IP/10/247
Brussels, 08 March 2010
Nominations for the European Inventor Award 2010
The nominees for the European Inventor Award 2010 include inventors of
pioneering innovations in a wide range of fields, from the conservation of
drinking water to the synthesis of football-shaped carbon molecules or
"fullerenes", and from cancer treatments to digital data encryption. Other
nominees are the Wii console, the civilian use of GPS, mobile use of fuel
cells, "green" plastic and internet access straight from a wall socket. The
award honours individual inventors, or teams of inventors, who, through
their pioneering work, respond to the challenges of our time, thereby
contributing to progress and prosperity. The four winners will be chosen by a
high-ranking international jury and will be presented with their prizes by EPO
President Alison Brimelow in Madrid on 28 April 2010.
Vice-President Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship,
said: "The nominees underline the richness of the human imagination. Their
inventions mean a lot for mankind and for shaping our modern world; yet their
innovatory spirit also helps to create jobs in Europe and strengthen its
competitiveness. The Europe 2020 strategy, just adopted by the European
Commission, indeed stresses the need for a more innovative Europe. In this light I
hope these inventors encourage others to follow their paths."
European Patent Office President Alison Brimelow said: "The core task of the patent
system is to support innovation through the effective protection of inventions. We
must seek to maintain and strengthen the performance of the system to ensure the
patent-based diffusion of pioneering technologies into the future".
Twelve candidates from nine countries are competing this year. The prize, which is
purely symbolic and involves no material recompense, is awarded in four categories:
Lifetime achievement, Industry, SMEs/research and Non-European countries. In
addition to countries with a tradition of innovation such as France, Germany, Italy,
Switzerland and the United States of America, this year’s contest also sees
candidates from Belgium, Canada, Denmark and Spain.
Nominations for the European Inventor Award can be made by the inventors
themselves or put forward by patent examiners from the national patent offices and
the EPO. A panel of EPO experts checks all proposals received to ensure they
satisfy all criteria with respect to form and content (link) before they are submitted to
the jury. Previous winners include Adolf Goetzberger, the father of solar-power
generation (2009), Peter Grünberg, Nobel Laureate in Physics (2006), AIDS
researcher Erik De Clercq (2008) and Federico Faggin, the inventor of the
microprocessor (2006).
The shortlist for the European Inventor Award 2010:
Industry
- Inventor: Hermann Grether, Christoph Weis (DE):
- Invention: The Perlator, a jet regulator for water taps, provides an effective
means of saving precious drinking water.
- Inventor: Albert Markendorf, Dr Raimund Loser (CH)
- Invention: Three-dimensional laser-controlled measuring system for quality
control in the automotive and aerospace industry with maximum-precision
metrology.
- Inventor: Benedetto Vigna (IT)
- Invention: Three-dimensional motion sensor for use in wireless controllers like
the motion control sensor of the Nintendo Wii.
SMEs/research
- Inventor: Jürgen Pfizer, Helmut Nägele (DE)
- Invention: Arboform, the "green" alternative to plastic; this natural polymer is
currently used around the world in the manufacture of car parts, children’s toys,
furniture and much more.
- Inventor: Albert Gelet, Jean-Yves Chapelon, Dominique Cathignol, Emmanuel
Blanc (FR)
- Invention: Ultrasound treatment is now an integral part of a highly effective
device for fighting prostate cancer.
- Inventor: Jorge Blasco (ES)
- Invention: Data transmission over power lines for fast internet access straight
from the wall socket.
Lifetime achievement
- Inventor: Peter Landrock (DK)
- Lifetime achievement: Many of the encryption methods used today for the
digital transmission of confidential data are based on Landrock’s pioneering
work.
- Inventor: Wolfgang Krätschmer (DE)
- Lifetime achievement: Krätschmer’s procedure for synthesising C60 carbon
molecules (fullerenes) helps to develop new lubricants and fuels, electronic
superconductors and polymers designed for data storage.
- Inventor: Desiré Collen (BE)
- Lifetime achievement: Collen’s findings in the field of blood clots broke new
ground in medication for strokes and heart attacks.
Non-European countries
- Inventor: Sanjai Kohli and his team (US)
- Invention: Thanks to their revolutionary receiver-chip design, GPS has
successfully found its way onto the consumer market.
- Inventor: Danny G. Epp, Ben Wiens (CA)
- Invention: Hydrogen fuel cells for many mobile applications, utilised today in
many buses around the world.
- Inventor: Napoleone Ferrara and his team (US)
- Invention: The cancer drug Avastin inhibits the growth of cancer cells and is
the basis for a gentler, focused therapy.
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For more information on the award ceremony, which will take place in
conjunction with the European Patent Forum in Madrid:
http://www.epo.org/topics/innovation-and-economy/european-inventor.html.
For further information and accreditation or interview requests, please
contact:
Rainer Osterwalder
Director Media Relations
European Patent Office
Erhardtstr. 27 | D-80469 Munich
Tel.: +49 (0)89 2399-1820
Fax: +49 (0)89 2399-2850
rosterwalder@epo.org
http://www.epo.org
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