EPO User Day 2023

Cristina Lopes Margarido
Events Moderator, Patent Examiner Culinary Equipment and Food Treating Devices, EPO
Cristina studied electrical and computer engineering at the University of Porto before working in research for a couple of years. In 2002, she joined the EPO as an Examiner in the field of Business Methods and now works in the field of Culinary Equipment. She took on responsibilities as team manager of a team of examiners in 2019. Cristina has been a member of the Drafting Group of the EPO since 2017, where she drafts, reviews and coordinates courses with the team. She passed the EQE in 2015.

Stefan Luginbuehl
Head of Department, Patent Law Policy and Harmonisation, EPO
Stefan is Head of Department, Patent Law Policy and Harmonisation (Dep. 5.2.1.2) at the European Patent Office. He deals with a wide range of patent law and patent litigation-related subjects, emphasising the implementation and monitoring of the EU Unitary Patent system into the existing European patent system. He has participated in several Diplomatic and Intergovernmental Conferences on the reform of the European patent system and the international litigation system. He lectures at various universities and is the author and editor of several books and articles on patent procedure, including the Unitary Patent system and patent litigation in Europe and China.

Camille-Rémy Bogliolo
Head of Department, Legal Division and A.I. Unitary Patent Division, EPO
Camille-Rémy worked at the French Patent and Trademark Office (INPI) as a lawyer from 1999 before joining the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2001, where he specialised in the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Camille-Rémy joined the EPO in 2006 to work in PCT legal and procedural affairs. He took up new challenges by assuming his current position in April.

Djouher Ghezali
IP Paralegal Manager, Thales
Djouher has a Master's Degree in Law, specialising in Intellectual Property. She has practised as an IP Paralegal for 26 years, both in specialised Agencies and Business Companies with organised IP Departments. She has been with Thales since 2011 and has been IP Paralegal Manager since 2019. She also handles the legal and administrative prosecution for the Thales US IP Department.

Jaume Anguera
CTO & Founder, Ignion
Dr Jaume Anguera, CTO and Founder at Ignion, leads the R&D strategy of the company. He has made pioneering contributions in the antenna field, is the inventor of Virtual Antenna® Technology, holds over 170 patents widely adopted by the wireless industry, and is the author of over 280 scientific publications. He is an IEEE Fellow.

Christina ten Hövel
Key Account Manager and Patent Administration Expert, EPO
Since joining the EPO in 2003, Christina has worked as an expert in patent grant procedures and has provided training to internal and external audiences. As a Key Account Manager, she has supported EPO users with online tools and services since 2015. She has also contributed to various projects, notably the technical implementation of the Unitary Patent.

Alexandra Misiou
Lawyer, Unitary Patent Division, EPO
Alexandra studied law at the University of Athens and worked for several years as an attorney in the private sector. She joined the EPO in the Legal and Unitary Patent Division in 2017, where she supported the implementation of the Unitary Patent at the EPO. She currently acts as a legally qualified member of the Unitary Patent Division.

Richard Garvey
Key Account Manager, EPO
Richard joined the EPO in 1998. His main responsibility is to facilitate streamlined interaction between the EPO and its users. He also completed his legal studies with a Master's in IT & Telecommunications law, which complements his role as he provides user feedback for the next generation of EPO tools under the Strategic Plan 2028.

Eimer Luck
Key Account Manager, EPO
Eimer joined the EPO in 1992. For ten years, she promoted and supported the use of EPO electronic tools and services. Her main area of expertise became assisting users with accessing the EPO Mailbox and My Files. For the last four years, she has worked as an Instructor for EPO formalities officers in patent grant procedures. In July 2022, Eimer assumed the role of Key Account Manager.

Sara Sant 
Paralegal, GLP Srl 

Sara Sant pursued her law studies in Italy and joined GLP in 2021, currently serving as a Paralegal within the Patent Department. Her responsibilities encompass the administration of opposition procedures against the final granting of European patents and recordal activities with the EPO. Additionally, Sara manages the EPO Mailbox within GLP, overseeing the sorting of daily communications to the relevant internal departments. 

Ulrike Engels
Key Account Manager, EPO
After joining the EPO in 2000 as a Formalities Officer, Ulrike became a local procedural specialist and provided related training to EPO formalities officers. She became a Key Account Manager in 2014. Her accounts are located in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Scandinavia. Ulrike has also been heavily involved in Online Filing 2.0.

Bríd Murphy
Customer Services Officer, EPO
After several years in customer service roles, Bríd joined the EPO to work in the filing office in Munich in 2002. In 2009, Bríd moved to EPO Online Services and has since been providing support to all kinds of EPO Online Services users on various technical, procedural, patent information and access matters. Since 2018, Bríd has been the team specialist for Mailbox MyFiles support and now also for MyEPO Portfolio.

Ulrich Harbach 
German and European Patent Attorney, 2K Patent 

Ulrich Harbach studied physics in Giessen and Frankfurt am Main. He later pursued his doctorate with a focus on high-energy physics and extensions of the standard model of particle physics at the Institute for Theoretical Physics of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies. Ulrich completed his training as a patent attorney in 2007 and has been practicing as a freelance patent attorney since 2011. 

Serge Anni
Key Account Manager, EPO
Serge joined the EPO in 2007. In his current role, he manages key accounts and provides support for online filing tools, the EPO Mailbox, My Files and online fee payments.

Roberta Andreatta
Key Account Manager, EPO
Roberta joined the EPO in 2001. She became a Key Account Manager in 2017 and primarily covers Italy, Germany and France. As a key account manager, she follows and promotes technical progress in the area of the EPO Online services and supports users with their implementation.

Jacques Verrue
European and French Patent Attorney, Beau de Loménie
Jacques VERRUE is an Industrial Property Attorney and European Patent Attorney in the “Mechanics” department of Beau de Loménie in Paris and Strasbourg. A general engineer with more than ten years of experience in IP, Jacques supports innovative companies, both in France and abroad, in obtaining, promoting and defending their patents. He has extensive experience in proceedings before the EPO, including oral examination and opposition proceedings, and is involved in the pilot user group for MyEPO Portfolio.

Kieran Donnelly
Business Change Manager, Business Information Technology, EPO
Kieran is a business change manager for the EPO’s New Online User Engagement programme, supporting the evolution of the EPO’s online services for external users. He joined the Business Information Technology unit of the EPO in 2014, bringing a wide range of business consulting and IT management experience from both industry and government.

Borja Rojano
MyEPO Portfolio Technical Application Manager, EPO
Borja is a technical application owner in the EPO’s Business Information Technology unit and project manager for the user area initiative under the New Online User Engagement programme. He previously worked for 13 years as an examiner.

Kris Hertoghe
European Patent Attorney, Winger
Kris Hertoghe, general manager of Winger Patents, Belgium. MSc in electrical engineering (1993, Ghent University, Belgium). Passed the EQE in 1998 and qualified as a Belgian patent attorney in 1999. She has worked as a patent attorney both in private practice and in industry. She co-founded DenK iP in 2009, which changed its name to Winger Patents in 2023 and entered into a close cooperation with Winger Trademarks to secure and manage appropriate IP rights for their clients.

Matthias Gärtner
IT Application Domain Manager, EPO
Matthias is a technical application owner and product manager in the EPO’s Business Information Technology unit. Since 2019, he has taken a lead role on services such as the EPO Mailbox, My Files and Online Fee Payment. In the last two years, he has contributed to the launch of MyEPO Portfolio and now manages its product development.

Joerg Meidert 
Manager Patents Autonomous Driving, Mercedes-Benz 

Joerg Meidert studied mechanical engineering at the University of Stuttgart. He joined Mercedes-Benz in 1991 as a development engineer. In 2002, he transitioned to the patent area and has been an authorized representative since 2008. His primary areas of expertise include user interaction and autonomous driving. 

Sabine Menrath
Business Change Manager, Business Information Technology, EPO
Sabine works as a business change manager and accompanies the development and implementation of internal EPO tools, some of which interact with external tools, such as MyEPO. Before that, she worked for a long period in the formalities area, where she acted as a procedural expert and trainer for the patent grant process.

François Bamière
Head of Department Business Partner, EPO
After 10 years in various technical and managerial positions in the European industry, including Siemens and Saint-Gobain, François joined the EPO in 2013 as a Patent Examiner in the field of Applied Physics. Since August 2022, he has led the Business Partner department within the EPO Business Information Technology unit.

Sonia Arco 
Global IP Managers paralegals, L’Oréal 

Sonia Arco holds the French Patent Administration Certificate (CAB) which she obtained in 2008. She has practiced as an IP Paralegal for 10 years. Sonia has been with L'OREAL since 2004 and took on the role of global IP Paralegal Manager in 2017. 

Theodor Paleolog
Head of Department Back Office PGP Tools, EPO
Since joining the Office in 2016, Theodor has worked as an enterprise architect and also as a project manager for the EPO's new electronic filing and processing system. Previously a consultant, he has experience assisting large public and private organisations with ambitious business and digital transformation initiatives. He is now Head of Department Back Office Tools within the BIT – Patent Grant Process Products & Support directorate.

Sonia Pérez Díez
Director IT Planning, EPO
With a background in banking and IT consultancy in both the private and public sectors, Sonia Pérez worked for 18 years at EUIPO where she contributed to the definition and execution of programmes and projects for the management of IP rights, as well as the coordination of planning and support activities for both strategic projects and operational activities. In 2020, Sonia joined the EPO as Director in IT Planning, overseeing areas such as IT Project Office, IT Budget, Sourcing, Risks, Compliance and Information Security. During her time at EPO, Sonia has played a significant role in the governance and execution of the SP2023 and was appointed in 2022 as Programme Manager for the New Online User Engagement programme, which focuses on the EPO’s online presence and engagement with external stakeholders.

Romain Richard
Director Patent Grant Process Products & Support, EPO
After working in the industry, Romain joined the EPO in 2008 as an examiner. Since 2012, he has managed the development of various internal IT products and projects. Romain joined BIT in 2019 where he has worked on the digital transformation of the Patent Grant Process.

Yvan de la Fuente del Agua
Principal Director, Search & Patent Grant Process Products, EPO
Yvan joined the EPO in 1988 as an examiner. Later, he managed IT projects internally as well as in the context of International Cooperation in DG5. Yvan joined BIT in 2019 where he contributes to the digitalisation efforts of the Office, particularly as PGP Programme Manager.

Niclas Morey
Principal Director Customer Journey & Key Account Management, EPO
Niclas joined the EPO in 1990 as a Patent examiner in Mechanics. In 1994, he moved to run international cooperation projects and between 2000 and 2004 he was Head of President’s Office. In 2008 he became Director for IP5/Trilateral Affairs and International Organisations and in 2016 this directorate merged with International Cooperation where he assumed overall responsibility. In 2017 he was appointed Principal Director for Quality, Business and User Support, a position where he leads the entire operational support covering areas such as Users, Classification, Patent Procedures and Quality/Risk Management. In 2022, the PD changed its name to Customer Journey and Key Account Management when quality and practice and procedures moved to other areas.

Emma Ó Donnabháin
Principal Director Quality and Practice Harmonisation, EPO
As an electrical engineer, Emma joined the EPO in 1997 and worked as an examiner in the field of CDMA, frequency hopping and physical layer aspects of radio communications. As a team manager and operational director from 2016-2022, she had managerial responsibility for examiners and operational units in the ICT sector. She was appointed to her current role as principal director in April 2022 and is part of the senior management team responsible for developing and implementing the quality strategy of the EPO for the patent granting process.

Anne-Mieke Reedijk
Director Ombuds Office, EPO
Anne-Mieke graduated as a Chemical Engineer and joined the EPO in 1989 to work as an Examiner in several technical areas. She was a Director in operations from 2011-2020 and acted as Principal Director Operations until 2022. Anne-Mieke joined the team of the Ombuds Office to support the service for External Clients in 2022. Her professional cornerstones are passion for people, innovation and IP.

Martin Schweiger
European Patent Attorney, Schweiger & Partners
Martin Schweiger is a Patent Attorney of Schweiger & Partners, with 30 years of experience in the patent area. Martin is an expert in patenting software algorithms. He developed an online course on how to significantly accelerate the grant of EP patent applications. His achievements include T1227/05, G1/19 (amicus curiae).

Gwilym Roberts
UK and European Patent Attorney & Partner, Kilburn & Strode LLP
Gwilym Roberts is a UK and European patent attorney with over 30 years’ experience and more than 2000 cases at the EPO. He is Chair of the European Patent Attorney firm Kilburn & Strode and Honorary Visiting Professor at Queen Mary University of London. He has taken a keen interest over the years in working with the EPO on a range of its procedures at the case and substantive level, including through his current position on the SACEPO Working Group on Guidelines.

Vaida Bröcher
Project Director, Berent
Vaida Bröcher is the project director at the international market research agency BERENT – EPO’s contractor for the provision of market research services. She has led the EPO user satisfaction surveys since 2015. Vaida holds a master’s degree in law. Before joining BERENT, she worked as a lawyer at government organisations in Lithuania.

Iveta Smajda
Financial Administration Officer, Revenue Controls, EPO
Iveta joined the EPO in 2003. She is jointly responsible for all tasks related to patent fee payments and refund handling, as well as the development of the EPO's Central Fee Payment service. She also deals with finance-related enquiries from external users and participates in cross-departmental projects that impact fee handling.

Frédéric Matthiss
Financial Administration Officer, Revenue Controls, EPO
Frédéric joined the EPO in 2001. He is jointly responsible for all tasks related to patent fee payments and refund handling, as well as the development of the EPO's Central Fee Payment service. He also deals with finance-related enquiries from external users and participates in cross-departmental projects that impact fee handling.

Alexandra Surmann
Financial Administration Officer, Revenue Controls, EPO
Alexandra joined the EPO in 2003. She is jointly responsible for all tasks related to patent fee payments and refund handling, as well as the development of the EPO's Central Fee Payment service. She also deals with finance-related enquiries from external users and participates in cross-departmental projects that impact fee handling.

Elke von Brevern
Expert Patent Filing Process and PCT Affairs, EPO
Elke joined the EPO in 2008. As an online filing application manager, her portfolio included online filing tools for the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Since 2015, she has coordinated the implementation of PCT-related projects at the EPO.

Kayla Tahti 
Supervisor of IP Operations & Systems/Software Support, Fish & Richardson P.C. 
Kayla Tahti serves as a Supervisor of IP Operations & Systems/Software Support at Fish & Richardson P.C. in the Minneapolis office. With 12 years of patent prosecution experience, she has supported a diverse range of portfolios both in the United States and internationally. 

Martin Adu
User Support Expert and Key Account Manager, EPO
Martin is an experienced trainer who has worked in e-services at the EPO since the early days of online filing software in 2000. He provides specialist support to users in this area and in the use of smart cards. He recently joined the Key Account Managers to strengthen the team.

Julie Cunningham
Customer Services Officer, EPO
Julie joined the EPO in the Netherlands in 2003 as a temporary employee and became a permanent EPO employee in 2004. She has been with EPOline customer services from the beginning. After moving to Berlin in 2006, she took on the role of Key Account Manager in 2007. In 2016, she transitioned to formalities and returned to the Customer Engagement Unit in 2021. Julie is well-versed in the online products and services and has knowledge of the Munich information because she worked as a formalities officer for 4.5 years. She speaks several languages.

Maria Palermo 
Head of the European Patent Department, Studio Torta 
Maria joined Studio Torta in 2003 and has around 20 years of experience in various aspects of Patent Rights.
She initially dealt with prosecution of patents worldwide with a particular focus on the opposition and appeal procedures.
Since 2022 she is Head of the European Patent Department at Studio Torta.

Paola Mungo
Vice-Head of the European Patent Department, Studio Torta 
Paola joined Studio Torta in 2003 and has around 20 years of experience in various aspects of Patent Rights.
During the initial few years, she dealt with managing Italian patents and Italian validations of European patents.  Subsequently, she was part of the EP foreign clients department, dealing with the filing and prosecution of European patent applications.
Since 2021 she is the Vice-Head of the European Patent Department at Studio Torta.

Katharina Leineweber
Customer Services officer, EPO
After joining the EPO in 2008, Katharina first worked as a formalities officer, joining the Customer Services team in 2014. Her expertise is providing support to external users regarding the EPO’s online services.

Tanja Hamelau 
Patent paralegal, Altana Management Services GmbH 
Tanja Hamelau is a trained and certified legal secretary who transitioned to the patent sector 17 years ago. She has been a dedicated member of the ALTANA team for the past 15 years. 

Andrea Sengpiel 
Patent paralegal, Altana Management Services GmbH 
Andrea Sengpiel is a seasoned Patent paralegal who has been contributing to Altana's patent administration for seven years. 

Christof Mathoi
Lawyer, EPO
Christof joined the EPO in 2011 after having studied law and business law. He works as a lawyer in the EPO's department for Patent Filing Processes & PCT Affairs where he mainly deals with the processing of patent applications in the European phase. Until 2021, Christof has been working in the EPO’s directorate for European and International Legal Affairs where he mainly dealt with international applications and PCT policy matters.

Boris Tchitchanov
European and German Patent Attorney, Hoffmann Eitle
Boris studied chemistry and biochemistry at the LMU in Munich and obtained a doctoral degree in chemistry at the ETH in Zurich in 2015. Boris is a partner at Hoffmann Eitle, where he advises clients on all aspects of technical IP rights. His areas of expertise include pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, surfactants, sustainable/functional materials, and electrochemistry.

Victor Veefkind
Moderator, Patent Examiner Team Detergents, EPO
Victor Veefkind is examiner and opposition chairman at the EPO. Victor has been involved in tracking patents relating to climate change mitigation for over a decade at the EPO and spends part of his time working for the Chief Economist Unit.

Roberta Romano-Götsch
Chief Sustainability Officer, EPO
Roberta Romano-Götsch is Chief Sustainability Officer at the EPO. Roberta is a chemist by education and has obtained her PhD in organic chemistry from the Technical University of Munich and was R&D product manager at Procter & Gamble before joining the EPO in 1997.

Pere Arque-Castells
Stream Leader Innovation and Legal Policies, EPO
Pere Arque-Castells is an economist with a specialization in innovation. He has a rich academic background and holds an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Universitat de Barcelona.

Joana Piriquito Santos
Lawyer specialized in patent litigation, Patent Attorney and UPC representative
Joana holds a degree in Law and an integrated master's degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences. Joana is the Vice President of the Patents Commission of UNION-IP and a Member of the Standing Advisory Committee before the EPO.

Steve Rowan
Vice-President Patent Granting Process, EPO
Steve joined the EPO in 2019 as Vice President for the patent granting process and as site manager for The Hague. After graduating with a law degree in the UK, he went on to help steer IP policy issues in government and serve on several executive boards.

Poul de Haan
European Patent Attorney and Head of IP Support, Philips
Poul de Haan. Currently Head of the IP Support group within Philips Intellectual Property & Standards, the group that handles all formalities and administrative work in relation to the management of the patents, designs, trademarks, and domain names in the Philips portfolio of intellectual property rights. Joined IP&S in 2001 as patent attorney trainee, qualified as Dutch and European Patent Attorney in 2004 and 2005 respectively, and several roles since, before becoming head of the IP Support group in 2016.  Annually, Philips files hundreds of applications at the European Patent Office, and as frequent user of the services of the EPO we’re also participating in pilots on new services provided by the EPO.