EPO Innovation Contest

The European Patent Office (EPO), in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the European Patent Convention signed in 1973, has organised the EPO Innovation Contest. This will allow universities and students in member countries to use patent documentation and propose new fields for innovation, placing the stress on green and sustainable development technologies.

Requirements
Participants are asked to submit a research project of interest with a view to carrying out subsequent R&D. It should cover a technical problem falling within one of the following categories:

• Sustainable production of food
• Ecological energy production and storage
• Waste management, recycling, urban mining
• Smart systems for traffic and transport management
• Smart homes and home automation

The contest will involve three stages:

• Registration for the virtual course
• Distance teaching and on-line tutoring
• Submission of final projects
• Presentation of awards

The national patent offices in the member states will be responsible for selecting one participant for each of the five categories. At the end of the on-line teaching, the participants will be expected to submit the final project report based on the idea presented initially.

Timing
Registration must be done on-line between 14 January 2013 and 15 March. The distance teaching programme will take place from 18 March to 13 June. The final project must be submitted before 13 July 2013. Registration must be done in one of the three official language of the EPO (English, French or German).

There will be an award of 5,000 euros in each of the five categories. In addition, all participants who submit a final research project will receive a one-year subscription to the EPO’s professional search tools, starting from October 2013.

For further information, click here.