Goodyear Honors 347 Associates for Inventions, Patents

AKRON, Ohio, May 8, 2006 -- The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has recognized nearly 350 of its technical associates for their inventions and innovations.

Among those honored are inventors responsible for standout new products including DuraSeal technology, a revolutionary built-in commercial tire sealant that repairs punctures when they occur; the brand new Eagle with ResponseEdge and Carbon Fiber technology, a performance-touring tire that will start reaching consumers this month; and the Goodyear UltraGrip 7, an award- winning European winter tire.

The inventors work in the company's Technical Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, as well as manufacturing locations around the world. They were responsible for 159 U.S. patents and 70 trade secrets in 2005.

The company recognized 19 associates as 2005 "Inventors of the Year," and 11 others were awarded special honors in recognition of their contributions over the course of their careers with the tiremaker.

"We have become the industry leader in commercializing high-margin new products with relevant technology that consumers want -- and we intend to get even better," said Robert J. Keegan, Goodyear's chairman and chief executive officer.

"We have a strong global portfolio of innovative and differentiated new products. These outstanding, award winning products are at the top of their categories, helping to demonstrate that tires are no longer a commodity," he said.

In the past year, Goodyear introduced new products including the Eagle ResponseEdge and Fortera featuring TripleTred technology in North America, as well as the Goodyear UltraGrip 7 and Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D in Europe, and the Eagle F1 GS-D3 SUV tire in Europe.

  Special awards issued at this year's banquets include:

  Inventors of the Year

Akron, Ohio: Jim Gillick, Bob Gartland, Cecil Bennett, Tom Madrin, Jennifer Wall, Bina Patel Botts, George Balogh, Lenny Reiter, Mike Crawford, Luis Cabrera

Marysville, Ohio: Robin Steven, Bud Brown

Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg: Jean Collette, Claude Jacoby, Dave Zanzig, Pascale de Briey, Richard Heinen, Philippe Manne, Andre Domange.

Silver Coin Awards

The Silver Coin Award is given to inventors who achieved various ingenuity milestones through their career. Sam Landers, Akron, has achieved 60 patents and trade secrets, while new recipients at the 40 level are: Mahmoud Assaad and Neil Maly, Akron. At the 20 level are Bob Brown, Len Charek, Ramen Majumdar, Ralph Okonieski, Jimmy Richards, Greg Shteinhauz, Vito Sinopoli, Akron, and Laurent Colantonio, Luxembourg.

Goodyear is the world's largest tire company. The company manufactures tires, engineered rubber products and chemicals in more than 100 facilities in 29 countries around the world. Goodyear employs approximately 80,000 people worldwide.