The European Inventor Award, launched by the European Patent Office and European Commission's DG Enterprise and Industry in 2006, gives inventors the recognition they deserve. And, like every competition, it is an incentive to all other potential winners.
The European Inventor Award has quickly established itself as one of the most prestigious competitions of its type.
Categories
Awards are presented in four categories:
- Industry
- SMEs/research
- Non-European countries
- Lifetime achievement
Method
For the first three competitions, examiners at the European and other patent offices were asked to propose outstanding inventors for the award. In 2009, for the first time ever, anyone could enter.
Jury
An EPO panel then narrows down the selection to a shortlist for each category, carefully checking that the proposed patents are still valid and meet the competition criteria.
The shortlists are passed on to a high-profile international jury, comprising entrepreneurs, managers, scientists, researchers, investors and journalists, which nominates three inventors in each category, before finally selecting the winners.
They judge the entries on the following criteria:
- degree of inventiveness
- practical application
- commercial success
- benefit to the economy and society
- contribution to improving the quality of daily/working lives and/or protection of the environment
Awards ceremony
All nominees are invited to an awards ceremony, where the winners are revealed.
Winners of the European Inventor Award are presented with a trophy in the shape of a sail, one of the world's oldest yet most dynamic inventions.
Nominations can be accepted from 1 JKune 2010. Find out more here.
