Nominations
The European Inventor Award will return in 2026. Next year, we will host the Young Inventors Prize in a new format. For further details, please refer to the Prize webpages.
The Award recognises technological breakthroughs and casts a spotlight on the individuals driving brighter future. It showcases inspiring ideas and underlines the vital role inventors play in building a smarter, more sustainable world.
The road to the Award
Once we have received proposals from the public, our staff, patent offices worldwide, or even inventors themselves, the journey begins. First, an EPO panel evaluates the proposals to ensure they meet all formal requirements and represent breakthrough technologies.
Our panel drafts a shortlist of some 50 candidates, which is submitted to an independent jury. During a lively meeting, the jury evaluates the list and after several voting and discussion rounds, they select the finalists and winners.
We reveal the names of these outstanding inventors a few week prior to Award ceremony and invite the public to vote for their favourite in the Popular Prize. We announce the category and Popular Prize winners at the ceremony.
Let’s get technical
Do you know of an inspiring inventor or ground-breaking invention that you think is worthy of the Award? We would be thrilled to learn about them. Before submitting your proposal, take a moment to review the entry requirements, eligibility criteria and formal conditions.
Eligibility rules and conditions
The section below provides all the information you need to submit a proposal. . Remember to check your proposal carefully – if the details are incorrect, incomplete or do not meet the conditions below, your candidate may be eliminated from the competition.
- Criteria for Industry, Research, SMEs, Non-EPO Countries, and Lifetime Achievement
- An inventor must be granted at least one European patent for an invention by the European Patent Office.
- The patent must be maintained in force in at least one EPO member state (except for the Lifetime achievement category).
- The patent should show a high degree of inventiveness, display a recognisable benefit to society or the environment and demonstrate proven or potential economic success in Europe.
- Inventors nominated for the Industry, Research, SMEs and Lifetime Achievement categories must be citizens of one of the EPO’s member states. Inventors from outside the EPO’s member states can only be nominated for the Non-EPO Countries category.
- Inventions from all fields of technology for which a European patent can be granted can be nominated for the European Inventor Award.
- Not eligible
- The patent has not yet been granted by the EPO
- The relevant patent is subject to pending opposition or appeal proceedings
- The relevant patent is within a nine-month notice of opposition period
- The patent has been revoked
- The patent has lapsed or expired in all EPO member states
- The inventor has already been a finalist or winner in a previous European Inventor Award competition (see the list of past finalists and winners).
For further information, please refer to the European Inventor Award FAQ.