The 123rd Concours Lépine in Paris International Invention Exhibition concluded with Taiwan showcasing 66 patented creations, winning a total of 13 gold, 17 silver, and 36 bronze medals, marking the highest number of gold medals in history. Among the award-winning works, the gold-winning creation of loofah foam replaces inorganic foam chunks with natural loofah fiber to achieve waste reduction and carbon negativity.
The Concours Lépine in Paris is the world’s oldest invention exhibition, held at the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Center from May 1 to 12, with the awards ceremony taking place on the 10th. Taiwan’s 66 award-winning patents this year embody the spirit of founder Louis Lépine’s inspiration from daily life, garnering recognition from the judges.
The Taiwanese delegation, the largest among foreign participants, has been participating in the exhibition for 14 years. Wang Wen-wei, Deputy Attaché at the Taipei Representative Office in France, represented Taiwan at the awards ceremony and was invited to sit in the VIP area next to the chief judge, underscoring the organizers’ esteem for the Taiwanese delegation.
CEO of Jemeng Biology, Lin Jing-ting, who received the gold award, expressed that the team “Techies for Pets” aims to provide better care for pets like family members. Their smart home pet physiological monitoring collar applies wearable device technology to pets, connecting to an app and artificial intelligence. This product collects daily physiological data of pets, automatically organizes and analyzes it through tags. The collected big data can also be integrated into the pet industry’s upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors, applying human health care concepts and applications to pets.
Lin Jing-ting mentioned that during the invention exhibition, they met many veterinarians and were invited to visit the Paris Veterinary Hospital, where doctors highly praised the product, expressing a 20-year anticipation for similar products. With the wearable device, pet owners can monitor their pets’ status at any time and synchronize data for doctors, facilitating trend analysis through AI for easy monitoring.
In terms of technological innovation, Lin Jing-ting stated, “Taiwan is excellent, with a complete industrial supply chain. We have chips, the most advanced technology, and AI flourishing in Taiwan. The combination of hardware and software in Taiwan progresses much faster compared to Europe.”
Third-year industrial design student at National United University, Tsai Zong-han, and his team won two gold awards, one of them being eco-friendly plastic-free packaging paper boxes. Inspired by stamps that can adhere without tape when moistened, the team coated the paper boxes with adhesive and developed a water coating device to omit tape adhesion, reducing carbon emissions and pollution while avoiding the challenges of recycling tapes. Tsai Zong-han found winning the awards unbelievable. He shared that during the creative process, teachers often reminded them not to fear failure, and the principal provided opportunities and financial assistance, which greatly aided them.
Regarding nurturing technology talents, President Lee Wei-hsien of National United University emphasized that Taiwanese young people are of high quality and potential. “We enable young people to sustainably sense, have humanistic care. We provide a good environment, faculty for students to conceive, innovate and contribute on a global scale.”
Xu Jiezhong, the head of the Paris Invention Exhibition, also received two gold awards. One is the “Evacuation without Losing Bag” created by firefighters. The product not only includes a shock-absorbing mat to protect the head similar to the Seal commandos but also contains disaster response essentials as deemed by firefighters, such as customized blood type labels and maps. The other piece is the bright green loofah foam for vertical farming. He noted that a nightmare of vertical farms is the difficulty in recycling small plastic pieces initially recyclable inside. As the plant roots entangle with plastics, yearly tons of plastic pieces are disposed of.
Hence, the team developed loofah fiber to replace inorganic foam chunks, achieving waste reduction and carbon negativity as loofah growth absorbs carbon. Additionally, loofah fiber has excellent water retention, promoting better plant growth. Xu Jiezhong remarked that this year’s enthusiasm is even higher than last year, with a vertical farm in France expressing interest in learning from Taiwan’s experiences.
Speaking of Taiwan’s technological innovation advantages, he analyzed that AI development in Taiwan is steadily maturing. However, he emphasized, “Technology must be built on creators with sufficient observation and creativity, or else having chips and AI makes one a craftsman, not an original creator. Taiwan’s environment for startups is excellent, with creativity and entrepreneurial spirit ranking among the best in Asia.”
Since 1901, the Paris Police Chief Lépine held “Lépine Invention Exhibition” to enhance France’s creative manufacturing competitiveness, gaining high notoriety in Europe. The ballpoint pen, portable vacuum cleaner, and disposable razor all became prominent through invention competitions.
Since 1929, the Paris International Invention Exhibition has been invited to co-organize with the Paris International Fair (Foire de Paris) since 1904, attracting nearly 500,000 visitors annually.