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 following list are pdf files of the newsletters. The newsletters and the handouts linked below are pdf files. To view these files, Adobe Acrobat or other program must me installed on your computer.

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 aspect 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 on Innovation was held on August 16 in Oak Ridge, TN.
September	Bruce Hayes of the Tennessee Small Business Development Centers (TSBDC) will be presenting information on business plans for inventors.
October	Steve Levy is the scheduled speaker and will be discussing solar and renewable energy.
November	Elections! Time to consider who will be serving the TIA for the coming year.

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.

2005 Newsletters

2004 Newsletters

2003 Newsletters

This site maintained by Tom Kulaga
The TIA wishes to thank Laurel Bowen for her efforts in creating the website and maintaining it for several years.