NEVADA INVENTORS ASSOCIATION
"Education, Assistance, and
Networking for the Inventor"
To go to the main Page or the news letters and then
the old articles Page, up till Dec. 1999.
Delta Industries at South Meadows began with the invention of a simple drawer glide
It's a truism that who you know is vitally important, especially if they can offer you something of value.
Our next speaker, Gary Nelson of Delta Industries, knew a cabinet maker with a good idea but no money to turn it
into a product. Nelson was general contractor who was able to put up some money; they got a patent and began manufacturing
that product - Deltaglide 100, a metal drawer glide designed for low- to medium-end usage.
A well-placed ad
Once the product was ready, he put a classified ad in a kitchen business magazine. The payback was a call from
a representative selling to the RV industry, which still uses these glides today. With the advent of side-mount
glides,
now produced in China at extremely low
cost, the market for Deltaglide products has declined, but Nelson figures he has sold more than 40.000.000 worldwide.
He kept the business growing with advertising and marketing, particularly through trade shows, and has developed
a loyal customer base.
Nelson describes himself as a "self-taught engineer" with no formal training. He says he is a mechanically
inclined entrepreneur who started with an idea. He has no business background, but a sense of what to do coupled
with hard work is what accounts for the success of his business. His wife ran the office and financial portion
of the business until last year.
The corporate headquarters of Delta Industries has been in Reno's South Meadows Business Park since the mid 1990s
when the Nelsons relocated from the Los Angeles area. Delta Industries also does contract manufacturing for other
companies.
A match made in Reno
What's next for this successful inventor? His newest product is a drillpowered caulking gun in several configurations
for use with different products, including epoxy. And he still makes drawer glides.
Come to the NIA meeting May 25 and learn more about the successful products invented and manufactured by Gary Nelson
and Delta Industries.
Calendar
May 25, 2002 Regular Meeting 9 a.m. - noon
June 22, 2002 Picnic noon till 3PM
July 2002 Regular Meeting 9 a.m. - noon
August 2002 State Fair Aug. 21 - Aug. 25 No regular meeting
September 2002 Regular Meeting 9 a.m. - noon
Replaces morning meeting
Annual picnic is June 22
Set your calendar for June 22. Instead of our regular morning meeting which ends at noon, members and guests
will gather at Galena Creek Park off Mt. Rose Highway at that time for our annual picnic.
There is no charge to attend the picnic because NIA is hosting the main meal. However dessert is not included in
the basic package, so anyone who wants to bring a dessert dish is welcome to. "In the past some have brought
a cake-some jello-some watermelon and some cookies," says Chairman Don Costar.
In addition to Don, the committee includes Randy Sloan and Len Schweitzer.
Be sure to join your fellow members at Galena Creek Park from noon to 3 p.m. on June 22.
Enterprising web fans join fight against bin Laden
Several websites are taking advantage of current events and hostilities with online games. Two of them are:
SHOOT BIN LADEN GAME ... play now
http://www.freerepublic.com
Kill Osama bin Laden
http://members.optushome.com
For more, type "bin Laden" on Ask Jeeves. He will politely help you find these and other sites.
The Nevada Inventor is a community resource published monthly by the Nevada Inventor's Association. This association
is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization. This newsletter's mission is: To further the mission of NIA by educating
and informing members, to promote the organization throughout the broader community of northwestern Nevada, and
to recruit new members.
News from the Net
-with specialthanks to Vince Chemist
The following is from an article from USATODAY.com. 2/15/02.
Sometimes the little guy wins.
Check this scenario:
• Scott Smith of Sacramento owns EntrepreneurPR, a public relations firm that specializes in helping small businesses.
•The publishers of Entrepreneur magazine, Entrepreneur Media Inc. (EMI) trademarked the word "entrepreneur"
in 1987 and assumed the word was their private property.
The result was that when Smith changed the name of his firm from "ICON" to EntrepreneurPR in 1997, EMI
took exception and sued.
But Smith had done his homework including a thorough patent search. The United States Patent and Trademark Office
at uspto.gov and Thompson-Thompson.com are easy sources for conducting such a search. Smith found no record for
"EntrepreneurPR." Additionally, "entrepreneur" is so commonly used, it is virtually impossible
to trademark, according to Smith's argument, since the larger company was essentially "suing entrepreneurs
to stop them from using the word 'entrepreneur."'
EMI tried anyway. Everybody but Smith backed off but Smith lost at the trial level. He changed the name of his
company to BizStarz and the case went on to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The court's decision read in part- "We conclude that EMI's mark is weak. The common and necessary uses of
the word 'entrepreneur' provide strong evidence that EMI cannot have the exclusive right to use the word 'entrepreneur.'
Trademark law does not allow EMI to appropriate the word 'entrepreneur' for its exclusive use."
The USATODAY.com article ends with this advice to entrepreneurs looking for a name for a business: "Do your
homework, and play nice."
Ed. Note: To read the ruling go to http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov.
Contact Scott Smith at:
EntrepreneurPR
5714 Folsom Blvd., Suite 140
Sacramento, CA 95819
Phone: 916.453.8611
scott@entrepreneurpr.com
Website of interest.
Free Patent Information for Inventions
www.litmanlaw.com
Science Friday on National Public Radio:
www.sciencefriday.com
Bring Your Invention to Market
www.iacllc.com
Inventors' Digest
www.inventorsdigest.com
National Inventors Hall of Fame
www.invent.org
Laugh for the month
www.totallyabsurd.com
The Nevada Inventors' Association
2002 Officers
President Dr. Bill Torch 329-4060
Vice President John Martinson 747-1650
Secretary/Treasurer Vince Chemist 677-0123
Sergeant at Arms Floyd Krebs
Programs
Carol FoldvaryAnderson 1-775-267-5365
NIA Founder Don Costar 322-9636
Web Master Vince Chemist 677-0123
Newsletter Editor Connie Benedict 787-3640 ccbenedict@775.net
To go to the main Page or the news letters and then
the old articles Page, up till Dec. 99.
Your are 
visitor to this page.
"Education, Assistance, and Networking for the Inventor"
To go to the main Page or goto Newsletters
Page done by Vince Chemist.
Created on July 7 2002
Updated on November 29, 2005