The United States Patent and Trademark Office will hold its annual Trademark Expo next May 8-9 at the agency’s headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. The 2008 Expo attracted 7,000 people and received wide media coverage. Next year’s two day event will focus again on educating the public about the value and important role trademarks play in our society and the global marketplace. Photo Credit: USPTO

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The European Inventor of The Year Awards honors inventors of the best patented inventions in research and industry. Antiviral treatment, aluminium car frame, revolutionary eye scan and robot surgery were all honored with the European Inventor of the Year 2008 award.Erik De Clercq of the University of Leuven (Belgium) won Lifetime Achievement for his landmark contributions to antiviral treatment, including the development of the drug cocktail for AIDS which has become the gold standard of our day. Audi's Norbert Enning, Ulrich Klages, Heinrich Timm, Gundolf Kreis, Alois Feldschmid, Christian Dornberg and Karl Reiter (Germany) won the Industry category for revolutionising automotive manufacturing by making car frames lighter and safer through the use of aluminium. In the SMEs and Research category Douglas Anderson, Robert Henderson and Roger Lucas of Scotland's SME Optos (United Kingdom) for developing a new laser scanning technology for the eye which allows powerful but pain-free examination of the retina. In the Non-European Inventors category, SRI International's Philip S. Green (United States) for developing a robotic surgical system that has helped to improve surgery in Europe by allowing surgeons to perform complex procedures with the highest precision. Photo Credit: European Patent Office

The first microphone was a telephone transmitter invented by Emile Berliner for Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. The invention of radio, spurred the invention of better quality broadcasting microphones. Graphic Cedit: Mary Bellis - Microphone used in Alexander Graham Bell's telephone.

The computer is another good example of a complex invention that required the energy of many inventors to create. In fact, the computer is actually a collection of many different inventions.

Sigard by Sound Intelligence is a patented software/closed circuit television system security package that can detect verbal aggression from individuals in wired public spaces, public transportation, nightclubs and bars. Sound Intelligence was founded in 2000, based on research at the departments of Biophysics and Artificial Intelligence of Groningen State University (RuG), into the mechanisms underlying human hearing.