Selection process

Any member of the public can submit an entry for the European Inventor Award. Indeed, inventors can even put themselves forward for consideration. Entries are also accepted from national patent offices and EPO experts. The EPO will consider inventors of any nationality in any technological field who have been granted least one valid European patent for their invention.

Once the deadline for submission has passed, a carefully selected EPO panel of patent experts rigorously checks the entries to ensure that they meet the legal and procedural requirements and that the relevant patents are still valid. It then draws up a shortlist of candidates for each category.

The shortlists are passed on to a high-profile international jury, which nominates three candidates in each category, before finally selecting the winners.

Using a carefully devised points grading system, the jury applies the following criteria to judge the entries:

• Benefit to society: impact on health, environment and well being.
• Economic success: job creation, national or regional development within Europe.
• Technological impact: was the invention a breakthrough, has it generated other inventions or even laid the foundations for a new technology sector?