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Posted on April 30, 2004 Lemelson Foundation to Fund 'Sustainable Invention' in Developing World The Portland-based Lemelson Foundation has announced plans to shift the focus of its grantmaking from rewarding American ingenuity to supporting "sustainable invention" in the developing world, the New York Times reports. The foundation, which was endowed a decade ago with patent royalties earned by American inventor Jerome Lemelson, has supported American invention through such efforts as the Lemelson-MIT program, which recently awarded the annual Lemelson-MIT prize and $500,000 to Nick Holonyak, Jr. for inventing the first practical light-emitting diode. By 2006, however, the foundation plans to devote half its approximately $13 million annual grantmaking budget to encourage invention and innovation in the developing world. The shift in focus reflects the interests of Jerome Lemelson's sons, Rob and Eric, who along with their wives and their mother, Dorothy, oversee the foundation. Jerome Lemelson, who died in 1997 at the age of 74, was the recipient of 562 patents during his lifetime — second only to Thomas Edison — and earned more than $1 billion in royalties. But while admired by independent inventors as a classic American success story, Lemelson was sometimes criticized by corporate lawyers, who characterized him as a shrewd manipulator of the patent system. Because many developing countries have poorly enforced or nonexistent patent regimes, the foundation no longer stresses patents over the act of invention. The ideas "just have to improve lives on a basic level," said Eric Lemelson. The foundation also plans to fund efforts to strengthen intellectual property institutions. "All his life, Jerry wanted to celebrate American invention," said Dorothy Lemelson. "He felt it was what made this country strong. Now it's time to turn to the rest of the world and see what we can do for them." Riordan, Teresa. “Expanding Reach of Patent Prizes.” New York Times 4/26/04. Primary Subject: International Affairs/Development FC006671

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