The EPO today presented the European Inventor Award 2015 in the heart of Paris. The prestigious annual award, now in its 10th year, honours outstanding inventors who through their work have made an exceptional contribution to social development, technological progress and economic growth. More than 400 guests from the worlds of politics, business and academia attended the award ceremony at the Palais Brongniart, the historical Paris stock exchange.
The international jury had selected 15 finalists from more than 300 individuals and inventor teams put forward, and today the winners were crowned in the five categories: Andreas Manz (Switzerland) in the category “Lifetime achievement”, Franz Amtmann (Austria) / Philippe Maugars (France) in the “Industry” category, Laura van ‘t Veer (Netherlands) in “Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)”, Ludwik Leibler (France) in “Research” and Sumio Iijima / Akira Koshio / Masako Yudasaka (Japan) in “Non-European countries”. In addition, the Popular Prize went to Scottish-born Australian immunologist Ian Frazer and the late Chinese cancer researcher Jian Zhou, who received the most votes from the public in an online vote.
“The inventors honoured today have contributed immensely to advancing technology. Their inventions improve our everyday lives, create economic value, generate employment and even save lives. The inventiveness and creativity of the award winners highlight Europe’s role as a prime technology region for inventors from all over the world. The European patent system provides the appropriate conditions for inventors seeking protection for their inventions in up to 38 member states,” said EPO President Benoît Battistelli at the award ceremony.
Source: EPO
