Patent applicationsSiemens is European Patent Champion
With 174,317 applications, the European Patent Office reported a new record last year. The most active European company was Siemens. The last time the company led the field in Europe was in 2011.
Wind farms or oil and gas production facilities are installed in the open sea using jack-up platforms. To anchor the legs of these artificial islands to the seabed, Vemund Kaarstad (55) from Process Industries & Drives in Oslo, Norway, has invented an automatic control system including a control strategy. It prevents the legs from being damaged or even breaking off when the structures, which weigh thousands of tons, are lowered and raised out of the water. Kaarstad's system is already in use on over 70 jack-up platforms. The inventor was honored in the 'Outstanding Invention' category.