European Inventor Award 2015: Nomination of an Inventor

Registration to participate actively or to distribute the call of EPO for the European Inventor Award 2015 is now open.

The deadline for nominations is 10 October 2014. Seize this opportunity and nominate an inventor.

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.

1. Call for submissions:
Proposals are invited from the public, national patent offices and the EPO staff.

2. Evaluation of proposals by the experts:
A panel of EPO experts rigorously checks the proposals to ensure that they meet the procedural and legal requirements and that the relevant patents are still valid.

3. Shortlist of the candidates:
A shortlist consisting of about 40 pre-selected candidates across the five categories is prepared for the jury, including detailed reports on the merits of the inventions.

4. Jury’s decision:
During a face-to-face meeting, the jury selects three finalists in each category by majority voting before finally selecting the winners.

5. Announcement of the finalists:
The EPO officially announces the names of the finalists to the public in April 2015.

6. Popular Prize voting:
The public votes for their favourite inventor.

7. Announcement of the winners:
The winners in the five categories are announced at the award ceremony. The tenth annual European Inventor Award will take place in June 2015 in Paris. Participants who nominated an invention which is selected as a finalist by the jury will be invited to the Award ceremony.

Please find enclosed the conditions for proposing an inventor or entering yourself. Further information on the European Inventor Award 2015 is available on the website of the European Patent Office