Note 7 - China Operations	9 Months Ended
Note 7 - China Operations	May 31, 2016
Notes to Financial Statements
Fair Value Disclosures [Text Block]	7. CHINA OPERATIONS Effective December 31, 2014, the Company terminated its joint venture agreements with its previous joint venture in China, Tianjin Zerust, began the process of liquidating the joint venture entity, and commenced operations in China through a wholly-owned subsidiary, NTIC (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. on January 1, 2015. Effective December 31, 2014, the Company’s investment in Tianjin Zerust is reported at carrying value based on the Company’s decreased level of influence over the entity, and the Company has reclassified previously unrecognized gains on foreign currency translation from accumulated other comprehensive income. Any declines in the fair value are reflected as adjustments to the carrying value. No such adjustments were recorded during the nine months ended May 31, 2016. Because of the lack of financial and other information received from Tianjin Zerust, it is possible that receipt of future financial and other information from Tianjin Zerust may impact the realization of the Company’s investment in and realization of a receivable from Tianjin Zerust. The last time the Company received financial information from Tianjin Zerust was through November 2014. The Company, as of May 31, 2016, does not believe there are any triggering events that would require an impairment test. The Company’s current net investment is approximately $1,130,200, which is 60% of its investment in Tianjin Zerust, which was $1,883,668 as of May 31, 2016. The Company will continue to evaluate the realization of this asset on an ongoing basis and adjust if necessary. The Company incurred expenses of $1,425,000 and $1,138,000 during the nine months ended May 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, related to the termination of the joint venture agreement with Tianjin Zerust, the initiation of the liquidation of Tianjin Zerust, the formation and initial operation of NTIC China and the litigation in North America. Such expenses consisted primarily of legal expenses and personnel expenses associated with the establishment of the subsidiary and the hiring of new personnel. These expenses are recorded as operating expenses on the consolidated statements of operations and are partially offset by the gross margin contribution from sales of NTIC China. See Note 13 regarding pending litigation involving Tianjin Zerust.

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.