Council bodies

The Board of Administrative Council is set up according to CA/D 4/03 and CA/D 10/03.

Current mandate

The Board shall assist the Chairperson of the Administrative Council in preparing and ensuring the continuity of the work of the Council, and in particular in:

• preparing the Council's work programme
• general co-ordination of the work of the Council and its bodies, on the basis of the work programme
• facilitating cohesion and consensus within the European Patent Organisation.

The Chairperson shall report regularly to the Council on the Board's activities.

Chairperson / Deputy Chairperson

Chairperson

Josef KRATOCHVÍL, President, Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic (CZ)

Deputy Chairperson

Borghildur ERLINGSDÓTTIR, Director General, Icelandic Patent Office (IS)
  

Participants

• Chairperson of the Administrative Council
• Deputy Chairperson of the Administrative Council
• Honorary Chairperson of the Administrative Council
• 3 Members of the Administrative Council
• Chairperson of the Budget and Finance Committee
• Chairperson of the Technical and Operational Support Committee
• Chairperson of the Committee on Patent Law
• Chairperson of the Select Committee
• President of the European Patent Office

The Boards of Appeal Committee is set up according to CA/D 6/16 and CA/D 7/16.

Tasks of the Boards of Appeal Committee

1. As a subsidiary body of the Administrative Council, the Boards of Appeal Committee shall advise and assist the Administrative Council in its supervisory duties under Article 4(3) EPC in so far as these relate to the Boards of Appeal Unit.
2. To this end, the Boards of Appeal Committee shall
   1. monitor the independence of the Boards of Appeal Unit, make recommendations and advise the President of the Boards of Appeal on measures to enhance its organisational and managerial autonomy;
   2. monitor the efficiency of the Boards of Appeal Unit, make recommendations and advise the President of the Boards of Appeal on setting general objectives for the members and Chair of the Boards of Appeal and the members of the Enlarged Board of Appeal in handling the caseload and reducing the length of proceedings;
   3. provide general guidance on the management of the Boards of Appeal Unit, including on recruitment issues and on criteria for performance evaluation;
   4. assess the Boards of Appeal Unit's general performance, make recommendations and advise the President of the Boards of Appeal on principles for setting performance criteria and general criteria for case distribution;
   5. give an opinion on the draft annual report of the Boards of Appeal drawn up by the President of the Boards of Appeal, before it is submitted to the Administrative Council together with the comments of the President of the Office;
   6. give an opinion on any request by the President of the Office concerning the Boards of Appeal Unit;
   7. give an opinion on the substantiated budget request for staff, equipment and other resources needed to meet the Boards of Appeal Unit's objectives, drawn up by the President of the Boards of Appeal and finalised by him after examination by and discussion with the relevant Office departments, before it is forwarded to the President of the Office for consideration for the yearly draft budget;
   8. give an opinion on the President of the Boards of Appeal's implementation of the yearly budget allocated to the Boards of Appeal Unit;
   9. carry out, where necessary, user consultations on matters of direct concern to users, such as proposals to amend the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal and of the Enlarged Board of Appeal.
3. The Boards of Appeal Committee shall adopt, on a proposal by the President of the Boards of Appeal, the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal and of the Enlarged Board of Appeal, before they are submitted to the Administrative Council for approval.
4. A joint proposal for appointment of the President of the Boards of Appeal shall be made by the Boards of Appeal Committee and the President of the Office.
5. The Chair of the Boards of Appeal Committee shall ensure that the Administrative Council receives all necessary information.
6. The Boards of Appeal Committee may entrust certain tasks to a smaller group, subject to authorisation by the Administrative Council.
7. The Boards of Appeal Committee may call upon experts or advisers either on an ongoing or an ad hoc basis, as the circumstances require.
8. The Boards of Appeal Committee shall advise the Administrative Council and the President of the Boards of Appeal on the Boards of Appeal Unit in general and shall adopt the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal and of the Enlarged Board of Appeal.
9. The Boards of Appeal Committee shall be consulted on the criteria for evaluating performance in connection with re-appointments of the members, including the Chair, of the Boards of Appeal and of the members of the Enlarged Board of Appeal.

Chairperson / Deputy Chairperson 

Chairperson
Jorma Hanski, Director, Patents and Trademarks Finnish Patent and Registration Office (FI)

Deputy Chairperson

N.N.

Participants

Members from among the delegations of the Contracting States:

Jorma Hanski (FI)

Catherine Margellou (GR)

Javier Vera (ES)

Alternate members from among the delegations of the Contracting States:

Julyan Elbro (GB)

Florence Galtier (FR)

N.N.

Members from among serving or former judges of international or European courts or of national courts of the Contracting States:

Klaus Bacher (DE)  

Colin Birss (GB)

Are Stenvik (NO) 

Alternate members from among serving or former judges of international or European courts or of national courts of the Contracting States:

Carlos Manuel Gonçalves de Melo Marinho (PT)

Gabriella Muscolo (IT)

Peter Strömberg (SE) 

The President of the Office and the President of the Boards of Appeal

Composition

The Budget and Finance Committee of the Administrative Council is set up under Article 3 of the Financial Regulations of the European Patent Organisation.

It is composed of the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Secretary, member states of the EPC, the European Patent Office and observers, as follows

Chairperson / Deputy Chairperson

Chairperson
Pascal FAURE, Directeur général, Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI) (FR)

Deputy Chairperson
Margus VIHER, Director General, The Estonian Patent Office (EE) 

Participants

1. Representatives of the member states
2. President of the Office supported by EPO staff

Observers

1. Board of Auditors
2. Staff Committee
3. epi
4. BUSINESSEUROPE

Secretary

E-mail: council@epo.org

Current mandate

1. The Committee shall advise the Administrative Council :
1.1. on any proposal relating to the amendment of time limits laid down in the European Patent Convention or the amendment of the Implementing Regulations to the EPC;
1.2. on any legal matters concerning a revision of the European Patent Convention;
1.3. on matters concerning the harmonisation of national law in the Contracting States relating to the implementation of the European Patent Convention;
1.4. on matters on international patent law which may affect the European Patent Convention or in respect of which the Contracting States may desire to co-operate pursuant to the preamble of the European Patent Convention.
2. At the request of either the Administrative Council or the President of the European Patent Office, the Committee shall advise the Administrative Council on any legal question relating to the European patent system.

Chairperson / Deputy Chairperson

Chairperson

Antti RIIVARI, Director General, Finnish Patent and Registration Office (FI)

Deputy Chairperson
Johannes KARCHER, Referatsleiter III B 4 (Patent- und Erfinderrecht) Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz (DE)

Participants

1. Representatives of the member states
2. President of the Office supported by EPO staff

Observers

1. States which have been invited to accede the EPC (Article 166(1)(b) EPC)
2. Extension states (states recognising European patents)
3. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
4. European Union (EU)
5. Institute of Professional Representatives before the EPO (epi)
6. BUSINESSEUROPE, The Confederation of European Business

Other participants

1. Board of Auditors
2. Staff Committee

Mission

The legal basis for the Select Committee is Article 9(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012 ("the Regulation") and Article 145 EPC. The committee has been set up by the 25 member states that initially participated in the unitary patent, to supervise the EPO's activities related to the tasks entrusted to it in the context of unitary patent protection. The committee's competences include the setting of fees.

Current status

The committee held its inaugural meeting in Munich on 20 March 2013. Since then, it has adopted rules of procedure, a communication policy and a timeline for its work.

Composition

The committee is composed of a chairman, deputy chairman, secretary, the participating member states as defined in Article 2(a) of the Regulation, the European Patent Office, the European Commission as observer and other observers as follows:

Chairperson / Deputy Chairperson

Chairperson
Jérôme Debrulle (BE), Conseiller géneral, Office de la Propriété Intellectuelle, Service Public Fédéral Economie, P.M.E., Classes moyennes et Energie

Deputy Chairperson
Simona Marzetti (IT), Head of unit IV: European and International Affairs, Directorate General for the protection of Industrial Property, Italian Patent and Trademark Office, Ministry of Economic Development

Participants

1. Representatives of the participating member states
2. President of the EPO
3. Board of Auditors
4. EPO Staff Committee

Observers

1. European Commission
2.1 epi
2.2 BusinessEurope
3. Observer states:
- Albania (AL)
- Croatia (HR)
- Iceland (IS)
- Monaco (MC)
- North Macedonia (MK)
- Norway (NO)
- San Marino (SM)
- Serbia (RS)
- Spain (ES)
- Switzerland (CH)
- Türkiye (TR)
- United Kingdom (GB)
 

Secretary

e-mail: council@epo.org

• Documentation
• Useful links

Current mandate

The Technical and Operational Support Committee (TOSC) shall provide the Administrative Council with opinions on operational aspects of the following matters:

1. Technical information and infrastructure, especially information dissemination
   
   
   • Proposals for guidelines on the production of and access to patent information data for use by Offices or the public
     
   • Proposals for and evaluation of infrastructure elements supporting the exchange and dissemination of technical information
     
     
2. Trilateral technical co-operation between the EPO, the USPTO and the JPO, as well as other forms of technical co-operation in international fora
   
   
   • Monitoring and examining technical co-operation projects in the broader perspective of the European patent system and the preservation of its interests
     
   • Making suitable contributions to support the EPO in preparing the technical and operational aspects of the decisions to be taken by the Council
     
     
3. Operational issues concerning quality, especially monitoring of the European Quality System as well as technical arrangements for reuse of available patent procedure results (e.g. searches, examination communications).
   
   In performing its duties as outlined above, the TOSC shall inform and support the Council on technical issues pertaining to the concept of the European Patent Network, within the policy framework defined by the Council.


4. In respect to the Academy the TOSC shall:
   
   
   • provide an opinion on the draft annual work plan of the European Patent Academy;
   • provide an opinion on the activities conducted and the reports submitted by the European Patent Academy;
   • set up, if deemed appropriate, on-demand thematic working groups within the TOSC, in which all contracting states and observers can participate, to discuss specific training and educational subjects in depth;
   • draw up the list of experts to be submitted by the contracting states to the Office for the composition of the expert groups, as explained in the next paragraph.
   
   In addition, the TOSC shall provide the Council with advice where required on any further technical matters.

Chairperson / Deputy Chairperson

Chairperson

Johannes Christian WICHARD, Director Ministerialdirigent Unterabteilung IIIB Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz (DE)

Deputy Chairperson

Peter SLATER, Deputy Director, Patent Transformation Programme, UK Intellectual Property Office (UK)

Participants

1. Representatives of the member states
2. President of the Office supported by EPO staff

Observers

1. States which have been invited to accede the EPC
2. Bosnia and Herzegovina (BA)
3. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
4. European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)
5. Institute of Professional Representatives before the EPO (epi)
6. Board of Auditors
7. Staff Committee