Congratulations to all our clients who were finalists in the New Zealand Innovators Awards, which celebrate Kiwi ingenuity on all scales.
Gallagher, Integrity Analysis Ltd, Rest in Pets, Goran Stojadinovic, Patrick Roskam and Ayla Hutchinson were all finalists in different categories, with Ayla taking out the award for the Most Inspiring Individual.
The 14-year-old's Kindling Cracker allows people to make kindling without dangerously wielding an axe. It was also a winner at the 2013 Fieldays, where Ayla received the James & Wells Intellectual Property1 Award and was named the Fieldays Young Inventor2 of the Year.
The winner of the James & Wells-sponsored category of Innovation in Design and Engineering in the New Zealand Innovators Awards was a more high tech product – the StretchSense.
StretchSense has created soft, stretchy sensors for measuring human body deformation and movement. The sensors don't interfere with natural motion and are sort, unobtrusive, comfortable, wireless and easy to use.
The New Zealand Innovation Council said a jump in the number of entries from last year resulted in even better quality, and it was amazing to see the depth of talent the country has.
Our own Kate Wilson was one of the evaluators for the awards and agreed the quality of the entries was very high, and hoped that recognising innovators achievements would inspire others on a journey of growth through innovation.
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Footnotes
1Refers to the ownership of an intangible thing - the innovative idea behind a new technology, product, process, design or plant variety, and other intangibles such as trade secrets, goodwill and reputation, and trade marks. Although intangible, the law recognises intellectual property as a form of property which can be sold, licensed, damaged or trespassed upon. Intellectual property encompasses patents, designs, trade marks and copyright.
2The developer of an invention. In the field of intellectual property the word "inventor" is a legal term to describe the person (or group of people) who made the inventive step to arrive at the invention. It is important to understand that this will not necessarily be the person who developed the invention to proof of concept or prototype stage. If the concept itself is inventive then the inventor will be the person who conceived the concept. Ascertaining the correct inventor(s) is important as he or she will need to be named in any patent application and there could be adverse consequences for omitting an inventor or adding someone who is not a true inventor.