The European Inventor Award 2015 is now open for entries.
Whether you work in industry, at a university or research institute or for a professional association, are an individual inventor, or even just someone with an interest in the work inventors do, this is your chance to join in by entering your favourite inventor or invention for the award.
Besides the general public, the EPO also calls on its 4 000 examiners to enter groundbreaking inventions from their technological area. Examiners at the national patent offices are likewise invited to join in and put forward outstanding inventors.
The categories
- Industry: for outstanding and successful technologies patented by large European companies
- SMEs: for exceptional inventions at small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
- Research: for pioneering inventors working at universities or research institutes
- Lifetime achievement: honouring the long-term contribution of an individual European inventor
- Non-European countries: for all inventors who are not European nationals but have been granted a European patent
Determining the winners
Any member of the public can nominate an inventor for the European Inventor Award. The selection process relies on the hard work of EPO experts and an independent international jury that evaluates innovations not only on their technological originality but also on their economic and social impact.
