assists other inventors. |
| April | Several members discussed their current projects and status. |
| May | Tom Kulaga, one of the Knoxville patent attorneys who is a TIA member, gave a presentation on current events in patent law. |
| June | Tom Whisman, who is the Business Reference Manager at the Knox County Public Library / Lawson McGhee Library gave a presentation. Everyday Edisons, which is sponsored, in part, by the TIA, began showing on PBS. |
| July | Terry Brewster discussed "E. Joseph Cossman," who was a marketer who made money (millions!) from things like the Spud Gun. Gordon Campell passed around a book, The Compete Idiot's Guide to Cashing in on your Inventions by Richard C. Levy. 2002 edition. Igor Alexeff brought in a demonstration unit showing his plasma antenna invention. |
| August | Peter Brewer, a local patent lawyer and member of the TIA, provided an interesting and entertaining presentation on the Tennessee statutes protecting inventors from unscrupulous invention submission companies. |
| September | Joe Martin made a presentation on "what to do after getting a patent." Roger Olson described his latest invention, the Water Tap. |
| October | Richard Jenkins of SCORE made a presentation titled "How to be Successful in Starting your Own Business." |
| November | AJ Beal was the featured speaker after the TIA elections. AJ discussed his progress with his rotary vane motor. AJ showed an early prototype of his invention. |
| December | The December meeting was a show-and-tell for the members who wanted to give an update on the progress of their inventions. |
2006 Newsletters
| January | Patent attorney Tom Kulaga gave a presentation on Patent Protection, including a description of the differences between provisional patent applications and non-provisional patent applications for a utility patent. |
| February | Otto Wheeley discussed his career as a venture capitalist. |
| March | Jacquiline Merrit of the Small Business Administration gave a very spirited and interesting presentation on the available SBA financing resources. |
| April | Charles Gibbs demonstrated several of his inventions and discussed his current projects. |
| May | Handout: Boyd Handout: Manini |
| June | Daniel Sherman, Director of Plasma Science of Atmospheric Glow Technologies, Inc., gave a very informative talk. Dan is one of the co-founders of Atmospheric Glow. |
| July | Rainer Riffert, a long-time member of the TIA, gave an interesting talk about his career, including showing the numerous devices he has developed. Joseph Angelini, a young inventor with lots of ideas, made a brief presentation to the group. |
| August | Several members gave updates on their projects and status. Tom Kulaga discussed recent and expected Patent and Trademark Office changes. See the Handout. |
| September | Richard Jenkins is one of 40 volunteers for SCORE in Knoxville. The Service Core of Retired Executives (SCORE) is a national volunteer organization with an office in West Knoxville. |
| October | Justin Martin, a business attorney practicing in Maryville with the firm of Kizer & Black gave a presentation focused primarily on the different types of businesses. He also discussed license agreements. |
| November | Patent attorney Peter Brewer gave a presentation focused on obviousness under Section 103 of the Patent Act. |
| December | Elections were held. |
