The Patents Office is pleased to announce the launch of Junior Inventor 2009, a competition for primary schools.
This competition is aimed at primary school children and the idea is to try and encourage the children to be innovative, thus sowing the seeds of interest in science and engineering at an early age. The competition is being organised to mark the Patents Office contribution to World Intellectual Property Day, which is held annually on 26th April.
The planet is facing an environmental crisis. Our enormous demand for energy is outpacing supply at an alarming rate. We are exhausting dwindling resources in ways that accelerate carbon emissions, global warming and harmful climate change. Environmental pollution continues to grow largely unchecked. Worldwide people are increasingly thinking, creating and inventing with a view to finding eco friendly "green" solutions to these important environmental problems. In Ireland, for example, significant investment has been made in the area of developing wind, wave and tidal renewable energy harvesting devices. This year the theme for World Intellectual Property day (26 April) is the promotion of "green innovation" as the key to a secure future. In keeping with this theme, the Patents Office is running the Junior Inventor 2009 competition and we would like to hear about new ideas and inventions with an eco friendly emphasis from primary school children who are Ireland's future inventors.
Enter any idea or invention concerned with improving the environment; an idea for a new "green" environmentally friendly product, an improvement for an existing product, a new "green" procedure, ideas for new environmentally friendly ways of creating energy or saving energy or any idea that uses green technology, solves an environmental problem and/or makes life better and more eco friendly. This can simply be an idea that can be described and drawn or illustrated.
Students will be required to submit a drawing or illustration for their invention accompanied by a written description (see competition rules for further details)
The competition is divided into three categories with one overall winner who will be presented with the Junior Inventor 2009 award. The categories are:-
1. Junior Infants to Senior Infants
2. First Class to Third Class
3. Fourth Class to Sixth Class
Prizes will be awarded and the 1st place winners in each category will also receive a prize of a digital-microscope for their schools.
The Patents Office will hold an Open Day on Monday 27th April to mark World Intellectual Property Day. As part of this Open Day all prizewinners of the Junior Inventor Competition, together with their class and Teacher, will be invited to attend a prize-giving ceremony.
Further Information on World Intellectual Property Day can be accessed at www.wipo.int
and information on Intellectual Property can be accessed at the following websites:
WWW.OAMI.EUROPA.EU
WWW.EPO.ORG
WWW.GREENINNOVATION.COM.AU
WWW.WAVEBOB.COM
WWW.GREENINNOVATION.CO.UK/
WWW.SEI.IE
The closing date for entries is 5.30pm on Wednesday 8th April, 2009. All entries should be clearly marked 'Junior Inventor Competition' and sent to:-
The Patents Office
Government Buildings
Hebron Road
Kilkenny
Tel: 056-7720111
The Patents Office will not regard an entry in this competition as constituting a patent application.
Those entrants wishing to obtain a patent for their invention should make a separate application for the grant of a patent. Details on how to apply for a patent can be found on www.patentsoffice.ie/en/patents_apply.aspx. Where an entrant has filed a patent application in respect of the invention entered in the competition, this should be disclosed with the entry.