(source:  Xerox News Release)

In celebration of the innovation that underpins its future, Xerox has invited nearly 500 Monroe County inventors to dinner on October 13, 2008.

All are recipients of patents in 2007 and are being honored for their scientific and technological contributions that drive the company’s current and future generations of products and services.  This year’s patent dinner is hosted by Sophie Vandebroek, the company’s Chief Technology Officer and president of the Xerox Innovation Group.

The inventors range from new employees to long-time veterans, including Shane Jewitt, who received 16 patents in 2007, and Robert Loce, who received 12 patents.  Jewitt is a graphic artist who specializes in user interface design, making sure customers find Xerox products easy to use.  He received his first patent in 2004, and since has been awarded 37 U.S. design patents and four utility patents. Loce, a principal scientist with expertise in optics and imaging science, currently holds 107 U.S. utility patents.  His image processing inventions are at the heart of Xerox printers.  Loce was awarded his first patent in 1987.  Also invited are 72 employees who received their first patent in 2007, a testament to the company’s continuing success in nurturing next-generation inventors to carry on its tradition of discovery. 

“As we mark the 70th anniversary of the invention of xerography this year, we also celebrate today’s inventors, whose rich pipeline of creativity continues to deliver breakthrough products and services to delight our customers and create new businesses,” Vandebroek said.  “Discovery and invention flourish at Xerox, and our customers thrive because of it.”

The event’s keynote speaker will be Xerox retiree Horace Becker, who was chief engineer for the Xerox 914, the world’s first fully-automatic plain-paper copier and the foundation of today’s company.  When the product was brought to market in 1960, it caused a sensation with office workers who had formerly made copies by typing multiple impressions with carbon paper or using messy chemical processes.  Becker’s topic: “Are You Really Going to Ship that to a Customer?”

The dinner, to be held at the Rochester Convention Center, will honor not only the patent recipients, but also their families and the Xerox legal staff charged with shepherding the patent process and protecting the intellectual property.

Opening remarks will be provided by Quincy Allen, president of Xerox’s Production Systems Group, who says it is the teamwork across all stages of product development that is responsible for moving a concept from an initial idea to the delivery of a product that delights the customer.  In 2007, the company worldwide earned 584 U.S. utility patents, a 5 percent increase over 2006.