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“Inventors Helping Inventors”The Tampa Bay Inventors Council is here to help you succeed, forge ahead, maintain your

purpose and achieve what you intend to. Everyone in this group is behind you.

Visit our website: www.tbic.usGET NEWS UPDATES: www.tbicnews.blogspot.com

January-February 2015

Page 8

Wayne’s Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Tradeshow? Why? . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Give a Good Business Talk . . . . . 6Sites Built for Inventors . . . . . 12

JOIN US THE 2nd & 4th

WEDNESDAY EACH MONTH!

2nd Wed. Location:Idatix Building

1499 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd.Clearwater, FL 33756

4th Wed. Location: John F. Germany Public Library

900 N. Ashley Dr. Tampa, FL 33602.

What is a ‘disrupter?’ And will it interrupt my ‘binge

watching?’

eEvery once in a while you may find inspiration

by seeing what others are doing and one of the best places to see the latest creations is at the CES

trade show. It isn’t open to the general public however lots of people with little more than a blog page can find their way in to see what’s going on. This is where many of the disruptions will become public and where many more will absorb too much debt and die on the vine. A 10 x 10 booth space at CES starts around $4000 but will require thousands more to fill it. Add the cost of staffing, food, hotels and travel and you will be lucky to get away for less than$10,000. This is one of the reasons why the best course is to walk the show and meet folks who attend. This gives you the best chance

to meet vendors in your field of interest and also talk to others attending the show, about your ideas. Of course if you can afford a booth and are ready to show your idea to the public and the press, having a booth is a great idea. That is why the Tampa Bay Inventors Council takes part in events that

allow us to feature our inventions in a public forum. For several

years we have held inventors fairs or joined other organizations in hosting inventor’s fairs. This year we will once again have an opportunity to hold an inventor’s fair

and get feedback from the public. You will have

a few months to get ready so get busy building your idea

into something you can share . Stay in touch and details will be provided to our members. 2015 could be a breakout year for you so get ready!

Wayne Rasanen, President, Tampa Bay Inventors Council.

Tampa Bay Inventors Council • Jan.-Feb. 2015

A Message From Our President

Wayne Rasanen

Need to Reach TBIC?Office: 727-565-2085 or call: 727-251-4056

George Mouzakis [email protected] Address: 7752 Royal Hart Dr. New Port Richey, FL 34653

Website Info www.TBIC.usVisit our website for information about current and past happenings. You can also download current

and past newsletters in Adobe PDF format. You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. If you don’t already have it, go to:

www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.htmlto download this free document viewer.

Information and articles printed in this newsletter are not necessarily endorsed by the TBIC and may not be applicable to everyone

General Meeting SummaryNov. 12, 2014

Guest speaker Tanya Lewis is a local suc-cessful inventor and president of The Green Glider Co., LLC. The Green Glider is a simple household invention with a huge market. It’s a mop head that fits onto any existing ten-inch Swiffer® style of floor mop. Swiffer and its com-petitors’ imitations make only disposable heads. But Tanya’s Green Glider is reusable. This saves the mop owner money.

Her story began about five years ago. She was tired of buying new mop heads whenever the old ones got dirty, and wondered if there might be an alternative. Internet research showed her that thousands and thousands of Swiffer owners feel the same way. It also revealed that there is no permanent, reusable mop head on the mar-ket for this style of mop. And a Google image search showed hundreds of homemade replace-ment heads. Between the lines it occurred to Tanya that: 1.) lots of people want a permanent Swiffer

mop head, 2.) no business is mass producing such a

product, 3.) folks are even trying to solve the problem

themselves. This all adds up to a huge market opportu-

nity that only Tanya noticed. This is the way that SUCCESSFUL inventors think.

She sewed a few prototypes and settled on a design consisting of one layer of micro-fiber and four layers of thin leather shammy. The micro-fiber picks up the dirt while the shammy holds the water. Two velcro straps hold the head onto the floor mop. When dirty, her mop head gets removed from the mop, dropped into the washer and hung on the line. It works great and is simple to make.

Tanya contacted an infomercial company named Emson. They made a production-run for her, taped an infomercial and aired it. But it was broadcast during the wee hours. This product’s target market is busy housewives and house-keepers, pet owners and mothers of small chil-dren; none of whom are watching TV at 3:00 AM. Few sales happened, so Emson politely tore up the contract and gave everything back to Tayna.

Then she stumbled upon CEO Space, which is a large international entrepreneurial network-

ing club (www.CEOspace.com). Taking along several prototypes, she attended the week-long CEO Space training in California. She learned much and met the right people to move her project to the next level. In only six months she restructured her LLC, acquired $300,000 in funding and got a large inventory manufactured and warehoused.

Another infomercial company shot and broad-cast another infomercial, but at the same lousy hour once again. Another flop. Most infomer-cials are broadcast in the middle of the night; it’s very hard to get the best broadcast time-slot. Only the biggest (and most expensive) infomer-cial companies have enough clout to negotiate good time-slots.

Then something magical happened. She un-expectedly got a phone call from a buyer with QVC, one of the biggest and most established infomercial businesses in the entire industry. The buyer’s mother had bought a Green Glider from Tanya’s website, loved it and told her son all about it. Next thing you know, QVC did a Green Glider informercial and managed to get it broadcast at the best times nationwide. Sales were astronomical!

Now the pieces are falling into place. Tanya just landed a contract with Walmart. That wasn’t easy because Walmart’s management was quite happy selling the disposable Swiffer mop heads over-and-over to customers. A permanent reus-able head would not be in Walmart’s best in-terest. But through persistence and consistence Tanya overcame Walmart’s objections.

When the Walmart project is finished, Tanya plans to write a book. She’ll title it “There Is No Plan B” and it will explain her story and encour-age all inventor/entrepreneurs to keep moving forward. Keep an eye out for it by visiting her website often at www.GoGreenGlider.com.

General Meeting SummaryDec. 10, 2014

Our first guest speaker only spoke for a mo-ment. Carl Edwards is part of the TAFFIE net-work. The Technical Arts Facility For Innovation and Entrepreneurship is located within this very building; the Idatix building in Clearwater. Physically, TAFFIE is a fabrication lab containing machinery and other resources that inventors, tinkerers and innovators can use to build proto-

Past Meeting Summary


Continued on Page 4


types. But TAFFIE is also a network of advisors, investors and other professionals who can help us commercialize our invention ideas. In a fu-ture club meeting Carl with give us a complete description of the organization and a tour of the fab lab upstairs. His brief appearance tonight was just to make us aware of TAFFIE’s exis-tence. www.taffie.net

Second guest speaker Ken Nadler is a local SCORE counselor (Service Corps Of Retired Executives). He spoke to us back in May about overseas manufacturing, and tonight’s discus-sion was an extension. Ken had a very success-ful career in international trade banking which included lots of experience in the financing of import/export business ventures.

Before signing a contract with any business overseas, these major questions must be an-swered:n Who am I doing business with? What is this per-

son’s position within the overseas company? How much influence does he/she have within that com-pany?

n What type of business is this overseas company? Is this actually the right fit for my company’s needs? Is this overseas company actually any good?

n How do they expect me to pay? How are they going to pay me? What methods of international money transfer should we be using? Which methods are to my advantage and which are to the overseas com-pany’s advantage? What do I do if a payment falls through?Ken says with international payments, forget

about checks. Checks drawn from foreign banks are a very risky way to conduct overseas busi-ness transactions, for you and for the overseas company. Also forget credit cards too. Even though the major cards are international nowa-days, there’s simply too much added complica-tion and chance of error when more than one currency is involved.

There are several recommended methods for international payments. Which one you should use depends on many factors; so seek the coun-cil from someone in the international banking arena, such as Ken. Just call SCORE and ask for free advice. In a nutshell:n Foreign checks; bad.n Foreign credit cards; bad.n Foreign bank checks; bad.n Wire transfers; good.

Other methods exist and may be better for you, depending on several factors. Be sure that the contract between your business and the overseas one contains a Collection Document. It spells out the specific payment method(s) the two businesses will use. Make sure these agreed-upon methods are reflected in the Letter of Credit your bank will write for your overseas venture.

Paying a U.S. bank to draft a Letter of Credit is expensive due to all the labor involved. It’s a complicated specialty and not all bankers know how to do the research that goes into drafting one. Mostly it’s big banks that write Letters of Credit, and big banks don’t like small business-es and/or start-ups. Nevertheless, for overseas transactions you might need a Letter of Credit, especially if you are financing your venture with investor money.

Compare all this to simply doing business with an American company. Business checks and company credit cards are no problem. No complicated payment arrangements are needed. No expert advice is required. Do you see why Ken reminds us that overseas manufacturing may be less expensive, but cheaper isn’t always better? The decision to hire overseas companies depends partially on the type of manufacturing your product needs. For some processes, the work simply cannot be done in the U.S. because it would be too expensive.

Sewing is a good example. For other pro-cesses, U.S. manufacturing is best BUT only up to a certain number of units. Small to medium production-runs can use American companies cheaper than overseas, but big production-runs are cheaper overseas. Plastic injection-molding is a good example.

Ken Nadler and the entire Service Corps Of Retired Executives are terrific for start-ups and for long-established small business too. Education and advice about biz plans, biz re-cords, marketing & e-marketing, team build-ing, finance, business law and a hundred other subjects related to running a successful small business. Part of the Small Business Administra-tion, SCORE offers clients some of the greatest mentors and advisors in this country...and it’s all FREE. Don’t worry about having no business knowledge at all; SCORE only asks that you be committed to listen and learn. Go to www.score.org.

Past Meeting Summary (Continued from Page 3)


by Paul Niemann of MarketLaunchers.com

A trade show is one of the three things that every industry has – the other two are a trade association and a trade magazine.

At the Housewares Show in Chicago, we represented 6 inventors to manufacturers and DRTV companies. In

the process, we were able to research the market for

these 6 inventors by talking with compa-nies, getting their feedback and mak-ing new contacts as potential licensees. We was also able to

see what similar prod-ucts are out there.

Here are the statistics: The first inventor (in no particular order) received 6

leads; the second inventor received 10 leads; the third inventor received

10 leads; the fourth in-ventor received 7 leads; the fifth in-

ventor received 17 leads; and the sixth inventor received 8 leads.

In addition, each of the 6 inventor clients also received the following:

n Comments by the companies that we metn My thoughts and suggestions on what I

think their next steps should ben Pricing info to manufacture their products

overseas.If you can’t go to your industry’s trade show

yourself, then get someone to represent you there. I will be doing this for additional inventor clients at the Hardware Show at the beginning of May.

FYI: The cost to fly to a trade show obviously varies, but if we use $600 as a round number, then add in the $200 for the cost of a hotel and another $100 for cabs and other miscellaneous expenses, your cost would have been around $900, plus the 3 days that you would have been away from your work or home.

We were able to do it for just $500 each. More details will follow soon about the Hard-w a r e Show.

Paul Niemann runs MarketLaunchers.com, where he lists his customers’ inventions on his website’s invention database so they can be seen by companies that search for new products to acquire. Visit www.MarketLaunchers.com or call Paul Niemann at (800) 337-5758 or [email protected] for more information. Reprinted with permission.

What You can Gain from Working a trade Show


Continued on Page 7

By J. Robert ParkinsonSarasota Herald-TribunePrinted Sat. Oct. 5, 2013

Yesterday my wife Eileen and I were presenters at a Community Foundation of Sarasota County program. We discussed much of the following material, which has broad implications for many businesses.

When doing any public presentation, remember that audiences are impatient. They’re polite, but they want something from you. And they want it now!

Speakers often “ease into” a presen-tation by providing extensive back-ground information. They want to “warm up” their listeners. Bt that’s not what the audience wants, expects or deserves.

After a brief hello and welcome, get to the point of the presentation before the audience starts to review the agenda or look at the rest of the program to determine what else they could be doing.

Capture an audience with a strong sentence that makes your point. Even if your point is bad news, make it quickly.

Here’s an example: If the corporate offices are moving to Fargo, N.D., tell them up front. They might not like the news, but now you have a ba-sis for a focused discussion. If you begin by say-ing something about relocating the headquarters and continue with justification for a move with-out stating the location, the audience becomes anxious, wondering when the “shoe will fall.”

Audiences want data, structure and clarity. Give it to them.

Speakers instead sometimes seem to take on the role of the mystery writer. They set up twists and turns, plant clues and contrive surprise end-ings. That’s good for the mystery writer. It sells books which sometimes exceed 500 pages, and readers devour them by choice, devoting hours to discovering “Who done it?” But that’s not the case with business presentations.

When offered an opportunity to talk about what you do or what your organization does, make your point with a few appropriate words, like this: “We build cars,” or “We build safe

cars,” or “We build safe, fuel efficient cars,” or “We build safe, fuel efficient, eco-friendly cars.”

Decide just how much information you want to include in that initial sentence, but car manu-facturing is the primary point in each of the ex-amples.

The focus is clear. If you use words such as “exciting” or “trend-setting,” don’t expect the audience to figure out what you want them to know. That’s not their job.

Here’s a disciplined way to make that all-im-portant point quickly and clearly.

In one short sentence, state what you do. Fol-low that with why you do it. And conclude with how you’re going to do it.

Not only will this sequence get you started, but also it will open a dialogue by using the same questions and prompts to discuss what can/should the audience members do? Why should they do it? How can they get started?

This compact sequence is important with business people, because many of them see themselves as “problem solvers.”

As soon as a situation is presented, they im-

Ways of Giving a Business TalkInstead of Writing a Mystery


mediately consider possible solutions. They have ideas about what could/should be done. Help them use that motivation to your advantage by framing the situation quickly.

By offering your recommendations, you’ll fo-cus their thinking. But if you don’t offer such information quickly, two scenarios might unfold: First, you’ll lose control and have to work even harder to convince them to accept your recom-mendation. Second, they might turn off and follow a completely different line of thought. In each case, you’ve lost them and the opportunity to direct and harness their interest and abilities.

Here’s an exercise for you. As you plan a pre-sentation, write down your answers to these questions:

n What do you want your audience to know about you and your company?

n What services can you provide to them?n What resources do you need from them?n What is the next step for them and for you?

Become a teacher, not only the speaker. Teach your audience what you want them to learn by helping them make your information their own.

And do it quickly.

Siesta Key resident Bob Parkinson is an author, executive communication coach and consultant to companies throughout the U.S. and abroad. His latest book is “Executive Briefings and Presentations” (Government Training Inc.). Contact him at [email protected].

Give a Business Talk, Not a Mystery (Continued from Page 6)

Online service is designed to help manufacturers, small businesses, entrepreneurs and independent inventors.

WashInGTon - The U.S. Patent and Trade-mark Office (USPTO) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) jointly have a comprehensive on-line IP Awareness Assess-ment Tool at the USPTO website. It is designed to help manufacturers, small businesses, entrepreneurs and independent inven-tors easily assess their knowledge of intellectual property (IP).

“This Administration knows that American entrepreneurs have always focused on the next great idea that will grow our economy, create jobs and drive U.S. global competition,” said USPTO Director Teresa Stanek Rea. “The IP Awareness Assessment Tool will help educate independent inventors and small businesses on the intellectual property protec-tions available to them as they seek to turn their ideas into reality and bring them to market.”

The IP Awareness Assessment Tool allows you to test and assess your own intellectual property awareness. Following the assessment you will re-ceive customized training material.

The Assessment has ten categories covering various aspects of IP, and the questions in each category have been formulated to reveal your overall IP knowledge. Some of the categories are:n IP Strategies & Best Practicesn International IP Rightsn IP Asset Trackingn Licensing Technology to Othersn Using Technology of Others

The first question in each category is broadly designed to determine if the category is relevant to your needs, and/or if you require additional

information and training in that catego-ry.

If it is revealed that you are well aware of that category, or if the cat-egory is not relevant or applicable to you, the assessment will skip to the next category.

If you are not sure of the answer to any question within a category, or

if you would like additional informa-tion, you can choose “not sure.”

Please note that the IP Awareness Assessment Tool is neither legal advice nor business advice; it is intended only to increase your IP awareness and knowledge. When filing an application for IP (utility patent, design patent, trademark, etc.), seek professional legal guidance.

This FREE tool is on USPTO’s website at: www.uspto.gov/inventors/assessment.

USPto and niSt’s iP awareness assessment tool


By Bill Snyder

From cable TV to taxi cabs, innovative disruption is shaking up markets and changing people’s lives.

I get tired of hearing fledgling entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley boasting that their every app, widget, or service is “disruptive.” Mostly, they’re not. And simply because a product is disruptive, it doesn’t mean it will “change the world” for the better. In fact, it might make the world worse.

But sometimes technology is truly disrup-tive, and in the last few weeks we’ve seen what it means to disrupt a market -- even the social order.

As streaming video becomes richer in content and easier to use, the market for pay TV is starting to unravel. In the third quarter of 2014, the top pay-TV providers -- which account for 95 percent of the market -- lost about 150,000 video subscribers, compared with 25,000 in the same quarter last year, ac-cording to Leichtman Research Group.

Uber, meanwhile, is getting a good deal of grief for the arrogance of its executives and its allegedly slipshod screening of drivers. But the ride-sharing service and its competitors have upended the market for taxi services. Because fewer people are taking cabs, the average price of an individual New York City taxi medallion fell to $872,000 in October, down 17 percent from a peak reached in spring 2013, according to an analysis of sales data by the New York Times.

The disturbing images of the death of Eric Garner, captured on a handheld camera and sent across the world on social media, illustrate yet again how profoundly those tools have disrupted the traditional business of gathering and distrib-uting news. Citizen-created video, not profes-sional journalists, shaped a national reaction.

innovative disruption didn’t Start in Silicon Valley

Disruptive innovation, a term coined by Clay-ton Christensen, describes a process by which a product or service takes root -- initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market -- then relentlessly moves up market, eventually displac-

ing established competitors.It’s a process that’s centuries older than the

printed circuit board, and it involves inspiration, team building, and distribution.

You could argue, for instance, that the world’s first tech startup was the printing shop of Jo-hannes Gutenberg in the medieval German city of Mainz. Like a modern entrepreneur, Guten-berg began with an inspiration (movable type), raised venture capital, built a team, and eventu-ally disrupted the market for books produced one at a time by scribes. (You can read an ac-count of that startup in the novel “Gutenberg’s Apprentice.”)

Gutenberg didn’t succeed until he and other printers overcame the social barriers to printing (the Catholic Church wanted to control it) and distribution.

Uber and Lyft are in a similar position, al-though they didn’t invent anything tangible. Their founders realized that the taxi market was inefficient, was unwilling to innovate, and provided terrible ser-vice. (Try to get a cab in the rain sometime.) It was an industry practically

begging to be disrupted.By leveraging the broad availability of smart-

phones and the growing numbers of young peo-ple looking for part-time employment, they cre-ated a new business model: on-call ride sharing. It’s a model that works; ride-sharing services are generally cheaper than cabs and readily available, so it’s no wonder that pas-sengers are forsaking tra-ditional taxi services and summoning a car from Uber, Lyft, or Sidecar.

As far as I know, the Catholic Church could care less, but ride-shar-ing services also face social obstacles to success. Uber, in particular, has caught the eye of regula-tors in many countries concerned that it doesn’t vet or train drivers very carefully and that its insurance coverage is skimpy. (Accusations that an Uber driver raped a passenger in India is the latest black eye for the company.)

Real innovation – not False Bravado – disrupts Markets


Despite their problems, ride-sharing companies have already disrupted the market; there’s no clearer evidence than the falling price of medallions in New York and other cities. Before long, they’ll likely come to terms with reason-able amounts of oversight and the market will con-tinue to morph.

netflix: a Serial disruptorWhen Reed Hastings started Netflix in 1997,

Americans who wanted to watch a movie at home went to a video store, rented a DVD or VHS tape, then tried to return it on time. The largest rental chain by far was Blockbuster, which at one time had more than 9,000 stores and 60,000 employees.

Hastings had a better idea: Mail the movies. His inspiration didn’t take advantage of new technology, but like Uber it entered a market that had stopped innovating and was dominated by a hidebound c o m p a n y . By the time Blockbuster caught on, it was too late for it and most of its competitors.

Netflix next moved into streaming mov-ies and has recently begun producing its own programs, a path now followed by Amazon.com and others. At the same time devices like the Apple TV, Roku, and Chromecast have made it much easier to stream Web video from a PC to a television.

Like the taxi industry, the cable (and satellite) television companies have become stuck in a business model that their subscribers hate: big, expensive bundles, coupled with crummy cus-tomer service. (Good customer service is expen-sive and cuts into margins.) Until streaming be-came popular, the only alternatives to cable were the relatively paltry offerings on broadcast TV.

You don’t need a bundle to stream “House of Cards,” and customer service isn’t much of

an issue with streaming. Young people, raised on YouTube and streaming music services, were the first to cut the cord — and

now that streaming is simple, their parents are following suit.

It’s far too soon to proclaim the end of the cable TV model; after all, the last quarter’s defections were a fraction of the industry’s customer

base. What’s more, cable giants like Comcast have huge political clout and are more than rich enough to engage in punishing price wars against the upstarts if need be. Indeed, Com-cast is trying to disrupt the Internet, although it won’t succeed.

Nonetheless, disruption has already started. HBO, for example, is uncoupling parts of its service from the cable companies that carry it. The premium

service will offer HBO Go as a stand-alone subscription

sometime in 2015, and other content pro-

viders are likely to follow.Is the world better be-

cause we might not have to take the trouble to hail a

cab or pay Comcast to watch “Girls”? Prob-ably not. There’s a real social cost to change,

whether it’s cab drivers or newspaper report-ers who lose their jobs. But from the market’s point of view, it doesn’t matter.

Real innovation, whether it starts in a 15th-century workshop or a Silicon Valley garage, dis-rupts markets and the people who participate in them in lasting ways. Bragging that you’ll change the world doesn’t cut it. You need to do it -- and that’s not so easy.

San Francisco journalist Bill Snyder writes frequently about business and technology. He writes the Tech’s Bottom Line blog for InfoWorld, and his work appears regularly in CIO.com and the publications of Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. [email protected] www.InfoWorld.com. Reprinted with permission.

Real innovation – not False Bravado – disrupts Markets


by Howard Schwartz

inventors should review hiring a top tier patent attorney, versus filing on their own or even worse doing nothing to protect their

most important asset. A patent is the property right given by the

U.S Patent and Trademark Office to an inven-tor. It gives the inventor an exclusive right over the invention preventing others from making, using or selling the invention stated in the pat-ent deed. The main purpose behind issuing of patents is to enable the inventor in recovering developmental costs and help in facing the competition.

The patent is a way to extend legal protec-tion to the inventions ranging from communi-cations to technology. However, the process to get patents is long and tiresome and it is where the need of a Patent Lawyer is felt. The process to get patent is not simple. You need to argue your case as to why your invention is worth any patent and how the invention is different from other products already in the market. Patent applications seldom get accepted in the first in-stance. The role of the patent lawyer is to redo the application and submit it again with new information so that it is accepted.

The patent lawyer makes an inquiry about the invention or idea and then conducts a

search whether a patent has already been issued for a product or service simi-lar in characteristics. It is only after a complete and thorough inquiry that

the patent lawyer advocates the case for the issuing of a patent. However, the inventor can him-self search for the validity of a patent by going through the Patent and Trademark Office's

Web site at www.uspto.gov. It generally takes three years for the patent ap-

plication to clear because of huge stack of ap-plications in the Patents Office. how do i register for a patent?

Filing for a patent application electronically, by using EFS, the USPTO's electronic filing system for patent applications saves a lot of time.

The various types of patent applications are:

n Utility Patent Application n Design Patent Application n Plant Patent Application The patent lawyer makes the complicated

and tiresome process of getting a patent simple and trouble-free.

For additional information and tips for in-ventors, please review: www.hjventures.com/patent/patent-inventions.html

Previously published in "IPFrontline", the newsletter of PatentCafe®. www.ipfrontline.com www.patentcafe.com PatentCafe is the leading provider of intellectual property asset management (IPAM) software and informational resources. Reprinted with permission.

Go hire a Great Patent Lawyer


Continued on Page 14

By Randy Landreneau

December 3, 2014

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. We definitely had a big victory earlier this year when we derailed the fa-tal “patent reform” legislation. In my last email to you, I said that the war was still looming.

Well, we will be facing another big fight very soon.

The anti-patent propaganda is starting to really heat up. The narrative is the same as before - al-leged “patent trolls” are causing an explosion of frivolous pat-ent litigation that is costing good companies and America billions of dollars.

As you know from my earlier emails, there has NOT been an explo-sion of patent litigation. The appearance of an increase is due to a pro-cedural change enacted by the America Invents Act, w h e r e i n a bunch of similar i n f r i n g e r s that used to be able to be sued in a single case now have to be sued separately.

There has not been an increase in the number of plaintiffs and defen-dants. Some very notable authors have researched and proven this, but the propaganda continues nev-ertheless.

As far as alleged “patent trolls” bringing frivolous patent suits, research has shown that

non-practicing entities (NPEs) have a higher rate of success in patent litigation than

other litigants.

This indicates that their suits are not so frivolous. Furthermore, remember that the Su-preme Court had a deci-

sion earlier this year that makes it much easier for

a judge to award fees in an actual frivolous patent lawsuit.

Honestly, if frivolous lawsuits were really the

problem, this decision should handle anyone’s concerns.

But again, the propaganda con-tinues.

And then, there is the demand letter issue. If someone is infringing your patent, you send a demand letter to try to handle the situation

without going to court.

While there may be some questionable cases involving demand

letters, the situation is nowhere near as bad as the pro-paganda suggests. I don’t think any of us would object to reason-able guidelines for demand letters, and there was even some legislation

proposed specifically for this. But, it went nowhere, because the anti-patent folks have much bigger plans, and these plans are fatal to indepen-dent invention.

According to US Patent System historian Zorina Kahn, efforts to weaken and even abolish the Amer-ican Patent System go as far back as

the mid-1800s. It is all very logical. A new

here They Come again!


U.S. Gov’t.U.S. Gov’t. General Information Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.FirstGov.gov USPTO Depository Library (UCF, Orlando) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://library.ucf.edu/GovDocs/PatentsTrademarks/default.php SBIR/STTR (gov’t. wants inventions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir Nat’l. Standards (gov’t. helps inventor’s business) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.nist.gov/tip D.O.D. Tech Match (military R&D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.DODTechMatch.com

Patent Offices, Patent SearchU.S. Patent & Trademark Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.uspto.gov European Patent Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.epo.org Google Patent Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.google.com/patents

State Gov’t.Florida Department of Revenue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.state.fl.us/dor New Business Start Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.sunbiz.org

Business Incubators & AcceleratorsUSF Technology Incubator (free help to inventors; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.incubator.usf.edu Tampa Bay Innovation Center (STAR TEC, business incubation; Largo) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.tbInnovates.com Gazelle Lab (biz incubation; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://GazelleLab.com TAFFIE (biz incubation; Clearwater). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://taffie.net

Inventor’s Education, Advice, Books, Lessons, Info, Etc.Edison Inventors Ass’n. (non-profit inventors’ club; Ft. Myers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.EdisonInventors.org Inventors Council of Central Fla. (non-profit inventors’ club; Orlando). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.InventorsCouncilCentralFLA.us World Intellectual Property Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.wipo.org National Inventor Fraud Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.InventorFraud.com United Inventors Ass’n. (large nat’l. org.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.uiaUSA.org Inventors Digest (magazine) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.InventorsDigest.com Pantros IP (patent research) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.PantrosIP.com InventionScore(evaluation service, Patrick Raymond) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.MyInventionScore.com Inventor’s Blueprint (training, Ryan Grepper) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.InventorsBlueprint.com EdisonNation (education, contests, info) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.EdisonNation.com Everyday Edisons (P.B.S. show, contests) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.EverydayEdisons.com Idea Next Step (on-line contests) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.IdeaNextStep.com From Patent to Profit (Bob DeMatteis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.FromPatentToProfit.com Inventor Mentor (Jack Lander) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.inventor-mentor.com The Basics of Patenting & Innovating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.inventors.about.com/od/firststeps Ask The Inventors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.AskTheInventors.com Inventions.com (inventor’s directory) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.inventions.com Lloyd Marketing Group (Lisa Lloyd) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.LloydMarketingGroup.com InventNet - Inventor’s Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.InventNet.com MIT-Lemelson Inventors Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://web.mit.edu/invent Intnat’l. Federation of Inventor Ass’ns. (Budapest, Hungary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.invention-ifia.ch Intnat’l. Development Enterprises (nonprofit, 3rd world inventing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.ideorg.org Innovation TRIZ (problem solving method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.innovation-triz.com ASIT (inventor’s problem solving method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.start2think.com Invention Machine (R&D problem-solving software) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.invention-machine.com KeyWord Patent Search (workbook) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.USIntellectualPropertyAttorney.com/PatentSearching.html Stephen Key (inventor’s blog, coaching) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://StephenKey.com

Product Design, Prototyping, ManufacturingSource Direct (design, manufacture, distribution; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.TheSourceDirect.net Evo Prototyping (rapid prototyping; Ft. Lauderdale) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.EvoPrototyping.com EMS, Inc. (rapid prototyping; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.ems-usa.com Complete Product Development (Randy Landreneau; Clearwater) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.CompleteProductDevelopment.com R&R Associates (product design, prototyping; Sarasota) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.RnRAssociates.com Invention-Aids (rendering & virtual prototypes, Mal Greenberg; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.invention-aids.com Duracon, Inc. (Voytek Beldycki; Venice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.DuraconInc.com Delaney Manuf’ing (Injec’n molding, product des., prototype; Sarasota) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.DelaneyManufacturing.com Chapman Mold (Brooksville) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.chapman-mold.com Oaks Partners, TAEUS (design strategy, Dan Messick; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.opLLC.us Trident Design (product design, prototyping, licensing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.trident-design.com eMachineShop (product design, prototyping, free CAD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.eMachineShop.com Machine Design (rapid design & prototyping info.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://MachineDesign.com Society of Manufacturing Engineers (Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://chapters.sme.org/159/homepage.htm

Marketing ServicesInnovative Product Technologies (Pam Riddle-Bird; Gainesville) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.InventOne.com Hill, Coniglio & Polins (market research, planning, ads; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.HCPAssociates.com My Marketing Dept., Inc. (Allen Jernigan; St. Pete) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.MMDept.com Grapple Hook Marketing (mkt. research for industrial products; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.GrappleHook.com My Cool Inventions (radio show, marketing; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.MyCoolInventions.com Package Management Group, Inc. (packaging & marketing; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.pmg-packaging.com Market Launchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.MarketLaunchers.com Idea Village . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.IdeaVillage.com Impama (invention marketplace) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.inpama.com One Stop Invention Shop (Don Debelak) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .http://OneStopInventionShop.net

WEBSITESBrief descriptions in parentheses.


Licensing AgentsInvention Home (household products) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.InventionHome.com DaVinci Legacy Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.DaVinciLegacyGroup.com Next Techs (patent sales broker, venture capital) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.NextTechs.com

Patent Lawyers, Patent Agents, Legal ServicesSuzett Marteny (reg. patent att’y.; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.MartenyLaw.com Ed Dutkiewicz (reg. patent att’y.; Dade City) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.EdDuke.com Dave Kiewit (reg. patent agent; St. Pete) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.patent-faq.com Smith & Hopen (reg. patent att’y.; Clearwater) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.SmithHopen.com Stephen Powers (patent agent; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.GulfCoastIP.com Mike Colitz (reg. patent att’y.; Dunedin) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.colitz.com Brent Britton (reg. patent att’y.; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.ssd.com

Inventor’s All-In-One ServicesInventors Launch Pad (Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.InventorsLaunchPad.com The Prototype House (Boca Raton) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.PrototypeHouse.com Veritek EMP (Colorado) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.veritek.com Big Idea Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.BigIdeaGroup.net Widgeteer, Inc. (home and kitchen gadgets) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://WidgeteerInc.com Quirky (crowd-sourcing, evaluation & assistance) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.quirky.com Idea Connection (innovation hosting). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.IdeaConnection.com Innovative Consulting Group, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.biz-consult.com/ICG/ Jetta Co. (toys, electronics; Hong Kong) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.jetta.com.hk

Trade ShowsInvention Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.InventionConnection.com Trade Show Nat’l. Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.tsnn.com ERA Invention Showcase (Electronic Retailers Ass’n.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://retailing.org

Catalogs, Mail OrderNat’l. Mail Order Ass’n. (info. about catalogs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.nmoa.org Catalog Link (info. about catalogs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.CatalogLink.com Catalog Times (learn to sell thru catalogs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.CatalogTimes.com Tilbury Direct Marketing (agent representing many catalogs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://CatalogRep.com

Business Data & InfoSCORE (Service Core Of Retired Executives) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.score.org Small Business Development Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.asbdc-us.org Small Business Administration (loans & loan info) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.sba.gov Entrepreneurial Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.entre-ed.org Start Up Nation (business education) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.StartUpNation.com/topics/11/Inventing.htm Florida Women’s Business Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.flwbc.org World’s Market Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.WorldOpinion.com Thomas Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.ThomasNet.com Hoovers On-Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.hoovers.com Industry Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://Research.ThomsonIB.com/

Funding, Angel Investors, Venture CapitalAngel Capital Ass’n. (angel groups, non-profit) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.AngelCapitalAssociation.org Alliance of Angels (angel groups). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://AllianceOfAngels.com National Venture Capital Ass’n. (VC groups, non-profit) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.nvca.org Florida Venture Forum (VC education, non-profit) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.FloridaVentureForum.org Quintic Capital, LLC (angels, VC, coaching; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://quintic-capital.com Go4Funding (angels, VC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.Go4Funding.com AngelList(secret website) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://angel.co/ CEO Space (international networking club) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.CEOSpace.net ClickStartMe (donation & equity crowd-funding, Tampa). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.ClickStartMe.com FundAGeek (crowd-funding) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.FundAGeek.com KickStarter (crowd-sourcing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.KickStarter.com Indiegogo (crowd-funding) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.IndieGoGo.com CrowdFunding Boot-Camp (June Hollister; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.CrowdFundingBC.com TIE Tampa (Intnat’l. biz network; Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.TieTampa.com

CAD Software (Computer Aided Design)CAD Std (free 2D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.cadstd.com Alibre (free 2D & 3D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.alibre.com/promos/online/personal.asp CoCreate (free 3D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.CoCreate.com/products/PE2/ModelingPE2.aspx

Parts, Supplies, MaterialsDon’s Salvage Yard (used stuff; Clearwater) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.DonsMarineSalvageYard.com Skycraft Electronic Parts (new parts, Orlando) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.SkycraftSurplus.com American Science & Surplus (mechanical & electrical) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.sciplus.com W. M. Berg, Inc. (small parts supplier) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.wmberg.com McMaster-Carr (industrial supply) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.mcmaster.com American Plastics Supply (supplier & manf’er.;Clearwater). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.AmericanPlasticSupply.com Community Innovation Center (DIY fabrication lab, Tampa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .http://cicTampa.org

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Here they Come Again! (Continued from Page 10)

technology is created, an industry is formed, and there are lots of lawsuits early on.

Those being sued for patent infringement tend to be the large companies that also have political influence.

They use that influence to try to weaken the Patent System. This is an ongoing pat-tern.

The difference now is that those who want to weaken the American Patent System have gotten much better at using public re-lations, propaganda, and lobbying.

If what passed the US House had also been passed by the Senate earlier this year, it would now be virtually impossible for any of us to defend a patent against a large corpo-ration. But it didn’t pass the Senate because we succeeded in stopping it.

Paul Morinville and I are looking into ways to effectively fight the upcoming bat-tle. I’ll keep you updated on what we are doing and what you can do. But there are others fighting on the side of the indepen-dent inventor.

One such group has a documentary that will play in locations across the country on December 15th.

The documentary is Inventing to No-where, and you can find out about it here: https://www.tugg.com/titles/save-the-in-ventor. You should definitely watch Invent-ing to Nowhere. (It can now be seen in full on YouTube.)

I’ll let you know when I have more infor-mation to share with you.

Best,Randy Landreneau FounderIndependent Inventors of Americawww.IndependentInventorsOfAmerica.org

Randy Landreneau is a past president of the Tampa Bay Inventors Council, current president of Complete Product Development, and founder of Independent Inventors of America. He and Paul Morinville were instrumental in defeating the Innovation Act, a proposed piece of U.S. legislation in 2014.


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Dues DescriptionsStudent Member

A Student Member at the $25 rate must be an active student enrolled in an accredited school. They may attend meetings and receive the Newsletter.

Sustaining MemberA Sustaining Member ($75 per year- see below) enjoys the

benefit of attending meetings, seminars, socializing and network-ing with other members, receiving the Newsletter and participat-ing as a reviewer in our Focus Groups. They are allowed to pres-ent their protected product to all of the various companies (such as informercial and catalog companies) that come to the TBIC to find new products for the market. Members usually find other members with the prototyping knowledge they need, and pay that member for their time and for prototyping materials used. Sustaining members may ask to have a free Focus Group done on their product and are allowed to display their product in our designated display area.

Members are invited to write letters for inclusion in the newsletter. Email to [email protected], fax to 727-547-5490 or mail to TBIC at our office address. Letters should be brief, to the point, and be accompanied by member name, email address and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity, taste and length. Letters will be printed as room permits.

officers & Board of directors

President Wayne Rasanen

Vice President Pam French

Secretary Rob aiken

Treasurer Mark Peterson

Board Members Voytek BeldyckiBrad Bridgham

Randy Landreneau, diane MacKayRobert Shaw

Founder Ron e. Smith

Please Respect the other MembersAt a recent Board Meeting, several members said they

have received complaints about talking in the back of the room while the meeting is in progress. Some of our mem-bers are hard of hearing, and as such find it difficult to hear the presentation if it is competing with other noises. While we acknowledge that networking is vital for all of us, we ask that our members try to network before or after the presentation. It would also be appreciated if all cell-phones were put on silent.

Thank you! - Your Board Of Directors

Visitors WelcomeThe Board of Directors of TBIC

wants to welcome all visitors. Ad-mission for visitors is $5.00 per meeting, unless accompanied by an active member. We hope that you can see the benefits of becoming a member! Our Bylaws allow visitors to attend two meetings without obli-gation to join.ADVERTISE WITH TBIC!

TBIC is now accepting advertisers for the TBIC Newsletter! If you would like to place an ad please contact Aletha Turner at [email protected] or contact the TBIC Main of-fice at: 727-565-2085

Have you Expired?Just joking, but it may be more

appropriate than you think! There might be a good chance that your TBIC membership has expired without you realizing it!

Never Fear! We have made things rather simple for you to know! If you received your news-letter by mail, look at your mailing label on the back of this newsletter and you will see an expiration date printed clearly above your name. This date reflects the end of your six-month or annual enrollment. This makes keeping up with your renewal date fairly simple!

Pay close attention and if, for some reason, the expiration date shown is incorrect, please notify us at [email protected] and we will look back in the treasurer’s records to verify your expiration date. Thank you!

MEMBERSHIPMake your inventing

process more e�ective and more fun!Bring a Friend!

A few bene�ts you will enjoy with your

membership:Bi-Monthly Newsle�ersInformative Speakers at

Regular MeetingsFree Workshops

Updates on Legislation a�ecting the industry

Current Industry NewsFocus Groups

Inventor-Related Computer Programs

Inventor’s LibraryFormal Presentations to

Marketing Media Representatives

Let’s see your ugly baby…Most people who conceive

of a new idea or give birth to a new innovation will typically fall in love with it and think it is the most beautiful thing in the world. In their eyes, it is the promise of a brighter future and a contribution to future generations that justifies our time on earth as having made the world a better place for our time living in it. Our ideas are

like our children in that with proper nourishment; they may grow and become mature. They can begin to have an impact of their own and become important to other people who you may never know.

Like our children, we start out by wanting to keep them safe so that strangers won’t steal or hurt them. We don’t want anyone to know that a special thing is coming until we are sure that it has been secured. So we patent them and make sure that anybody who looks at them has signed an NDA. We might even post pictures of them on the web or talk about them on Facebook or Twitter. These are our babies and despite what we think about them, to many others, they are freaks of na-ture!

They are odd and different or would have never made it through the patent process. This means that people will laugh at them, make fun of them and call them stupid. And this time it’s not just strangers, even our families can be cruel about their opinions. You have to understand that no idea is going to be right for everyone and that just because some may mock your “ugly baby”, there may also be others that recognize it as a swan and see the true beauty beneath its rough exterior. This is your target market and the only one which really matters. These are the people who you must connect with if you want to make the sale. You may have to hear a hundred people say “no” before you find one to say “yes”. That means that you have to get your baby out there, hold it above your head in the crowd and yell! Let people know that they can adopt your baby and take it home. License your idea or sell your products to the people who need it.

Failure to get your baby out there just means that it will stay at home devouring your resources as it grows older while slowly driving you crazy. Don’t let that happen to you! Take every reasonable opportunity to demonstrate your idea to the public and share it with the world. We just had a wonderful opportunity to show our inventions at the Bay Area Renais-sance Fair that hardly anyone took advantage of it. We could have another “inventors fair” this year but I want to know that you will be there if we do. Let me know at [email protected] if you are ready to demonstrate your ideas and that we should have another event. TBIC is ready to help you but you have to be willing to help yourself too. Do you want to have a TBIC hosted inventors fair? Please let me know, I want to see your ugly babies!!!

Wayne Rasanen - President, TBIC

Page 2 Page 15

Dues DescriptionsStudent Member

A Student Member at the $25.00 rate must be an active student enrolled in an accredited school. They may attend meetings and receive the Newsletter.

Sustaining MemberA Sustaining Member ($75.00 per year- see below) enjoys the benefit of attend-ing meetings, seminars, socializing and networking with other members, receiv-ing the Newsletter and participating as a reviewer in our Focus Groups. They are allowed to present their protected product to all of the various companies (such as informercial and catalog com-panies) that come to the TBIC to find new products for the market. Members usually find other members with the prototyping knowledge they need, and pay that member for their time and for prototyping materials used. Sustaining members may ask to have a free Focus Group done on their product and are allowed to display their product in our designated display area.

Members are invited to write letters for inclusion in the newsletter. Email to [email protected] or [email protected], fax to 727-547-5490 or mail to TBIC at our office address. Letters should be brief, to the point, and be accompanied by member name, email address and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity, taste and length. Letters will be printed as room permits.

2010-2011O�cers &

Board of DirectorsWayne Rasanen - President [email protected]

Andrew Yauch - Vice President

Gayla Kilbride - Treasurer

Robert Aiken - Secretary

Board Members; Wojciech Beldycki Earl Deen Kirk Hamlin Allen Jernigan Mark Peterson

Founder Ron E. Smith

Please Respect the Other MembersAt a recent Board Meeting, several members said

they have received complaints about talking in the back of the meeting room while the meeting is in progress. Some of our members are hard of hearing, and as such find it difficult to hear the presentation if it is compet-ing with talking in background. While we acknowledge that networking is vital for all of us, we ask in the future that our members try to network before or after the pre-sentation. It would also be appreciated if all cell-phones were put on silent answer during the meeting.

Thank you! - Your Board Of Directors

Wayne Rasanen

T.B.I.C. Prorated Sustaining Membership Dues Schedule $75 per year, prorated.

Renewal date: 01 January.

People who join in the month of:

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

pay this amount: until...

$75

$69

$63

$57

$51

$45

$39

$33

$27

$21

$15

$9

...until the following Jan. 1st. Then they renew their membership for a full year at $75.

Newsletter StaffExecutive Editor George MouzakisContributing Editor Robert AikenTo submit articles, send emails to: [email protected]

Submissions must be received by the first Tuesday of odd months.

The Tampa Bay Inventor’s Council (TBIC) is a corporation as defined in Chapter 617, Florida Statutes, as a not-for-profit. The corporation is organized exclusively for charitable, educational and scientific purposes. The TBIC is a 501(c)(3) charitable corporation, which allows the receiving of tax deductible contributions of goods and services. There are over 150 active members willing to share their expertise and experiences with fellow inventors.

N a v a r r o D e s i g n I n c Office: 727.581.0766 | Mobile: 727.421.1941

[email protected] P O B O X 2 6 2 8 | L A R G O | F L | 3 3 7 7 9

I n d u s t r i a l & M e c h a n i c a l D e s i g n

P r i n c i p a l D e s i g n C o n s u l t a n t

Over Twenty Five Years | Design | Engineering | Manufacturing

J o e N a v a r r o J r .

Extensive Experience Consumer, Commercial, Medical, Industrial,

Military, & Aerospace P las t i cs , Me ta l s , Compos i tes

3D CAD design using Pro/Engineer www.ptc.com

CAD models for Visualization, Prototype & Production Rapid Prototyping (3d printing), Tool Making, CNC, Analysis,

Graphics, Patent Drawings

P roduc t Des ign Concept to Produc t ion

Des ign fo r Manufac tu re 3D CAD Design

tampa bay the · the tampa bay inventors council is here to help you succeed, ... plastic...

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