GENIUS

GENIUS awards are designed to honor inventors and trademark registrants and thereby promote creativity.  The celebration of Ideas, Creativity, and Innovations started for the first time in the state of Utah in 2009 with Utah Genius.

Utah Genius was founded in 2009 by Rand Bateman, a local patent attorney. Appreciating that much of Utah’s vibrant economy has to do with the innovative nature of Utah companies, Rand decided that he could give back to the community by honoring those who were driving Utah’s creative economy. Rather than focusing only on the companies, however, he decided to also honor the people behind the innovations – e.g. Utah’s Geniuses.

The GENIUS program involves an honoree showcase where honorees show the innovations for which they are receiving their awards, along with a banquet where the awards are presented.  The GENIUS awards include:

Lifetime Achievement Award:  The award is presented to a person who has had a major impact on his/her state’s economy through their creativity (may be expressed by patented technology, registered trademarks or copyrighted works).

Top Inventors: Awards are presented to the top 20 inventors in their state based on the number of patents obtained during the prior year.  The goal of this award is to ensure that individual inventors are recognized for their achievements.

Top Companies: Awards are presented to the top 20 institutions and companies based on the number of patents granted to the employees of their state during the prior year.

Top Trademark Registrants:  Awards are given to the top 10 trademark recipients of the specific state for the prior year to promote those who are branding new products and services.

These awards are given based on data we collect from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, so that the awards are completely objective. Each honoree is provided with A complementary admission ticket to attend the banquet.

The People's Choice Award: Award given to the best Honorees' display which is chosen by all attendees.