Boards of Appeal and key decisions conference 2023

Anna Bacchin, legally qualified member, Boards of Appeal. LL.M. IP (Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition and the George Washington University Law School). Admitted to the Italian bar and graduate of the University of Padua. Worked as an attorney-at-law in Padua and Munich. Joined the EPO in 2005 as a lawyer in the Patent Law department and in the Legal Division. Member of the EQE Examination Committee for paper D and later member of the EQE Examination Board. Joined the Boards of Appeal in 2020 as a legally qualified member. Co-author of the commentary "Benkard, Europäisches Patentübereinkommen".

Kemal Bengi-Akyürek, chair of a technical board of appeal (Electricity), Boards of Appeal. PhD in electrical engineering (telecommunications), joined the EPO in 2002 as a patent examiner in telecommunications. Appointed as a technically qualified member of the Boards of Appeal in 2012 and in 2019 Chair of Technical Board 3.5.03, which mainly deals with appeal cases in the fields of telecommunications, industrial automation systems and acoustic devices. Author of several articles on patent law and a regular speaker at conferences on topics like patentability of computer-implemented inventions, inventive step and opposition & appeal proceedings.

Peter Blok, professor in the Center for Intellectual Property Law of Utrecht University. Holds the patent law and privacy chair. Judge in the Commercial Law Chamber of the Court of Appeal of The Hague and at the UPC Court of Appeal. Specialised in intellectual property law, in particular patent law. He was a judge in the Intellectual Property chamber of the District Court of The Hague over eight years, the last years as co-ordinator of that chamber. Previously he was an attorney-at-law in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Finished and defended a PhD thesis on privacy and data protection law at Tilburg University in 2002. Part of his research was done at Georgetown University Law Center, Washington D.C. Studied law and philosophy at Leiden University.

Fritz Blumer, legally qualified member, Boards of Appeal and Enlarged Board of Appeal. Studied electrical engineering at ETH Zürich and worked in the field of physical process technology. Diploma and doctorate in law, University of St. Gallen. LL.M. (Harvard Law School). Admitted to the Swiss bar. Worked as attorney-at-law in Zürich before joining the Boards of Appeal in 2008. Published in the fields of patent law and international civil procedure.

Andreas Haderlein, chair of a technical board of appeal (Chemistry), Boards of Appeal. Studied mechanical and process engineering at Technical University Munich and holds a PhD in chemical engineering from Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal, where he also worked as a teaching assistant. Studied law at Johannes Kepler University, Linz, and passed the EQE. Worked as an examiner at the EPO where he was involved in training and as a member of an EQE committee in drafting paper D before joining the Boards of Appeal as a technically qualified member. Chair of Board 3.3.09 since 2020.

Jeannine Hoppe, legally qualified member, Boards of Appeal. Legally qualified member and spokesperson of the Boards of Appeal. German state diplomas in law (Göttingen) and Doctorate in international private law (Munich). Before joining the Boards of Appeal in 2017 as a legally qualified member, she was a judge at the Federal Patent Court in Munich in various appeal senates and in a nullity senate. Before that she was a judge at the Higher Regional Court, Braunschweig. Involved in the training of legal trainees and patent attorneys in lectures, seminars, as a member of the German Judicial Examination Office and of the Examining Committee for German Patent Attorneys. Published books in international private law and trademark law.

Sir Richard Meade, British High Court judge. Called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1991 and practised intellectual property law from 8 New Square chambers. Appeared before the European Court of Justice and European Patent Office as a barrister. Took silk in 2008, served as a recorder from 2010, and was appointed deputy High Court judge in 2011. In addition to practice, jointly edited Kerly's Law of Trade Marks and Trade Names from the thirteenth edition in 2001 to the fourteenth edition in 2005. Appointed a judge of the High Court in 2020. Received the customary knighthood in the same year. Judge in Charge of the Patents Court and Intellectual Property.

Marcus Müller, chair of a technical board of appeal (Chemistry) and member of the RPBA drafting group, Boards of Appeal. Before joining the Boards of Appeal, worked as an examiner and member of the examination committee for Paper C of the European qualifying examination. Prior to the EPO, obtained a PhD in polymer chemistry, worked in the patent department of Akzo Nobel, the Netherlands, and qualified as a European patent attorney. Co-lecturer in the epi seminar about procedural aspects of appeal proceedings and co-author of "Proceedings Before The European Patent Office – A Practical Guide to Success in Opposition and Appeal".

Yvonne Podbielski, legally qualified member, Boards of Appeal. Qualified as solicitor (EN/Wales) after obtaining a PhD degree from Cambridge University. Worked for several years as a commercial litigator in London before joining the Legal Research Service of the Boards of Appeal in 2004. Head of that department from 2008 to 2016. Joined the Boards of Appeal in 2017. Contributes to "Singer/Stauder, Europäisches Patentübereinkommen".