Rochester IP law association honors Welch Allyn engineer

SKANEATELES FALLS — The Rochester Intellectual Property Law Association (RIPLA) has honored a Welch Allyn engineer as its 2013 Distinguished Inventor of the Year.

Welch Allyn, a Skaneateles Falls–based medical-device manufacturer, today announced that RIPLA recognized Ervin Goldfain, a lead engineer in the firm’s product-development department.

The Inventor of the Year award recognizes an individual or team of individuals for their contributions to useful applications of science and technology, Welch Allyn said in a news release.

Roger Bonenfant, associate general counsel at Welch Allyn, nominated Goldfain, the company said.

Goldfain continuously works to improve physical-assessment devices for primary-care clinicians, according to Bonenfant.

“He has made significant contributions to many Welch Allyn devices that help improve patient outcomes. Ervin also played a lead role developing the patented technology for the Welch Allyn MacroView Otoscope, PanOptic Ophthalmoscope and SureSight Vision Screener, all of which are part of our Patent Hall of Fame. Each aspect of his job requires exceptional innovation in terms of generating ideas to deliver new products from the engineering space to the marketplace,” Bonenfant said in the release.

RIPLA was set to present the award at an event today in Rochester, Welch Allyn said.

RIPLA has annually recognized an individual or team of individuals as the Distinguished Inventor of the Year since 1973,  and RIPLA members provide nominations for the award.

The winners represent a wide cross-section of fields ranging from academia and independent entrepreneurial efforts to Fortune 500 corporate research-and-development organizations, according to Welch Allyn.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com