IPO Education Foundation’s 2024 Awards Celebration

IPO Education Foundation held its 2024 Awards Celebration on December 12 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The annual event honors accomplishments in the fields of IP, innovation, and creativity. Over 350 attendees from all over the world gathered to celebrate the honorees and promote the value of the IP system. This year, the Foundation honored Dr. Martine Rothblatt (United Therapeutics Corp.) as the Executive of the Year and the inventors of Mounjaro (Eli Lilly and Co.) and Ozempic (Novo Nordisk) as the Inventors of the Year. Learn more about this year’s honorees below:

 

 

 

Inventors of the Year

IPO Education Foundation’s Inventor of the Year award recognizes the world’s most outstanding recent inventors and how their inventions benefit the nation’s economy and quality of life. The Foundation honored the inventors of Mounjaro (Lilly) and Ozempic (Novo Nordisk) for identifying novel compounds targeting incretin hormones to treat diabetes. The honorees from Lilly include Krister Bokvist, Tamer Coskun, Robert Chad Cummins, and Jorge Alsina-Fernandez. The honorees from Novo Nordisk include Jesper Lau, Paw Bloch, and Thomas Hansen. In a video played during the awards ceremony, IPO Board Member, Tonya Combs (Lilly) remarked that, “These inventors are not only scientists, they are pioneers who change the course of history through their relentless pursuit of better health for all”. Mounjaro and Ozempic have made significant positive impacts on the lives of those affected by diabetes by lowering A1C and the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease.

 

Executive of the Year

The Foundation awarded Dr. Martine Rothblatt (United Therapeutics Corp.) as the Executive of the Year for her commitment to the creation, promotion, and protection of intellectual property. Dr. Rothblatt, an inventor and entrepreneur, has made transformative contributions across various fields, including telecommunications with the creation of SiriusXM, biotechnology, and aviation. Dr. Rothblatt founded United Therapeutics in 1996 after her daughter was diagnosed with life threatening pulmonary hypertension. Under her leadership as Chairperson and CEO, the company developed a successful treatment for this condition, impacting and improving the lives of many patients. Beyond her work with United Therapeutics, Dr. Rothblatt has been a driving force in the biotech industry, advancing treatments and research that address significant medical challenges.

 

Why Didn’t I Think of That? Student Inventors Meet IP Professionals

At the event, IPOEF also honored the student winners from our virtual invention competition, “Why Didn’t I Think of That?”. Thank you Competition Dynamics for sponsoring the students so they could join us for a celebratory evening! These young innovators were able to meet our honorees and talk with IP professionals from around the world.

 

These three student inventors were voted by the public as the winners of the 2024 competition. They were each paired with an industry professional to coach them about opportunities to advance their inventions. The students and their mentors were featured in a video during the ceremony and they shared about the importance of learning about IP protection and the impact of being able to work with an industry professional.

Ava-Elizabeth received a patent for her invention, OCT-D: Defense for Your Car, when she was in fourth grade due to the generous support of WilmerHale. During the Awards Celebration, Ava-Elizabeth took the opportunity to thank WilmerHale in person. Now 13, she is working to further her invention and has been working with her coach, Louis Foreman (Enventys), to do market research and develop a plan for the next steps for her invention. She is eager to hear from industry professionals, innovators, and every day drivers alike. Take this one-minute survey to share your input with Ava-Elizabeth.

 

 

 

IPOEF Thanks Generous Awards Celebration Donors

The Awards Celebration also featured IPOEF’s first ever fundraising campaign. Donations received during the event will help IPOEF to reach greater audiences, form new partnerships, and develop innovative learning materials, from virtual tools to tailored content that meet the diverse needs of our audiences. We are amazed by the generosity of our attendees who contributed over $56,000! We look forward to sharing about the Foundation’s progress in the coming months towards educating the next generation about the value of IP.

Thank you to those who sponsored and donated at the event! Foundation programs and activities are not possible without your support. Learn more about IPOEF programs below and how we aim to introduce more students to the importance of intellectual property.

Find full lists of donors and sponsors at IPOEF.org.

Educating the Next Generation About the Importance of Intellectual Property

The IPO Education Foundation Board of Directors approved a new strategic plan for 2024-2026 to educate the next generations about the role that IP plays in driving prosperity and enriching life in our communities and elevate awareness of and appreciation for the role IP plays in driving innovation, prosperity and welfare of all.

In March 2024, IPOEF launched the “IP Education for Next Gen Innovators” toolkit. The toolkit equips IP professionals with tools to deliver these essential IP concepts to middle and high school students. It complements STEM programs and can be tailored to different presentation lengths, student ages, and group sizes. With turnkey materials and interactive exercises, it is intended to be a light lift for presenters.

We are excited to announce that 2,194 students in 8 different states have been introduced to essential IP concepts thanks to IPO members. We are 87% of the way towards our goal of reaching 2,500 students by Spring 2025. We appreciate each IPO member who has taken the time to use the toolkit to connect with students in their community. A special thank you to those on our leaderboard, especially Johnson & Johnson, who has reached 1,374 students!

Visit IPOEF.org to download the toolkit today and connect with the next generation of innovators! The materials are designed to engage students and encourage active participation. They can be customized to fit student age, group size and time available.

IPOEF Treasurer, Anjanette Lecher (Corning Inc.), said that her presentation included, “a hands-on activity to “design your own trademark” with fun supplies which the kids really loved. We also “awarded” swag if the kids individually completed the trademark quiz and created their own trademark”. Make sure to provide feedback if you have utilized the toolkit in your community. IPOEF uses your feedback to track the number of students reached and improve materials.

 

 

IPOEF is Looking for Committee Volunteers

A huge thank you to our 2024 committee members who developed and piloted the IP Education for Next Gen Innovators toolkit! We are so excited about what the committee has accomplished and are grateful for all the hard work that they have put into this pilot program to make it a success.

In 2025, we are looking for volunteers to increase our reach and enhance educational materials. Find more information about the focuses of each committee below:

Increase Reach

• Prioritize Partnerships
• Explore new audiences
• Support IPO members to use toolkit within their companies/firms

 

Enhance Materials

• Continuously improve current materials
• Create new digital resources for teachers
• Create new materials around specific topics
• Explore opportunities to collaborate with IPO Committees

Committees meet once a month and volunteer additional time as needed for projects or events. If you are interested in volunteering your time and expertise to one of these committees, click the button below to indicate your interest. For questions, please contact foundation@ipo.org.

	I’m Interested!

Elevating Awareness of the Value of IP

The Foundation is elevating awareness of IP through a public relations campaign. IPOEF will be promoting IP in everyday life and connecting innovation and IP to major cultural moments in 2025 like the Super Bowl, Oscars, Kentucky Derby, and more! Make sure you are following IPOEF on all social media channels as we launch these new initiatives. IPOEF is collaborating with prominent social media influencer and aspiring journalist, Jeremiah Fennel. Jeremiah will be talking with brands, inventors, and celebrities throughout the year to demonstrate that IP is everywhere. Additionally, IPOEF will be introducing a free AI avatar that will educate innovators about the IP process and guide them through a series of prompts and questions.

How to Get Involved:

• Your Network
  • We will not be successful without the inspiring stories that come from your company and clients.
  • Connect us with brands, inventors, entrepreneurs so we can tell their story about the value of IP!
• Sponsor
  • Donate to the Foundation to help us increase our reach, all contributions support the work we can do to promote the value of IP.

We look forward to sharing updates as the campaign progresses. For questions or to indicate your interest in getting involved, contact Deputy Executive Director, Kristen Lurye, klurye@ipo.org.

Welcome New IPOEF Board Members

Thank You Bronze Donors!

Donations Received from December 18, 2023-December 28,2024

Erika Arner | Association of Corporate Patent Counsel | Scott Barker | Carlyn Burton | Carter, DeLuca & Farrell, LLP | Tonya & Phillip Combs | Dena Ehrich | Ray Farrell | Darryl Frickey | Krish Gupta | Sarah Hooson | Andrei Iancu | McAndrews, Held, & Malloy, Ltd. | Kelsey Milman | Matthew Molloy | Honorable Kathleen O’Malley | George Pappas | Dr. Martine Rothblatt | RinLaures LLC | Ryan, Mason & Lewis LLP | Worldwide IP Solutions | Vanessa Yen

IPOEF is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and relies on the support from our generous donors and sponsors to continue to develop programming to educate the next generation of innovators about intellectual property.