Junior Inventor 2009 Competition Rules
Theme: "Green Innovation"
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 be simply an idea that can be described and drawn or illustrated.
General Rules
1. Students are required to provide a drawing or illustration of their invention and a written description of the invention.
2. Entries should reflect the competition theme: "Green Innovation".
3. Entries will be judged on the criteria of creativity, originality and practicality of the invention, the clarity of the drawing or illustration, quality of written description, and relevance to the "Green Innovation" theme.
4. All works entered for the competition must be original and be the sole work of the entrant(s).
5. All entries are sent at the entrant's risk and the Patents Office is not responsible for any loss or damage to entries.
6. The Patents Office is unable to return entries.
7. By entering the compeitition, entrants have assigned copyright in their entry to the Patents Office. The Patents Office reserves the right to reproduce in any format, without payment, any entries. The entrant(s) will be acknowledged if the work is reproduced.
8. Children and relatives of staff of the Patents Office are not eligible to enter the competition.
9. A judging panel establised by the Patents Office will judge entries.
10. The judges' decision is final.
11. Any entry not received by the required deadline of 5.30pm on the 8th April 2009 or not on the paper size specified below, shall be deemed ineligible.
12. Full name, class year and details of school (including address, phone number) must accompany each entry.
Rules about entrants and entries
1. Entries will be accepted from individual students or groups of students from classes in the following class categories:
Junior Infants to Senior Infants
First Class to Third Class
Fourth Class to Sixth Class
2. A student or group of students may submit only one entry.
3. Prizes will be awarded to the best entry from each class category and the 1st place winners in each class category will also receive a prize of an e-microscope for their schools.
4. Drawings or illustrations must be done
on A4 size paper [Letter Size (8.5" x 11")]
and can be done using crayons, coloured pencils,
watercolours, etc. The style is free.
5. Drawings or illustrations must not be framed.
6. Drawings or illustrations that have been shown or accepted in other competitions will not be accepted.
7. Drawings or illustrations that include any brand names shall be deemed ineligible.
8. A written description of the invention should accompany the drawing or illustration and should be no longer than 200 words. The description must be submitted on a separate A4 page.
9. Drawings or paintings and descriptions should only be done on one side of the A4 paper so that they are suitable for display - (don't write on both sides of the paper).
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.