EPO and EC to honour European inventors

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Twelve inventors - both individuals and teams - have been selected by a high-profile jury as the finalists for the European Inventor of the Year awards 2007. The awards, which were presented for the first time in Brussels last year, honour inventors that have made a significant and lasting contribution to innovation in Europe and beyond, thereby strengthening Europe's economy.

The winners in four categories - Industry, SMEs/research, Non-European countries and Lifetime achievement - will be announced at a ceremony hosted by EPO President Alain Pompidou and European Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen at the International Congress Center in Munich on 18 April.

Coming from a wide range of technical and scientific fields, the nominees and their inventions are helping to save lives, protect the environment and improve living standards around the world.

The awards ceremony is taking place this year with the European Patent Forum and PATINNOVA 07, which will be held at the EPO's Munich headquarters on 18 and 19 April. German Chancellor and President of the Council of the European Union Angela Merkel, European Commissioner Günter Verheugen and World Economic Forum Director Ged Davis are among the speakers at the joint events.

The European Patent Forum will present the results of the EPO's Scenarios for the Future project for the first time. The findings of this three-year project, which looks at possible ways that patent system could develop over the next twenty years, will serve as the basis for discussions on the future of patenting and IP.

Titled "IP strategies for innovation", PATINNOVA 07 looks at new challenges, trends and needs in IPR usage, enforcement and support with a particular focus on small and medium-sized enterprises.

The conference will be accompanied by a "marketplace", where participants are invited to meet and discuss with experts and practitioners. Exhibitors include the European Commission, the EPO, the IPR Helpdesk, innovation relay centres and the national patent offices network.