European Inventor Award 2017: Vote For UK Finalist Steve Lindsey To Receive The Popular Prize

• Midlands-based inventor Steve Lindsey – the only UK finalist – is vying for the European Inventor Award
  
• Members of the public are invited to vote online and select the winner of the Popular Prize from among the 15 finalists
  
• Online voting for inventors is open until 11 June at www.epo.org/vote and www.facebook.com/europeanpatentoffice
• Winners of the 2017 European Inventor Award will be announced on 15 June
  
• Awards will be broadcast live on Innovation TV and the EPO's Facebook page

Munich, 16 May 2017 – Voting is open for the European Inventor Award 2017 Popular Prize. Members of the public are invited to cast their vote for their favourite inventor from among the 15 finalists. The winner will be announced when the European Patent Office (EPO) presents this year’s Award ceremony in Venice on 15 June. The ceremony will be broadcast live on Innovation TV and the EPO's Facebook page.

The European Inventor Award is presented annually by the EPO. While the winners of the Award’s five categories, “Industry”, “Research”, “Non-EPO countries”, “Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)”, and “Lifetime achievement”, are selected by an international jury, the public alone decides who takes home the Popular Prize.

Voting is easy: An online vote open to everyone runs until 11 June at www.epo.org/vote and www.facebook.com/europeanpatentoffice. All 15 finalists and their inventions are presented on the EPO website, so the public can pick their favourite. Voters will be entered into a draw, giving them the chance to win a prize – a small, innovative tech product. One vote can be cast every 24 hours until the closing date.

This year’s finalists come from twelve countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Morocco, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

15 outstanding inventors in the running for the Popular Prize
In the Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) category, the three finalists in the running are: UK inventor Steve Lindsey for a novel rotary air compressor that can cut energy consumption by up to 20%; Dutch chemist Gert-Jan Gruter, for plant-based plastic bottles; and German chemist Günter Hufschmid, for a “super sponge” made of micronised wax to clean up chemical and oil spills.

In the Industry category the 2017 European Inventor Award finalists vying for the public’s vote are Swedish audio engineer Lars Liljeryd, for inventing a novel audio compression technique now used in most of our PCs, televisions and phones; the Italian team consisting of Giuseppe Remuzzi, Ariela Benigni and Carlamaria Zoja, for treatments for chronic kidney disease; and the Dutch-Austrian team of Jan van den Boogaart and Oliver Hayden, for developing a fast, accurate, computer-based blood test for malaria.

In the category Research, contenders for the Popular Prize are: Dutch molecular geneticist Hans Clevers, for his lab-grown human organs enabling drug testing safely outside of the body; the European team comprising Laurent Lestarquit (France), José Ángel Ávila Rodríguez (Spain), Günter W. Hein (Germany), Jean-Luc Issler (France), and Lionel Ries (Belgium/France), for the invention of radio signalling technologies ensuring that Europe’s global navigation system Galileo offers the highest possible positioning accuracy; and French immunologist Sylviane Muller for the first targeted treatment to halt the progression of autoimmune disease Lupus.

In the Non-EPO countries category the finalists are: James G. Fujimoto (USA), Eric A. Swanson (USA) and Robert Huber (Germany), for high-resolution medical imaging technology (OCT) that enables doctors to diagnose cancer, glaucoma, heart disease and other ailments at an early stage without invasive probing; US heart surgeon Waleed Hassanein, for a system that extends the time window in which donated organs can be transported and transplanted; and Moroccan biology professor Adnane Remmal, for a technique that boosts the efficacy of antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections with essential oils from local plants

In Lifetime achievement, the following inventors have a chance of winning the Popular Prize: Swiss engineer and entrepreneur Elmar Mock, for developing an ultrasonic plastic-welding technique that revolutionised watch manufacturing and gave birth to the Swatch watch; Italian microbiologist Rino Rappuoli for launching novel vaccines using genomics that have become standard immunisations against a large number of infections including meningitis and diphtheria; and German molecular biologist Axel Ullrich for developing a new generation of anti-cancer drugs.

More information about the Popular Prize is available at:
http://www.epo.org/learning-events/european-inventor/popular-prize.html
https://www.facebook.com/europeanpatentoffice

About the European Inventor Award
The European Inventor Award is one of Europe's most prestigious innovation prizes. Launched by the EPO in 2006, it honours individual inventors and teams of inventors whose pioneering work provides answers to some of the biggest challenges of our times. The winners are selected by an independent jury consisting of international authorities in the fields of business, politics, science, academia and research, who examine the proposals in terms of their contribution towards technical progress, social development, economic prosperity and job creation in Europe. The general public decides on the winner of the Popular Prize. The 2017 award ceremony will take place in Venice on 15 June.

About the EPO
With more than 7 000 staff, the European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the largest public service institutions in Europe. Headquartered in Munich with offices in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Vienna, the EPO was founded with the aim of strengthening co-operation on patents in Europe. Through the EPO's centralised patent granting procedure, inventors are able to obtain high-quality patent protection in up to 42 countries, covering a market of around 700 million people. The EPO is also the world's leading authority in patent information and patent searching.

Media resources
Additional information, photos and videos about the European Inventor Award 2017 can be found in the EPO Media Centre. Smart TV users can watch the ceremony on 15 June 2017 live on Innovation TV or the EPO's Facebook page.

Contacts at the EPO in Munich, Germany:
Jana Mittermaier
Director External Communication

Rainer Osterwalder
Press Spokesperson
European Patent Office
Tel. +49 (0)89 2399 1820
Mobile: +49 (0)163 8399527
rosterwalder@epo.org
press@epo.org

Contact UK:
Jonathan Weinberg
Shepard Fox Communications
Tel. +44 2033 184491
Mobile: +44 7947 141014
jonathan.weinberg@shepard-fox.com