Content

DesignEuropa Awards 2023

Awarded: Integrated electric outboard motor, fully automatic espresso coffee machine and a woman who changed the world

Today (September 5), this year's DesignEuropa Awards were presented in Berlin. The event was organized by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in cooperation with the German Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJ). The prizes were awarded in three categories: Maria Benktzon was awarded for her lifetime achievement. Her work is particularly distinguished by the combination of design and ergonomics as well as inclusive designs. In the "Larger Companies" category, Vittorio Bertazzoni, Matteo Bazzicalupo and Raffaella Mangiarotti (SMEG Spa) won with their fully automatic espresso coffee machine. In the "small and start-up companies" category, Ajda Bertok (Remigo d.o.o.) was awarded for its integrated electric outboard motor.

DPMA President Eva Schewior congratulates the award winners: "My sincere congratulations to all nominees and especially to the winners of this year's DesignEuropa Awards. With Maria Benktzon, for the first time ever a designer has received the "Lifetime Achivement Award". Maria Benktzon is thus a shining example for the many girls and women who, with their ideas, inventions and designs and their female view of things, reinvent this world a little bit every day. In view of the fact that only about a quarter of designers in the EU are female and that the proportion of female inventors in Germany was only 7.6 percent, I call on the many female inventors and designers in particular to better protect their intellectual property. Because that, given the coming challenges to a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable world, is especially important."

DPMA President: DesignEuropa Awards underline the great importance of design as an IP right for the entire economy

Designs are an important driver of economic growth and job creation. On the occasion of the award ceremony, DPMA President Eva Schewior emphasized: "The presentation of the DesignEuropa Awards underlines the great importance of design as an IP right for the entire economy. A design enriches our everyday life and can have an emotional impact. It gives things - from drinking glasses to electric cars - a new face and makes products unmistakable. That's why it's important to protect innovative designs. Creatives in small and medium-sized enterprises invest a lot of development work in their products and should protect their intellectual property. For this purpose, the DPMA offers the registered design at the national level as an inexpensive, fast and effective IP right."

Germany, which has a long tradition in design protection, has been by far one of the leading countries in filing registered Community designs over the last ten years. With more than 12,000 applications filed so far in 2022, Germany is the second most active country in design protection at the EUIPO after China.

The DesignEuropa Awards

The DesignEuropa Awards have now been held for the fourth time, following the first awards ceremony in Milan (Italy) in 2016, the second in Warsaw (Poland) in 2018 and the third in Eindhoven (Netherlands) in 2021. The DesignEuropa Awards 2023 were held in cooperation with the German Federal Ministry of Justice and the German Patent and Trademark Office in Berlin.

A high-caliber jury from the fields of design, business and intellectual property rights decided on the prizes for lifetime achievement and in the categories "larger companies" and "small and start-up companies".

For more information, please visit the EUIPO EUIPO website.

Bilder: DPMA

Last updated: 23 January 2024