The PIUG Technical Achievement Award

PIUG invites application for the PIUG Technical Achievement Award to be given for the second  time during the PIUG 2025 Annual Conference. The purpose of this award is to recognize the contribution of individuals or organizations which develop, improve, and make publicly available any new search tool, technique, or process to the benefit of patent searching in a specialized area.

Award Package

The award will consist of a US$500 award, a commemorative plaque and complimentary registration to the PIUG Annual Conference. If a team is selected as the award recipient, the cash award will be divided equally among the team members, each member will receive a commemorative plaque and the complimentary registration will be awarded to a team representative, as designated by the team, who will be presented with the award during the PIUG Annual Conference.

Application Process

The deadline to apply for the PIUG Technical Achievement award is December 15^th, 2023. Applications are welcome from all over the world and should be sent to Secretary @ piug.com. Award applicants can either be self-nominated or nominated by another. If a team is nominated, the team members can be from the same organization or from different organizations. People who wish to nominate a patent information professional or a team of patent information professionals for the award would need to contact the nominee(s) as the award application requires their input.

An important aspect of this award is that the winner’s effort must have gained widespread acceptance within the designated community. Examples of situations worthy of nomination include, but are not limited to:

• Freeware developers (academic or industrial)
• Data integrators (commercial or public sector, patent/non-patent literature, etc.)
• Interface or visualization tool developers
• Developers of standards for data capture and exchange
• Creators of new or improved data depositories
• Creators of new search algorithms and/or search systems which deploy them
• Game changers

The nominee will also need to provide an essay in English not to exceed 1500 words describing the work they did in achieving the accomplishment and explaining the impact that it had in the industry. In the case of a team nomination, only one essay is required from a team representative. The work should be described without including any confidential or business sensitive information. The selection committee does not need specific details about the work, but rather needs to understand the impact the work has had in the industry.

The application should also include at least one testimonial in English signed by an individual who can attest to the impact of the nominee(s)’ work in the patent information area.  The testimonial should also indicate how the unique abilities, talents or determination of the nominee(s) made the achievement possible. Supplemental information such as a presentation, product brochure, etc. may also be included in the nomination.

The successful nominee(s) and the corresponding organization(s) must also agree to permit the announcement of the award recipient(s) and naming of the corresponding organization(s) to take place via several media outlets such as the PIUG website and wiki, social media channels and/or press releases. Any applications that do not meet all of the specified requirements may be disqualified. All decisions of the PIUG, Inc. in connection with the award are final.

Eligibility

This award is an outward-looking, and open to both individuals and institutions. It is a sign of appreciation from the PIUG to those whose work has contributed towards advancement in searching in a designated area. The award is not limited to PIUG members.

Selection of the Winner

A committee will be appointed by the PIUG Board to make recommendations for the award and will be limited to PIUG members. Vendors or persons who appear to have conflicts of interest would be excluded. The committee may seek input from experts to help with the decision.

Frequency of Award:

The award will be made on no more than an annual basis provided there is a suitable awardee in the designated area.

Please submit applications for the award to secretary@piug.org by March 28,2025 by 11:59 PM US EST. We will notify the award recipient(s) of their success on or before April 7, 2025.