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Published notice: International open invitation to tender no. 1344 (D - Munich)

Administration of new EPO salary/pension scheme (Asset Management and Individual-Account Administration as a supplementary element to the EPO Pension Scheme) for newly employed staff as of 1 January 2009.

1. Awarding Authority:

   The European Patent Organisation (EPO) through the European Patent Office: Headquarters, Erhardtstrasse 27, D-80469 Munich, Postal address: EPO, D-80298 Munich.
   The European Patent Organisation is an intergovernmental organisation set up pursuant to the European Patent Convention which entered into force in 1977. At present it has 34 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom). The executive body of the EPO is the European Patent Office which is charged with the searching and examination of European patent applications and the granting of European patents. It employs approximately 6700 staff at EPO headquarters in Munich, a branch at The Hague/Rijswijk (NL) and sub-offices in Berlin and Vienna (the number of Member States and staff members indicated may change).
   

2. Award procedure:

   International open invitation to tender with discretionary award of contract.
   

3. Description of the contract:

   1. Purpose of the contract:

      Administration of new EPO salary/pension scheme (Asset Management and Individual-Account Administration as a supplementary element to the EPO Pension Scheme) for newly employed staff as of 1 January 2009.

   2. Division into lots:

      Lot 1: Asset management services
      Lot 2: Individual-Account administration of the new defined contribution plan

      The two lots can either be awarded to one and the same Contractor or separately to two different Contractors. However, the EPO will prefer the award to one Contractor. The latter is also the case if several individual entities submit a joined bid or the bidder subcontracts the services under one of the lots. In this case the bidder is requested to name all its subcontractors.

   3. Any deposits and guarantees required:

      Not applicable.

   4. Main terms concerning payment:

      Payment shall be due quarterly a year in arrears, 30 days after receipt of an invoice in the correct form.

   5. Qualifications required by law:

      Not applicable.

4. Place and period of performance:

   1. Place at which the contract is to be performed:

      The Contractor shall render the services from its own premises; however, regular meetings will take place at the EPO's headquarters in Munich.

   2. Duration of contract or time limit for delivery or completion of services/work:

      The services must be operational as from 1 January 2009. The contract will be concluded for a basic term of three years. The EPO has the option to extend the contract by periods of two years with written notice of six months. The Parties may terminate the contract by giving a six months written notice. Within the first six months of the contract, the EPO may terminate it by giving a two weeks notice of termination in writing.

5. Variants:

   Proposals for variants are allowed only if a main bid is submitted.

6. Requests for the Procurement Documents and receipt of bids:

   1. Name and address of department from which the Procurement Documents and clarification of the Procurement Documents may be requested:

      European Patent Office
      Procurement department (4.4.4)
      Tender No.: 1344
      Erhardtstrasse 27
      D-80469 Munich
      Postal address: EPO, D-80298 Munich
      Fax: +49-89-2399-4497
      mntenderclarifications@epo.org

      The Procurement Documents may be requested by letter, fax or e mail.

   2. Final date for receipt by the EPO of requests for the Procurement Documents:

      14 March 2008, 12.00 hrs (CET)

   3. Final date for receipt by the EPO of requests for clarification:

      28 March 2008, 12.00 hrs (CET)
      Questions must be submitted by letter, fax or e-mail.

   4. (d) Final date for receipt of bids/number of copies to be sent:

      23 April 2008, 12.00 hrs (CET)
      two copies, in addition to the original bid to be marked as such and electronic form (CD or CD-Rom). The electronic version should preferably be in PDF format; if not, word-processed documents must be submitted in RTF format. In case of discrepancies between the paper and the electronic version, only the paper version of the bid will be binding;
      bids must be submitted by letter, not by fax or e mail.

   5. Address to which the requests for clarification and bids must be sent:

      As in point 6(a).

   6. Language or languages in which requests for clarification and bids must be drawn up:

      English,
      The Procurement Documents will be available in English, only.

7. Legal form of the grouping in the event of a joint bid:

   If several bidders submit a joint bid, one must be designated as prime contractor responsible for performance of all the obligations under the contract; subcontractors have to be mentioned with their full name and the part of the services to be subcontracted will have to be identified in detail.

8. Information and evidence concerning the bidder's financial and economic standing and technical and professional competence:

   Customer and bank references (see Procurement Documents, Part I - please fill in and sign Form A of the General Conditions of Tender).

9. Period during which the bidder is bound by his bid:

   Twelve months following the final date for receipt of bids indicated in point 6(d).

10. Criteria for the award of contract:

    The bids will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria (the sequence of their mentioning does not necessarily indicate their weighing):

    • ability to work in the EPO's three official languages : English, French, German
    • experience with services tendered for
    • geographical coverage and international experience
    • experience regarding salary/pension scheme of international organisations
    • ability to meet the EPO's needs by the adequacy of the products offered and by ensuring that EPO's regulations are soundly applied
    • adequacy and innovation of the proposed investment strategy
    • willingness and ability to co-operate with providers of correlated services ; furthermore, willingness and ability to co-ordinate correlated services of other providers and to act as key contact for the EPO
    • ability to carry out the work on time and in accordance with quality standards
    • technical expertise
    • use and capabilities/functions of bidder's technology
    • organisational ability and flexibility with regard to the services requested;
    • financial standing
    • cost/performance ratio of the services and products offered and general financial advantage
    • reduction of possible risks (e.g. from hidden costs, lack of clarity with regard to scope and content of services and products offered)

11. Other information:

    Short-listed bidders may be asked to present their bids at the EPO premises in Munich. The EPO does not reimburse any costs incurred by the bidders for presenting their bids.
    Short-listed bidders may furthermore be asked to install a test system/offer test services for further practical evaluation by the EPO. The bidders are asked to submit a quotation for reimbursement of costs that will incur for the installation of the test system/offer test services (the reimbursable amount will be considered as part of the bid-price).