On 27 November, the awarding of the winners of the annual student competition "Creative Intellectual" organized by the Latvian Patent Office (LPO) took place. The team "Idea Alchemists" from Ventspils Secondary School No. 3 received a diploma issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization for the board games created by them.
The team “Idea Alchemists” from Ventspils Primary School No. 3 - Sofija Aršinova, Marija Maksaja, and Timofejs Rupato - worked enthusiastically. Guided by teacher Viktorija Kapura-Soņec, they created the board game “Patentu cīnas” (Patent Fights) and the board game “ORIGINALITY”, each letter of its name representing a chemical element.
Last year, another team from Ventspils Primary School No. 3 won the 2nd place in the “Creative Intellectual” competition. The students designed a 3D-printed board game – chemical laboratory, where players could create various products. This year, a new and even more complex board game was developed based on this idea, where chemical elements also play a central role.
The concept of the game is based on combining chemical elements to get different substances, for example, water from hydrogen and oxygen. The game includes more than 30 different tasks and each of its spaces symbolizes a specific chemical process or substance. Teacher Viktorija Kapura-Soņeca emphasizes that the chemistry game has not been created just for the competition. It is also part of the learning process. “I use this game in my class as a creative method for students to better understand the principles of chemistry. It is not only educational, but also exciting,” says the teacher. Speaking of future plans, Viktorija Kapura-Soņeca wishes to protect the game created by the students as intellectual property. “In Latvia, there are no Monopoly-like games that would combine chemistry and strategic thinking. We would like to take this idea to the next level,” says the teacher. She plans to participate in the next year competition as well, continuing to develop the topic of chemistry, which is particularly close to her. The teacher emphasizes that, thanks to the competition organizers and the available information about patents, students not only acquire scientific skills, but also learn how to protect their ideas.
In the group of grades 5-8, the first place went to the 8th grade team “Original A and J” from Ventspils Secondary School No. 3, and the second place was won by the 8th grade team “Exclusive Vacuum Cleaners” from Aizkraukle Regional Secondary School.
“When I started to read about intellectual property, I realized how interesting it was. I found out what you could and could not do with ideas. It helped me better understand how ideas could be protected and used. Intellectual property is your idea or invention that you can show to the world. It’s your creation, and you can even make money with it. By participating in this competition, I realized that I could do a lot of creative things myself. It gave me the confidence,” says Jana Lavrentjeva, one of the team members.
In the group of grades 9-12, the jury's sympathy award was won by the 11th grade team “KrisDaMa” from Riga Ziepniekkalns Secondary School. The 12th grade team “Pelnrušķītes stāsts” (Cinderella’s Story) from Ogre State Gymnasium got 3rd place; “Ideju alķīmiķi” (from the 9th grade of Ventspils 3rd Primary School won 2nd place, and the 11th grade team “Kosmiskie uzņēmēji” (Cosmic Entrepreneurs) from Druva Secondary School became 1st place winner.
“I would like to thank the Patent Office for organizing such a competition. It encourages young people to think and develop creativity, which can also be integrated into the learning process. As a social sciences teacher, I used of this competition for my work. The students created the game working with inspiration, and it gave them both new knowledge and joy,” says Intars Bušinskis, a teacher at Druva Secondary School.
Minister of Justice Inese Lībiņa-Egnere also congratulated the winners at the awards ceremony.
The Minister emphasized : “We, Latvians, are capable of dreaming and realizing big dreams. We are a nation of inventors! We can be proud of outstanding Latvian scientists and their inventions, who are recognized worldwide for their contributions, for example: Jānis Akermanis was an aviation pioneer; Valters Caps invented the legendary Minox camera; the Latvian-born inventor Estere Sāns-Takeuči invented long-lasting batteries for pacemakers. I invite young people to dream about equally big goals, even if they might seem ridiculous or impossible to someone right now. Creative and ambitious ideas turn into real things – innovations, inventions that contribute to the growth of our country. It is important that everything created in Latvia is properly protected to increase its value.”
The Patent Office has been organizing the competition for students in cooperation with partners for the sixth year already. Each year, 5-12 grade student teams that according to the jury's assessment have been most creative, are presented with awards.
“We are pleased that young Latvians participate in the competition with enthusiasm and creativity, developing their innovation skills and understanding of the importance of intellectual property. Such initiatives are a great way to strengthen the future generation of inventors and entrepreneurs, promoting their ability to create and protect new solutions. We would like to thank all participants, teachers and our cooperation partners for their contribution to the success story of this competition!” said LPO Director Agris Batalauskis.
The aim of the competition is to develop creativity and promote students' understanding of the importance of intellectual and industrial property rights and their use in business activities, as well as to stimulate students' curiosity and interest in research, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation. For this year’s competition, students had to prepare two creative works related to intellectual property.
This year, 60 team applications were received in two age groups, bringing the total number of participants to 160. In total, teams from 16 Latvian schools submitted their creative works. The winners were determined in two age groups – grades 5-8 and grades 9-12. In addition to the three strongest teams in each group, the winners of the LPO’s sympathy awards and encouragement awards were also congratulated. Teachers were presented with prizes as well.
The students’ works were assessed by a jury of experts – representatives of the National Centre for Education, Junior Achievement Latvia, the Ministry of Culture, the Latvian Performers’ and Producers’ Association, the Industrial Property Board of Appeal, and the LPO.
This year, students were particularly creative in developing their works, having submitted 27 digital games, 30 board games, 12 crossword puzzles, six letter puzzles, 16 worksheets, 20 interactive quizzes, two videos, five memory games, a programmed computer game, and a study.
57 works covered the topic of intellectual property in general; 37 works highlighted trademarks and their diversity; 15 works were about copyright and its role in our lives; five works vividly featured inventions and patents; six works highlighted the topical issue of counterfeiting.
The awards ceremony took place at the Science and Innovation Center of Riga Technical University, where the students not only received the awards but also learned practical things about various innovations at the open workshop “the Lab”. Representatives of two Latvian startups “SUBmerge Baltic” and “Red Frog” shared their experience in creating inventions and new products.