On 5 December 2019 the ceremony
was held to reward the winners of the 10th edition of the annual initiative
organised by the Department of Commerce, which is part of the Ministry of
Economy, Investment and Small Businesses. This initiative is the "Malta
Intellectual Property Award 2019".
This is the 10th edition of this
initiative. The fund "Malta Intellectual Property Award 2019" has
been announced for the first time in the 2010 budget, and since then an annual allocation
of funds for this purpose has been made. Thus, in the 2018 budget €50,000 was
allocated again to organise the "Malta Intellectual Property Award
2019".
The purpose of the "Malta
Intellectual Property Award 2019" is to celebrate and further foster a
culture of innovation and creativity that we have every interest to promote in
our country, as we see this taking place in various areas of Maltese enterprises
of all types and sizes. Nowadays bolstering
a culture of innovation and creativity in enterprise continues to render and to
foster technological, scientific and creative development at all levels, recognising
the importance of innovation in all operations whether in the products themselves,
the Machinery used, the packaging or related services.
The competition "Malta
Intellectual Property Award 2019" is divided into three categories - one
for Creative Initiative, an Initiative for Science and another for Technology. In addition, there is also a special prize for
Emerging Innovators. In some categories of the Malta Intellectual Property
Award 2019, certificates and medals were also awarded to the winners eligible
for recognition by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) which is
the world's organisation within the United Nations responsible to manage
intellectual property’s various aspects of copyright, patents, trademarks and
designs – among others.
The winners of the "Malta
Intellectual Property Award 2019" were:
Category - Intellectual Property Award for Creativity Initiative
Winners - Malta Arts and Culture Club - So Ltd,
awarded a prize of € 8,000 and the WIPO Medal for Creativity and certificate.
Second Place - Prodigy League - Guerilla Ltd.,
awarded a prize of € 4,000.
Category - Intellectual Property Award for Scientific Initiative
Winners - MaltaHip - Prof. Pierre Schembri Wismayer,
Prof. Ing. Joseph Buhagiar, Prof. Ing. Pierluigi Mollicone, Mr. Donald Dalli at
the University of Malta, who received a prize of € 8,000 between them as well
as for Inventors WIPO Medal and a certificate.
Second Place - Lab-On-A-Molecule - Prof. David C.
Magri, University of Malta, who received € 4,000 prize.
Category - Intellectual Property Award for Technology Initiative
Winners - Speechie - Dr. Ing. Philip Farrugia,
Emmanuel Balzan, Anthony Demanuele, Prof. Helen Grech, Prof. Simon Fabri, Dr.
Daniela Gatt, Dr. Owen Casha, Mrs. Frendo Louisa Wirth, Ms. Loredana Buttigieg,
and Mr. James Attard, from the University of them awarded a prize of € 8,000
and the WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy.
Second Place - Wheel Assembly 2.0 - IBG Automation
Ltd., awarded a prize of € 4,000.
Category - Intellectual Property Award - Emerging Innovator
Winner - Gadgets Expo - Martina Zammit, who received
a prize of € 2,000.
In the budget of 2019 once again,
Government announced a fund of €50,000 to continue being applied for this
initiative in 2020 after the 10th anniversary this year. This will certainly continue to spur
innovation and creativity with the launch of the Malta Intellectual Property
Award 2020 to take place in the near future.
- MIPA 2019 Guide Lines
- MIPA 2019 Creative Initiative Award
- MIPA 2019 Scientific Initiative Award
- MIPA 2019 Technological Initiative Award