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Josh Silver nominated in European Inventor Awards

Professor Joshua Silver, director of the Centre for Vision in the Developing World, has been nominated in the Research category of the European Patent Office's Inventor Awards 2011.

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Press Release

Two British inventions nominated for prestigious European Inventor Award

European inventors once again set global innovation standards

Whether high-stability deformable concrete, adjustable spectacle lenses, water purification with ultraviolet light, highly efficient biomass combustion, transmission amplifiers for optical fibre cables or methods for diagnosing Alzheimer's genes: the fifteen nominations for the European Inventor Award 2011, including two from the United Kingdom, cover a vast span of pioneering technological solutions

Munich/Brussels, 3 March 2011 -- Joshua Silver is one of three nominees in the Research award category. The Oxford University physics professor came up with low-cost glasses, featuring [self-adjustable eyeglasses] adjustable plastic lenses which have fluid sacs filled with silicone oil between them. His invention allows wearers to adjust the glasses to their personal prescription by themselves, making them ideal for developing countries where access to eyecare professionals is severely limited.

The European Inventor Award is hosted by the EPO, with the support of the Hungarian EU Council Presidency and the European Commission. With a high-profile list of inventors across five different award categories, the announcement of the winners at the awards ceremony on 19 May in Budapest promises to be an exciting affair.

What began as an initial large pool of submitted proposals, resulted in a shortlist of inventions that passed the award's stringent formal and legal criteria. The 15 finalists invited to Budapest were selected by a high-calibre international jury, including prominent members such as European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek. They were chosen by judging the inventions against the award criteria, which includes the inventions' technical content, economic impact and social relevance.

"The nominations for the European Inventor Award 2011 are a positive proof that European enterprises can hold their own with cutting-edge products in a wide range of fields," says EPO President Benoît Battistelli. "The inventions that have been nominated owe much of their commercial success to the rational exploitation of European patents. With the revenue from their patents, companies are able to invest billions in research and development year after year. This investment in turn works to the benefit of society as a whole. At the EPO we set great store by the quality of European patents, giving legal certainty to patent proprietors, and by publishing all the patent specifications we stimulate further innovation. In that way we bolster the innovative capacity of European industry."

This year's nominees come from a dozen countries covering nearly all regions in Europe. The spread of the inventions` fields is broad too, with medical research leading the way, followed by energy technology, construction engineering, vehicle technology and telecommunications.

"Harnessing technological creativity for marketable innovation is an essential means of ensuring that Europe remains competitive on the global scene," adds EU Internal Market and Services Commissioner Michel Barnier. "In some expanding fields, clean energy for example, Europe is a world leader, but in others it has room for improvement. Inventors are key figures in our knowledge society. They secure and create millions of jobs, making a major contribution to Europe's economic future. One of the EU's key duties is establishing the right framework to ensure the long-term innovative capacity of inventive enterprises. The EU patent will be a clear step in that direction, helping to make the European patent system simpler and more transparent."

To view the full release, and for further information on the European Inventor of the Year Award, please refer to the website: http://www.epo.org/european-inventor