European Patent Office (EPO) Series: A Man With Many Missions...
Previous Parts:
Part 18
From left to right: EPO Chief Patent Research and Policy Officer Gilles Requena, EPO President António Campinos, EU Commissioner Michael McGrath and EPO Brussels Liaison Officer Patrice Pellegrino during a visit to Brussels on 25th March 2026.
As we revealed in the last part, EPO President António Campinos was spotted "lobbying in Lisbon" on 27th February and 30th April 2026.
But lest anyone think that Campinos was idle during the intervening period, we hasten to point out that in March and April he undertook a plethora of "missions" to various EPO member states. He also paid another visit to Brussels where he met with EU Commissioner Michael McGrath.
To be more precise, between 3rd and 12th March 2026 Campinos conducted a whistle-stop tour of three Eastern European EPO member states, namely Hungary, Poland and Bulgaria.
Left: Campinos with Hungarian IPO Director Szabolcs Farkas in Budapest (3rd March 2026).
Right: Campinos with Polish IPO Director Ewa Skrzydło-Tefelska in Warsaw (10th March 2026).
The EPO's official website reported on "the President’s mission to Hungary" as follows:
"On 3rd March, EPO President António Campinos took part in the celebrations marking the 130th anniversary of the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (HIPO). During his visit he met with HIPO President Szabolcs Farkas to discuss intellectual property priorities at both the national and European level.The mission also formed part of the Office’s ongoing consultations with member states as it prepares a new Scenarios for the Future study, which will explore the potential evolution of the innovation ecosystem, European patent system and European Patent Network (EPN) over the next two decades."
An EPO posting on LinkedIn reported on the visit to Poland as follows:
On 10–11 March, António Campinos, EPO President visited Warsaw for meetings with Poland’s Minister of Justice Waldemar Żurek and the President of the Polish Patent Office Ewa Skrzydło-Tefelska. Discussions focused on the future of the European patent system, the success of the Unitary Patent, and the importance of digitalisation, quality and co-operation across the European Patent Network.
EPO President Campinos with the Bulgarian Minister for Economy and Industry, Irina Shtonova, and Bulgarian IPO Director Olya Dimitrova in Sofia (12th March 2026).
The visit to Bulgaria featured in another puff piece published on the EPO's official website under the heading "EPO President visits Bulgaria to discuss the future of Europe’s patent system":
EPO President António Campinos travelled to Sofia, Bulgaria, and took part in the high-level IP conference “Innovation empowered: protect, compete, succeed”. The conference brought together the Bulgarian business and IP community, including Bulgarian micro and small companies, government officials, university researchers, as well as representatives from national patent offices, the European Union Intellectual Property Office and the World Intellectual Property Organization.
On the margins of the conference in Sofia, Campinos met with the Bulgarian Minister for Economy and Industry, Irina Shtonova, "to exchange views on Bulgaria’s perspective regarding the future of the European patent system and its role in strengthening Europe’s innovation ecosystem".
A few weeks later, from 23rd to 25th March, Campinos paid another visit to Brussels "to strengthen co-operation with key European partners".
According to the related puff piece on the EPO's official website:
The mission provided an opportunity to exchange views with stakeholders about ongoing collaboration, discuss future priorities and share the latest insights from the EPO Technology Dashboard 2025, which shows innovation hotspots and Europe’s global position. The role of patent intelligence in supporting innovation policy was also a central theme of a high‑level Euronews panel attended by the President.
During this visit Campinos – accompanied by Gilles Requena and Patrice Pellegrino – met with Michael McGrath, European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection. The EPO puff piece cited above described the encounter with McGrath in the following terms:
The meeting highlighted the milestone of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg) becoming the first international organisation to receive an EU adequacy decision for its high standard of personal‑data protection, which was announced in July 2025. This recognition of EPOrg’s robust and modern data‑protection framework represents a significant step towards safe and seamless data flows between public and private entities in the EU, removing administrative hurdles and accelerating co-operation and digital interactions.
Not long afterwards, on 15th April, Campinos paid a visit to one of the EPO's smaller Mediterranean states, the former British colony of Malta, where he participated in "high-level meetings" with the Minister for Economy, Enterprise and Strategic Projects, Silvio Schembri, and the Commerce Department Director General Godwin Warr, who is responsible for the national IPO and is a long-standing delegate on the EPO's Administrative Council.
Campinos with the Maltese Minister for Economy Silvio Schembri and the national IPO Director Godwin Warr who is a long-standing delegate on the EPO's Administrative Council (15th April 2026).
An EPO posting on LinkedIn informs us that Campinos was accompanied on this occasion by his trusty side-kick, EPO Vice-President Steve Rowan, and that the discussions focused on "Europe’s future innovation landscape, technological and economic sovereignty, and the EPO’s 'Scenarios for the Future 2025–2045' initiative". During their sojourn in Malta, Campinos and Rowan also paid an official visit to the University of Malta which hosts an EPO-sponsored PATLIB centre.
In the next part, we shall continue to report on the EPO President's recent activities, focusing on his appearance in London as a guest of honour and keynote speaker at the Annual Meeting of the International Trademark Association (INTA) in May. █