EPO Inventor Awards 2019 – The winners!

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

• European Inventor Award (Popular vote), and European Inventor Award (Life-time Achievement), both awarded to Margarita Salas Falgueras  (Spain) in the field of molecular genetics, for a faster, simpler and more reliable way to replicate traces of DNA into quantities large enough for full genomic testing.

• European Inventor Award (Non-European Country), awarded to Akira Yoshino (Japan) inventor of the lithium-ion battery, powering 5 billion mobile phones, laptops, and other portable devices, as well as electric vehicles.

• European Inventor Award (Research), awarded to Jérôme Galon  (France), in the field of immunology for the invention of a diagnostic tool which assesses the risk of relapse in cancer patients.

• European Inventor Award (Small and Medium Enterprise), awarded to Rik Breur (The Netherlands) for the invention of an antifouling fiber wrap for application on the hull of a ship as an environmentally friendly alternative to toxic paints.

• European Inventor Award (Industry), awarded to Klaus Feichtinger and Manfred Hackl  (Austria) for the invention of a process to recycle plastic.  

The highlights of the 2019 Awards ceremony, held in Vienna, Austria on June 20, are captured in the below European Patent Office (EPO) video.

Reference

EPO - European Patent Office

www.epo.org

European Patent Awards – The 2018 winners!

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The European Organization 2018 Award winners were announced on the occasion of the 2018 EPO Awards ceremony, held this day, in Saint Germain-en-Laye, France.

In the Industry category:  Agnès Poulbot and Jacques Barraud† [FR], inventors of the self-regenerating tire tread.

• EP2379352 (A1) ― 2011-10-26 - Tread with an improved drainage space 

In the Research category:  Jens Frahm {DE], inventor of real-time MRI

• EP0191431 (A2) ― 1986-08-20 - Method and device for rapid acquisition of spin resonance data for a space-resolved examination of an object.  
• EP0184840 (A1) ― 1986-06-18 - Arrangement for the spatially resolved inspection of a sample by means of magnetic resonance of spin moments.
• EP2699926 (A1) ― 2014-02-26 - Spatially encoded phase-contrast MRI

In the Small & Medium Business Enterprise category: Jane ní Dhulchaointigh [IE], inventor of the Sugru multi-purpose moldable glue

• EP2089465 (A1) ― 2009-08-19 - Room temperature curable silicone elastomer composition 

In the non-European Patent Organization country category: Esther Sans Takeuch [US], inventor of batteries to resent the heart

• EP1215175 (A1) ― 2002-06-19 - Preparation of epsilon-phase silver vanadium oxide (SVO) from gamma-phase SVO starting material  
• EP1816692 (A1) ― 2007-08-08 - Lithium/fluorinated carbon cell for high-rate pulsatile applications

In the Life-time achievement category:  Ursula Keller [CH], inventor of ultra-fast pulsed lasers

• EP2089465 (A1) ― 2009-08-19 - Room temperature curable silicone elastomer composition 

The popular vote:  Erik Loopstra [Netherlands] and Vadim Banine [RU[, inventors of Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV) lithography for smaller, more powerful microchips.

• EP2465012 (A1) ― 2012-06-20 - Lithographic apparatus and method
• EP2480936 (A1) ― 2012-08-01 -Source collector apparatus, lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method  
• EP2170021 (A2) ― 2010-03-31- Source module, radiation source and lithographic apparatus

Congratulations to everyone!

Oh, patents! The 2017 EPO award winners

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The 2017 winners of the EPO awards in six categories were announced this day in Venice, Italy, on the occasion of a grand celebration and event.

Industry category

Jan van den Boogaart and Oliver Hayden (Netherland and Austria), inventors of rapid malaria blood testing, an invention disclosed in:

•  EP2635695 (A1) ― 2013-09-11  titled Method for detecting a plasmodium infection.

Research category

Laurent Lestarquit, José Ángel Ávila Rodríguez and team (France and Spain), inventors of better radio signals for satellite navigation, an invention disclosed in:

• EP1570287 (B1) ― 2006-05-03 - Method and device for generating a constant envelope navigation signal with four independent codes
• EP1836778 (B1) ― 2009-08-05 - Spread spectrum signal

Small and medium enterprise category

Günter Hufschmid (Germany), inventor of a super sponge for oil spills, an invention disclosed in: 

• EP2392630 (B1) ― 2015-12-02  - Spray products from polymers (hydrocarbons) in the form of a fibrously matted polymer wool, production as well as their use as an oil binding agent and chemical binding agent, as adsorption products for oils, oil rubbish and other hydrophobic liquids to the cleaning of water, rivers, lakes and seas, sand or earth 

Non-EPO country category

James G. Fujimoto, Eric A. Swanson and Robert Huber (USA, Japan), inventors of medical imaging with optical coherence tomography (OCT), disclosed in:

• EP0883793 (B1) ― 2007-11-14 - Method and apparatus for performing optical measurements using a fiber optic imaging guidewire, catheter or endoscope
• EP0981733 (B1) ― 2004-02-11 - Grating based phase control optical delay line
• EP1839375 (B1) ― 2014-06-04 - Mode locking methods and apparatus

Life-time achievement category

Rino Rappuoli (Italy), inventor of next-generation vaccines against meningitis, whooping cough and other infections, an invention disclosed in many patents, including though not limited to:

• EP0322533 (A1) ― 1989-07-05 - Bordetella pertussis toxin with altered toxicity
• EP0232229 (A2) ― 1987-08-12 - Cloning and expression of Bordetella pertussis toxin-encoding DNA
• EP1223975 (A2) ― 2002-07-24 - Mucosal dtpa vaccines

Popular vote category

Adnane Remmal (Morocco), inventor of a way to boost the efficacy of antibiotics with essential oils, an invention disclosed in:

• EP1879655 (B1) ― 2014-11-26 - Pharmaceutical composition comprising an anti-bacterial agent and an active ingredient selected from carveol, carvacrol, alpha-ionone, beta-ionone, and thymol   

Congratulations to all!

INPI 2016 Innovation trophies – The winners!

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The winners of the 2016 INPI Innovation trophies in the four categories of Trademark, Patents, Research and Design, are the following:

• Obut®, a pétanque ball company in the Trademark category.  
• Wandercraft, a firm designing robotic exoskeletons for wheelchair users, striving to create ordinary lives for extraordinary people, in the Patent category. 
• LAPHIA (Laser and Photonics in Aquitaine) an interdisciplinary cluster of research, operating with funds from the University of Bordeaux, bringing together multidisciplinary teams focused on laser and high energy physics, photonics and materials, and innovative imaging, in the Research category.
• Procédés Chénel, a firm creating interior design solutions made of paper, with a more than 100-year old history, dating back to 1896, in the Design category.

The lucky winners not only received an Ora-ïto designed trophy. They were also treated to 25 years of macaron dessert creations, celebrating the 25th annual award of the INPI Innovation Trophies, offered by the master pastry-chef and President of the Jury Pierre Hermé.

As for the People’s Choice Trophy, where you might have cast a vote, results remain undisclosed.👠

References

INPI 2016 Innovation Trophy Awards
https:/ww.inpi.fr/fr/trophees-inpi-2016

Pierre Hermé

http://www.pierreherme.com/

Ora-ïto

https://www.ora-ito.com/en/

Obut

https://www.obut.com/

Wandercraft

http://www.wandercraft.eu/

LAPHIA

http://laphia.labex.u-bordeaux.fr/en/

Procédés Chénel
https://chenel.com/

2016 EPO Awards - The winners!

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

In Lisbon, Portugal, on June 9, 2016, this day, the EPO announced the winners of the European inventor awards in all five categories plus the popular award.  Three finalists were competing in each of the five competition categories and all the finalists were eligible for the popular prize.  

The list of winners is the following:

• Industry category Bernhard Gleich, Jürgen Weizenecker and team (German) for Magnetic Particle Imagery (MPI)

• Research category: Alim-Louis Benabid (French) for a treatment for Parkinson's disease

• Small and Medium Enterprises category: Tue Johannessen, Ulrich Quaade, Claus Hviid Christensen, Jens Kehlet Nørskov (Danish) for Ammonia storage to reduce NOx (nitrogen oxide) emissions and for cleaner air in cities.

• Lifetime Achievement category: Anton van Zanten (Dutch/German) Electronic stability control for cars

• Non-European Patent Organization Country category: Robert Langer (USA) for targeted anticancer drugs

• Popular award: Dr. Helen Lee (England/France) for point-of-care diagnostics in the real world.
  
  ----------

NB: The winning inventions not only satisfied the criteria of patentability, but also those of an EPO award. Indeed the European Inventor awards further celebrate the significant social and economic impact of the imventions.  

Congratulations to everyone! 👠

References

2016 European Patent Inventor Award winners
http://epo.newsweaver.co.uk/EuropeanInventorAward/1cxpaxdg3ir8bgc0wq5ibo?email=true&a=11&p=50394391

European Inventor Awards – The 2015 winners!

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

So... who are the lucky winners who received one of the 3D stereolithographic and cast in bronze sail trophies, fabricated in France, on the occasion of the 10th 2015 EPO Inventor Awards competition?

The 2015 EPO Inventor award trophies were granted to the following winners:

In the Lifetime Achievement category – Andreas Manz (Switzerland) inventor of the microchip laboratory for point-of-service diagnostics and analysis (e.g.; portable diabetes monitor).

In the Industry category - Franz Amtmann (Austria) and Philippe Maugars (France) inventors of Near Field Communication (NFC), which secures data transfer between mobile devices.

In the Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) category, Laura Van 'T Veer, inventor of a gene-based breast cancer test called MammaPrint® that informs the best treatment options.

In the research category, Ludwik Leibler (France) – Inventor of Vitrimers (a new category of supramolecular polymers, with the capicity for infinite repair when heated, which means less waste (imagine scratches on the hood of a car which could be “cured”).

In the non-European Patent Organization country category: Sumio Iijima, Akira Koshio and Masako Yudasaka (Japan) – Inventors of the carbon nanotube (the strongest, lightest and most conductive material known)

And in the popular vote category, with 33% of the 47,000 votes cast, the prize was awarded to Ian Frazer (Australia) and Jian Zhout (China)– Inventors of the HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) vaccine.

Congratulations to everyone!

-----

Now…nominations are being accepted for the 2016 EPO Inventor awards…. Here is the Entry form! And here is the link to the nomination FAQs.

You can participate too, and nominate your favorite (qualifying) inventor!


References

Andreas Manz

http://www.frias.uni-freiburg.de/de/das-institut/archiv-frias/school-of-softmatter/fellows/manz

The Vitrimer : A french Team (CNRS-ESPCI ParisTech) discovers a revolutionary material

www.univ-psl.fr/default/EN/all/psl_en/the_vitrimer.htm 
Laura Van 'T Veer
http://profiles.ucsf.edu/laura.vantveer
Near Field Communication
http://www.nearfieldcommunication.org/
What are carbon nanotubes?
http://www.nanocomptech.com/what-are-carbon-nanotubes 
Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
http://www.cdc.gov/hpv/

2016 Entry Form
https://forms.epo.org/learning-events/european-inventor/nominate/entry-form.html
2016 Nomination FAQs
http://www.epo.org/learning-events/european-inventor/nominate/faq.html