Munich, 10 October 2017

153^rd meeting of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation (Munich, 10 and 11 October 2017) - Election

Mr António CAMPINOS elected next EPO President

The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation, meeting in Munich on 10 October 2017 under the chairmanship of Mr Christoph ERNST (DE), has elected Mr António CAMPINOS to succeed Mr Benoît BATTISTELLI as President of the European Patent Office (EPO). Mr CAMPINOS' 5-year term will start on 1 July 2018.

A Portuguese national, Mr CAMPINOS is currently Executive Director of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). He is also a former President of the Portuguese Patent Institute (INPI). In the latter function, he has been for many years the Portuguese representative on the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation.

The Administrative Council, made up of the delegations from all member states, is the Organisation's legislative body. It is responsible for supervising the activities of the Office, approving the budget and appointing senior employees, including the President of the EPO.

The Chairman of the Administrative Council, Mr ERNST, congratulated Mr CAMPINOS on his election: "I am happy that the Council was able to reach a decision today on this very important matter, and to find in Mr CAMPINOS an excellent candidate. With him, I am confident that our Organisation will add another thriving chapter to its continued success story."

The European Patent Organisation is an intergovernmental organisation set up on the basis of the EPC, which was signed in Munich in 1973 and entered into force on 7 October 1977. The Organisation currently has 38 member states - all of the 28 EU members, plus Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey. Its task is to oversee the granting of European patents under the EPC by the European Patent Office.

With nearly 7 000 staff, the European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the largest public service institutions in Europe. Headquartered in Munich with offices in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Vienna, the EPO was founded with the aim of strengthening co-operation on patents in Europe. Through the EPO's centralised patent granting procedure, inventors are able to obtain high-quality patent protection in up to 42 countries, covering a market of around 700 million people. The EPO is also the world's leading authority in patent information and patent searching.

Council Secretariat

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