António Campinos elected next EPO President

Munich, 11 October 2017 -- The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation has elected António Campinos to succeed Benoît Battistelli as President of the European Patent Office (EPO). His five-year term will start on 1 July 2018.

A Portuguese national, Mr Campinos is currently Executive Director of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). He is also a former President of the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). In that function, he served as the Portuguese representative on the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation for several years.

Speaking after the Administrative Council session, current President of the EPO Benoît Battistelli said: ‘I'd like to congratulate António Campinos warmly on his election. It is a victory of competence and impressive experience in IP. It's also a victory for Europe in its diversity. It is the first time that a national from the South of Europe is appointed as the head of the EPO. This decisive outcome shows how the European Patent Organisation has matured in terms of implementing strong governance and providing leadership in decision making that will serve European innovation.'

The Administrative Council, made up of the delegations from all member states, is the Organisation's legislative body. It is responsible for supervising the activities of the Office, approving the budget and appointing the President of the EPO.

About the European Patent Organisation

The European Patent Organisation is an intergovernmental organisation set up on the basis of the European Patent Convention (EPC), which was signed in Munich in 1973 and entered into force on 7 October 1977. The Organisation currently has 38 member states - all of the 28 EU members, plus Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey. Its task is to oversee the granting of European patents under the EPC by the European Patent Office.

About the European Patent Office

With nearly 7 000 staff, the European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the largest public service institutions in Europe. Headquartered in Munich with offices in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Vienna, the EPO was founded with the aim of strengthening co-operation on patents in Europe. Through the EPO's centralised patent granting procedure, inventors are able to obtain high-quality patent protection in up to 42 countries, covering a market of around 700 million people. The EPO is also the world's leading authority in patent information and patent searching.

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