European Inventor of the Year recognized

The European Commission and the European Patent Office (EPO) have named Optos plc as European Inventor of the Year in the SME and Research category. The UK-based company designs, develops, manufactures and markets retinal imaging devices.

Optos plc was the only UK finalist in the pan-European competition. Other categories included Non-European countries, Industry and Lifetime Achievement. Winners came from the US, Germany and Belgium. The judging panel considered "technological achievements that have been developed and successfully marketed between 1993 and 2002."

Slovenian President Danilo Turk, EU Commissioner and Vice-President of the European Commission Gunter Verheugen and EPO President Alison Brimelow presented the award, in recognition of the company's proprietary scanning laser technology, to Optos plc founder, Douglas Anderson, in Ljubljana on May 6.