The European Inventor Award or European Inventor awards (formerly European Inventor of the Year Award, renamed in 2010), are presented annually by the European Patent Office, sometimes supported by the respective Presidency of the Council of the European Union and by the European Commission, to inventors who have made a significant contribution to innovation, economy and society in Europe. Inventions from all technological fields are considered for this award. The winners in each category are presented with an award shaped like a sail. There is no cash prize associated with the award.
The European Inventor Award is presented in the following five categories:
Industry
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
Research
Non-European countries
Lifetime achievement
Since 2013, the public is invited to vote to select the winner of a Popular Prize from among the finalists.
Nomination and selection
Each year the European Patent Office calls on its patent examiners, on examiners at the patent offices in the EPO's member states and on public at large to propose inventions for the award that were patented at the European Patent Office and have made a significant contribution towards innovation, economy and society in Europe.
A short list of nominees is then drawn up from the proposals and submitted to an international jury. The independent jury selects three inventors in each category for the final round, and eventually chooses the winners.
The first European Inventor of the Year awards took place at the AutoWorld Museum in Brussels on 3 May 2006. Prizes were presented in six categories.
The 2006 winners were:
Industry: Zbigniew Janowicz and Cornelis Hollenberg, who invented a method for making proteins in Pichia (Hansenula) yeast
SMEs: Stephen P.A. Fodor, Michael C. Pirrung, J. Leighton Read, and Lubert Stryer who invented the DNA microarray (DNA chip)
Research: Peter Grünberg for his discovery of the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect
New EU member states: John Starrett, Joanne Bronson, John Martin, Muzammil Mansuri, and David Tortolani, for their prodrugs of phosphonates
Non-European countries: Larry Gold and Craig Tuerk, who discovered that nucleic acids can bind a protein to potentially intercept other proteins that cause diseases like age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
Lifetime Achievement: Federico Faggin, for inventing the microprocessor
The second European Inventor of the Year awards took place at the International Congress Center in Munich, Germany on 18 April 2007. Prizes were presented to inventors - individuals and teams - in four categories.
The 2007 winners were:
Industry: Franz Lärmer and Andrea Urban, Bosch GmbH (Germany), for their Bosch process for microfabrication
SMEs/Research: Catia Bastioli and her team at Novamont S.p.a (Italy), for inventing biodegradable plastics made from starch
Non-European countries: Joseph P. Vacca and the team at Merck Research Laboratories (USA), for Crixivan, a protease inhibitor
Lifetime Achievement: Marc Feldmann, Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology (United Kingdom), for identifying the role of cytokines in treating autoimmune diseases
The third European Inventor of the Year awards took place in Ljubljana on 6 May 2008, marking Slovenia's presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2008. Prizes were presented to inventors - individuals and teams - in four categories.
The 2008 winners were:
Industry: Norbert Enning, Ulrich Klages, Heinrich Timm, Gundolf Kreis, Alois Feldschmid, Christian Dornberg and Karl Reiter, Audi (Germany) for revolutionising automotive manufacturing by making car frames lighter and safer through the use of aluminium.
SMEs/Research: Douglas Anderson, Robert Henderson, and Roger Lucas of Scotland's SME Optos (United Kingdom) for developing a new laser scanning technology for the eye which allows powerful but pain-free examination of the retina.
Non-European countries: Philip S. Green, SRI International (USA) for developing a robotic surgical system that has helped to improve surgery in Europe by allowing surgeons to perform complex procedures with the highest precision.
Lifetime Achievement: Erik De Clercq, University of Leuven (Belgium) for landmark contributions to antiviral treatment, including developing the drug cocktail for HIV/AIDS which has become the therapy gold standard of the early 21st century.
The European Inventor of the Year ceremony 2009 took place at Prague Castle in the Czech Republic on 28 April 2009.
The 2009 winners were:
Industry: Jürg Zimmermann (Switzerland) and Brian Drucker (USA) for inventing an effective drug to combat chronic myelogenous leukaemia.
SMEs/Research: Joseph Le Mer (France) for inventing a heat exchanger of such a brilliantly simple design that it makes heating systems both inexpensive and energy-efficient.
Non-European countries: Zhou Yiqing and his team (China) for an anti-malaria drug based on a herbal agent, which has been instrumental in saving hundreds of thousands of lives.
Lifetime Achievement: Adolf Goetzberger (Germany) for his work on the commercial use of solar energy, helping to make solar cells a viable alternative to fossil fuels.
Renamed the European Inventor Award, the 2010 awards ceremony took place in Madrid, Spain on 28 April 2010. The ceremony at the Eurostars Tower Hotel was attended by Their Royal Highnesses Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Asturias.
The 2010 winners were:
SMEs/Research: Jürgen Pfitzer and Helmut Nägele (Germany), who made a breakthrough by developing an easily formable, biodegradable organic polymer.
Industry: Albert Markendorf (Switzerland) and Raimund Loser (Germany), whose portable 3D scanning and measuring system opened up a new level of accuracy in industrial measuring systems and revolutionised the field.
Non-European countries: Sanjai Kohli and Steven Chen (USA), whose work paved the way for global positioning systems (GPS) that became used commercially and are a part of our everyday lives (joint winners).
Non-European countries: Ben Wiens and Danny Epps (Canada), who developed electrochemical fuel cells which are now a commercially successful alternative to fossil fuels (joint winners).
Lifetime Achievement: Wolfgang Krätschmer (Germany), who discovered a whole new field of research in physics.
The 2011 award ceremony took place at the historic Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. The 2011 winners were:
Lifetime Achievement: Per-Ingvar Brånemark (Sweden). He is the pioneer of osseointegration, now a widely practised medical method based on titanium implants, which creates a stable connection between the implant and bone. Today it is a standard implant technique among dentists and is widely used in reconstructive surgery. Millions of people worldwide have benefited from his landmark method.
Industry: Ann Lambrechts, Bekaert (Belgium). Her invention opened up a world of new architectural possibilities by improving the bending strength of reinforced concrete structures. The steel fibre elements that she developed greatly increase the tensile strength of concrete, reduce construction time, and have enabled many spectacular new structures such as the Gotthard tunnel.
SMEs: Jens Dall Bentzen, Dall Energy Aps (Denmark). His special low-emission furnace burns biofuels with a moisture content of up to 60% and is thus ideal for eco-friendly, highly efficient and hence inexpensive power generation from biomass in factories and production plants.
Research: Christine Van Broeckhoven, Vlaams Interuniversitair Instituut voor Biotechnologie (Belgium). Her pioneering method for identifying disease genes in Alzheimer's sufferers paved the way for developing modern drugs and treatments to combat Alzheimer's disease. Each of the genes and proteins that Broeckhoven has identified acts as potential "target" for researchers working to develop treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.
Non-European countries: Ashok Gadgil, Vikas Garud, University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, WaterHealth International (USA/India). Using gravity and a carefully planned hydraulics design to ensure even water flow, their ultraviolet (UV) disinfection device requires only a 40 watt UV light bulb to disinfect 1,000 litres of water per hour. The water purification device has been installed in more than ten countries worldwide, delivering clean water to over two million people.
The 2012 award ceremony was held in Copenhagen at the Royal Danish Playhouse in the presence of Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark. The 2012 winners were:
Industry: Jan Tøpholm, Søren Westermann, and Svend Vitting Andersen (Denmark), for their tailor-made hearing aid.
Research: Gilles Gosselin, Jean-Louis Imbach, and Martin L. Bryant (France), for their new drug for hepatitis B treatment.
SMEs: Manfred Stefener, Oliver Freitag, and Jens Müller (Germany), for their portable direct methanol fuel cell.
Lifetime Achievement: Josef Bille (Germany), for his device for laser eye surgery.
Non-European countries: John O' Sullivan, Graham Daniels, Terence Percival, Diethelm Ostry, and John Deane (Australia), for their contribution to wireless local area networks (LAN) for high speed data transfer (Wi-Fi).
The 2013 award ceremony was held in Amsterdam at Beurs van Berlage in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands. The 2013 winners were:
The 2013 winners were:
Industry: Claus Hämmerle and Klaus Brüstle (Austria) from Austrian manufacturer Julius Blum for inventing a damper system for soft closing of furniture doors, drawers, and wall cabinets named Blumotion.
Research: Patrick Couvreur, Barbara Stella, Véronique Rosilio, Luigi Cattel (France, Italy) for inventing nanocapsules which destroy cancer cells without harming healthy tissue.
SMEs: Pål Nyrén (Sweden) for inventing pyrosequencing, a far faster, simpler, and cheaper method to sequence DNA strands.
Lifetime Achievement: Martin Schadt (Switzerland), inventor of the world's first flat-panel liquid crystal display (LCD).
Non-European countries: Ajay V. Bhatt, Bala Sudarshan Cadambi, Jeff Morriss, Shaun Knoll, Shelagh Callahan (USA), for creating and developing Universal Serial Bus (USB) technology.
For the first time, the public was invited to vote to select the winner of a Popular Prize from among the 15 finalists. The winner in this category is José Luis López Gómez (Spain) from Patentes Talgo, whose invention to use a unique ‘independent guided' wheel design rather than a standard axle on high-speed passenger trains makes those trains some of the most comfortable and safe in the industry.
The 2014 award ceremony was held in Berlin at Deutsche Telekom's Berlin Representative Office (Former Kaiserliches Telegrafenamt) on 17 June. The 2014 winners were:
Industry: Koen Andries (BE), Jérôme Guillemont (FR), Imre Csoka (FR), Laurence F.F. Marconnet-Decrane (FR), Frank C. Odds (UK), Jozef F.E. Van Gestel (BE), Marc Venet (FR), Daniel Vernier (FR) for their invention: the drug against multi-resistant tuberculosis
Research: Christofer Toumazou (UK) for his microchip for quick DNA testing
SMEs: Peter Holme Jensen, Claus Hélix-Nielsen, Danielle Keller (DK) for their energy-efficient water purification
Lifetime Achievement: Artur Fischer (DE) for his wall plug, synchronised flash, and many more.
Non-European countries: Charles W. Hull (US) for inventing 3D printing (stereolithography)
Popular Prize Winner: Masahiro Hara, Takayuki Nagaya, Motoaki Watabe, Tadao Nojiri, Yuji Uchiyama (JP) for developing the QR code.
The 2015 award ceremony was held in Paris at Palais Brongniart (La Bourse) on 11 June. The 2015 winners were:
Industry: Franz Amtmann (AT), et al., and Philippe Maugars (FR), et al., who invented near field communication (NFC) technology
Research: Ludwik Leibler (FR) for his vitrimers – a new class of polymers
SMEs: Laura J. van 't Veer, et al. (NL) for their gene-based breast cancer test
Lifetime Achievement: Andreas Manz (CH) for his microchip-sized analysis system
Non-European countries: Sumio Iijima, Akira Koshio, and Masako Yudasaka (JP) for inventing carbon nanotubes
Popular Prize Winner: Ian Frazer (AUS), Jian Zhou† (CN) who developed the HPV vaccine
The 2016 award ceremony was held in Lisbon on 9 June. The 2016 winners were:
Industry: Bernhard Gleich, Jürgen Weizenecker, and their team (DE) for inventing magnetic particle imaging (MPI)
Research: Alim-Louis Benabid (FR) for his work on a treatment for Parkinson’s disease
SMEs: Tue Johannessen, Ulrich Quaade, Claus Hviid Christensen, Jens Kehlet Nørskov (Denmark) for their ammonia storage to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx)
Lifetime Achievement: Anton van Zanten (DE, NL) for his electronic stability control system
Non-European countries: Robert Langer (US) for his work on targeted anti-cancer drugs
Popular Prize Winner: Helen Lee (UK, FR) for inventing diagnostic kits for resource-poor regions of the globe.
For the 2006 awards, the jury was:
Wim Kok, former Prime Minister, the Netherlands (chairman)
Gilles Capart, Chairman of PROTON Europe, Belgium
Dimitri F. Dimitriou, CEO of DyoDelta Biosciences, United Kingdom
Leif Edvinsson, Director of Intellectual Capital at Skandia, Sweden
Robert Peugeot, Executive Vice President at PSA Peugeot-Citroën, France
Maive Rute, SME Envoy for the European Commission, Estonia
Paul Rübig, founding member of the SME Union, Austria
The jury in 2007–2008 was:
Nani Beccalli-Falco, President and CEO of GE International in Brussels, Belgium
Franjo Bobinac, President of the Management Board and CEO of Gorenje gospondinjski aparati in Velenje, Slovenia
Kastitis Gecas, Director of the Lithuanian Innovation Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania
N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor at Infosys Technologies Limited in Bangalore, India
Ruud Peters, Executive Vice President and CEO of Philips International in Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Edoardo Tusacciu, President of PlastWood s.r.l in Calangianus, Italy
Eugene van As, Chairman at Sappi Limited in Johannesburg, South Africa
Carmen Vela Olmo, Managing Director of INGENASA in Madrid, Spain
Wang Zhibiao, President of the Chongqing Haifu Technology Co., Ltd in Chongqing, China
The jury in 2009–2010 was:
Jürgen Dormann, Chairman of the board at Metall Zug AG
Zbyněk Frolík, Managing Director of LINET spol. s r.o.
Bowman Heiden, Operations Director for the Qatar Science & Technology Park
Jonathan Liebenau, Reader in Technology Management at the London School of Economics
Emma Marcegaglia, Managing Director of Marcegaglia s.p.a.
Olivier Tardy, Senior Partner and Managing Director at the Boston Consulting Group in Paris
Sylvester Vizi, former President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, Secretary General of the European Research Council
The jury in 2011 was:
Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament
Wolfgang Heckl, Director General of the Deutsches Museum
Bowman Heiden, Innovation Director for the Qatar Science & Technology Park
Emma Marcegaglia, Managing Director of Marcegaglia s.p.a. and President of Confindustria
Ernő Rubik, architect, designer, university professor and inventor of the Rubik's Cube
Margarita Salas, President of Royal Board of the Biblioteca Nacional de España (National Library of Spain) and the Institute of Predictive and Personalized Medicine of Cancer
Thierry Sueur, Vice President of Intellectual Property and of European and International Affairs at Air Liquide
The jury in 2012 was:
Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament
Wolfgang Heckl, Director General of the Deutsches Museum
Emma Marcegaglia, Managing Director of Marcegaglia s.p.a. and President of Confindustria
Peter Marsh, manufacturing editor at the Financial Times
Agnete Raaschou-Nielsen, A PhD in economics and senior manager with companies such as Aalborg Portland, Coca-Cola and Carlsberg
Ernő Rubik, architect, designer, university professor and inventor of the Rubik's Cube
Margarita Salas, President of Royal Board of the Biblioteca Nacional de España (National Library of Spain) and the Institute of Predictive and Personalized Medicine of Cancer
Thierry Sueur, Vice President of Intellectual Property and of European and International Affairs at Air Liquide
The 2013 jury was:
Jens Dall Bentzen, biomass scientist, owner of Denmark-based Dall Energy Aps
Wolfgang Heckl, Director General of the Deutsches Museum and professor of scientific communication at the School of Education at the Munich University of Technology
Ann Lambrechts, Head of R&D for Building Products at NV Bekaert (Belgium).
Peter Marsh, manufacturing editor at the Financial Times
Mario Moretti Polegato, inventor of the Geox shoe
Blanka Říhová, professor, researcher in the field of anti-cancer drug development.
Ernő Rubik, architect, designer, university professor and inventor of the Rubik's Cube
Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament and leader of the Party of European Socialists (PES).
Thierry Sueur, Vice President of Intellectual Property and of European and International Affairs at Air Liquide
The 2014 jury was:
Gerhard Cromme, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Siemens AG and member of the Supervisory Board of Axel Springer AG.
Wolfgang M. Heckl, Director General of the Deutsches Museum in Munich
Mandy Haberman, British inventor and entrepreneur whose inventions include the Haberman® Feeder, used in hospitals throughout the world for over 30 years, and the Anywayup® cup, which since its launch in 1996 has revolutionised the nursery market with its non-spill technology
Patrick Couvreur, Winner of the European Inventor Award 2013 and prolific researcher and innovator
Aino Heikkinen-Mustonen, engineer, inventor and Managing Director of Fatec Ltd
Mario Moretti Polegato, Chairman of the Italian Geox Group
Ernö Rubik, architect, designer, university professor and inventor of several mechanical puzzles, including the Rubik's Cube
Tony Tangena, president of the epi
The 2015 jury was:
Louis Schweitzer – Chair, General Commissioner for Investment (appointed by the French President), Chairman of France's Foreign Affairs Council and special representative of the French Foreign Minister for Japan
Gerhard Cromme, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Siemens AG and member of the Supervisory Board of Axel Springer AG.
Ayşe Odman Boztosun, member of the Akdeniz University Faculty of Law in Antalya, Turkey. She serves as the Head of the Private Law Section and also as the Executive Director of the University Technology Transfer Office.
Clara Gaymard, CEO and President of GE France since 2006. In January 2013, she was elected president of the American Chamber of Commerce in France (AmCham France), becoming the first female president of this organisation in its hundred-year history
Mandy Haberman, British inventor and entrepreneur whose inventions include the Haberman® Feeder, used in hospitals throughout the world for over 30 years, and the Anywayup® cup, which since its launch in 1996 has revolutionised the nursery market with its non-spill technology
Anna Haupt, developer of the "invisible" bike helmet together with Terese Alstin. They began their quest for the "helmet of the future" as industrial design students at Lund University, Sweden.
Wolfgang M. Heckl, Director General of the Deutsches Museum in Munich
Ingeborg Hochmair, CEO, CTO and co-founder of MED-EL Medical Electronics Corporation, which she founded together with her husband Dr Erwin Hochmair in 1990. Together, they developed the very first microelectronic multichannel cochlear implant
Tian Lipu, Commissioner of China's State Intellectual Property Office from 2005 to 2014 and Member of the 17th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Mario Moretti Polegato, Chairman of the Italian Geox Group
Ernö Rubik, architect, designer, university professor and inventor of several mechanical puzzles, including the Rubik's Cube
Tony Tangena, president of the epi
Christine Van Broeckhoven, best known for her pioneering research into neurodegenerative dementias, where she has made several seminal contributions
The 2016 jury was:
José Luís Arnaut, who served as Portuguese Deputy Prime Minister between 2002 and 2004.
António Campinos, Executive Director of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) since 2010.
Mandy Haberman, British inventor and entrepreneur whose inventions include the Haberman® Feeder, used in hospitals throughout the world for over 30 years, and the Anywayup® cup, which since its launch in 1996 has revolutionised the nursery market with its non-spill technology
Wolfgang M. Heckl, Director General of the Deutsches Museum in Munich
Ingeborg Hochmair, past European Inventor Award finalist and CEO, CTO and co-founder of MED-EL Medical Electronics Corporation, which she founded together with her husband Dr Erwin Hochmair in 1990. Together, they developed the very first microelectronic multichannel cochlear implant.
Richard L. Hudson, a leading science and technology journalist in Europe for more than 30 years. He is CEO and Editor of ScienceIBusiness, a media company dedicated to European innovation strategy.
Ivars Kalvins, Chairman of the Scientific Board of the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis and past European Inventor Award finalist. With nearly 260 inventions and over 900 patents and patent applications, he is one of the world’s most prolific scientists and inventors in the field of medicinal chemistry, having developed a new generation of drugs mimicking natural compounds for targeted treatment and prevention of heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s and cancer.
Mario Moretti Polegato, Chairman of the Italian Geox Group
Ernö Rubik, is an architect, designer, university professor and inventor of several mechanical puzzles, including the Rubik's Cube.
Laura van ’t Veer, co-founder and Chief Research Officer of Agendia, a company offering molecular cancer diagnostics. She won the European Inventor Award 2015 in the SMEs category
Cecilia Wikström, member of the European Parliament, representing the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, since 2009.
