The Berlin European Inventor Award was awarded by the European Patent Office (EPO) for inventors who made ​​an outstanding contribution to the social, technological or economic progress.

Of the six winners, Artur Fischer (94) got the prize for his lifework. He has registered1100 patents over the past 70 years (eg the synchronized flash device). The two Danes Peter Holme Jensen and Claus Helix Nielsen were excellent in the category “Small and medium-sized enterprises” for their effective and inexpensive method of water filtration that works with aquaporin membranes. 

Likewise, the American Charles Hull was honored for his invention of the 3-D printer in the category of “Non-European Countries”, and the Japanese Masahiro Hara honored for his development of the QR code (black and white patterned grain on billboards). The award in the “Industry” category was given to the Belgian microbiologist Koen Andries Bedaquilin, whose new medicine ensures to interrupt the power supply of tuberculosis pathogens and therefore eliminate this disease in the world, as it also attacks against resistant bacteria. In the category of “research” the Brit Christofer Toumazou was awarded, who revolutionized the research of the genetic constitution by developing a microchip which can detect the predisposition to genetic diseases.