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Nominations for the European Inventor Award 2015 Open

03-Aug-2014 | Source : | Visits : 7463
Special to ag-IP-news Agency
 
MUNICH – Who are going to be the successors to Artur Fischer and the five other exceptional inventors who were presented with the European Inventor Award in Berlin on 17 June 2014? The European Patent Office (EPO) is now calling for submissions of nominations for the European Inventor Award 2015. The award pays tribute to exceptional inventors who make a real contribution to social and technological progress and economic growth in Europe. The public are invited to submit a nomination to the European Patent Office for their favorite for the coveted award.
 
On 17 June, the eyes of researchers, scientists and inventors were all in Berlin, where the prizes for the European Inventor Award 2014 were presented in a formal award ceremony. The winners were Artur Fischer (DE) in the category “Lifetime achievement”, Koen Andries/ Jérôme Guillemont (BE/FR) in “Industry”, Peter Holme Jensen (DK) in “Small and medium-sized enterprizes (SMEs)”, Christofer Toumazou (GB) in “Research” and Chuck Hull (USA) in “Non-European countries”. In addition, the Popular Prize was awarded to Masahiro Hara (J), inventor of the QR code, who was chosen as the winner in a public online vote.
 
The award ceremony for next year’s Inventor Award will take place in Paris on 11 June 2015.  Once again, the ceremony will be preceded by an intensive selection process. The award is therefore now open for entries from any member of the public with an interest in nominating an inventor or invention of their choice. Besides the general public, the EPO also calls on its more than 4,000 patent examiners to enter ground-breaking inventions from their technological area. Examiners at the national patent offices of the 38 member states of the EPO are likewise invited to join in and put forward outstanding inventors.
 
When a nomination is submitted, the comprehensive selection process which follows relies on the legal and technical analysis by the EPO experts and on the final selection by an international jury that evaluates innovations not only on their technological originality but mainly on their economic and social impact. From all the submissions, the jury nominates a shortlist of 15 inventors in the five award categories. The final winners of the awards are revealed during a ceremonial gala in Paris.
 
“Innovations are the key for Europe, for securing future economic growth and prosperity,” said EPA President Benoît Battistelli, stressing the enormous importance of inventions and patents. “The presentation of the European Inventor Award is our tribute to the outstanding researchers and scientists who make what we generally call ‘progress’ possible in the first place. I would like to extend an invitation to the public to now submit your nominations for 2015.”
 
The European Inventor Award is the most important award for technical innovations in Europe. Launched in 2006, it is awarded annually by the European Patent Office (EPO). It gives recognition to inventors or teams making contributions to the development of technical solutions to the biggest challenges of our age and, thereby, contributing to the economic and social development. A jury of international authorities in the applicable fields examines the extent to which these inventors make a contribution to social progress, the creation of jobs and to prosperity. 

With 7,000 staff, the European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the largest European public sector organisations. It has its headquarters in Munich and also has offices in Berlin, Brussels, Den Haag and Vienna. The EPO was established to promote co-operation between the countries of Europe on patents. The EPO has centralized patent granting procedures to enable inventors to obtain single patents covering up to 38 EPO member states. In addition, the EPO is also the world’s leading authority in terms of patent information and patent research. 
 
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