LCD among prized inventions at EPO awards
The inventor of the world’s first flat-panel liquid crystal display (LCD), Martin Schadt, was among a number of winners at the European Patent Office (EPO’s) European Inventor Award 2013.
Schadt took the lifetime achievement for his LCD technology, which powers low-energy devices such as flat screens, tablet computers and mobile phones, at the ceremony in Amsterdam.
There were awards in five other categories: industry, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), research, non-European countries and popular prize.
Claus Hämmerle and Klaus Brüstle, from Austrian manufacturer Julius Blum, won the industry award for their system that allows for the soft closing of furniture doors, drawers and wall cabinets.
In the SME category, Pål Nyrén of Sweden scooped a prize for inventing pyrosequencing ─ a faster, less complicated and cheaper method of sequencing DNA strands.
Patrick Couvreur, Barbara Stella, Véronique Rosilio, Luigi Cattel , a team at Paris-Sud University, won the research award for their invention of nano-capsules – 70 times smaller than red blood cells and protected by a biodegradable coating – which destroy cancer cells without harming healthy tissue.
Universal Serial Bus technology, which allows people to more easily connect devices to a computer, was regarded as the best non-European invention, with Ajay Bhatt, Bala Sudarshan Cadambi, Jeff Morriss, Shaun Knoll, Shelagh Callahan, all of the USA, collecting the award.
The winner of the popular prize was Spaniard José Luis López Gómez, whose invention of an ‘independent guided' wheel design makes high-speed passenger more comfortable and safe than those using a standard axle.
Speaking at the ceremony, EPO president Benoît Battistelli, said: “All of the inventors honoured here today have been truly exemplary, not only in coming up with ingenious solutions to challenges of our time ... but also in improving people's lives through the quality of the products and services that we are using every day.”
