Case Law Conference 2025

Moderator: Richard Winkelhofer
Richard Winkelhofer is a legally qualified chair at the Boards of Appeal and a judge at the Higher Regional Court of Vienna on leave of absence. He holds a master's degree in business administration and a doctorate in law, and has worked in the Austrian judiciary since 1995. From 2008 to 2010, he served as President of the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo for the EU Rule of Law Mission EULEX Kosovo. From 2011 to 2014, he was Head of the Justice Department at the Permanent Representation of Austria to the EU. Prior to joining the Boards of Appeal in 2016 as a legal member, he worked as a Rule of Law Advisor in the European External Action Service. He is a member of the Presidium of the Boards of Appeal, the Disciplinary Board of Appeal and several working groups.

Speakers

Karel Peirs
Technically qualified member, Boards of Appeal. Holds a degree in electrotechnical engineering and physics from Ghent University and furthered his expertise with a PhD focused on computer simulations of molecular systems. His expertise led him to the EPO in 2003, where he served as a patent examiner in the field of electro-acoustics for 16 years. In 2019, he transitioned to the Boards of Appeal as a technically qualified member. His current focus lies in appeals concerning electro-acoustics, computer-implemented inventions (CII) and control elements.

Anna Bacchin
Anna Bacchin, legally qualified member, Boards of Appeal and Disciplinary Board 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 in the Patent Law department. Joined the Boards of Appeal in 2020. Co-author of the commentary "Benkard, Europäisches Patentübereinkommen".

Tamás Bokor
Tamás Bokor was appointed as a legally qualified member of the Boards of Appeal in 2004, and since then has been working in three technical appeal Boards in the fields of mechanics, chemistry and physics, as well as in the Legal Board of Appeal. Appointed to the Disciplinary Board of Appeal in 2010, Tamás was also appointed first as a member in 2014, then as a regular member in 2019 of the Enlarged Board of Appeal. Tamás obtained his doctorate of technical sciences at Budapest Technical University in 1992, qualifying as a Hungarian patent attorney in 1993 specialising in software protection and related issues. He graduated in law in 1997, while working as a Hungarian patent attorney. From 2003 he was also active as a European Patent Attorney, mainly in the field of optics, software and electronics, before then joining the Boards of Appeal in 2004.

David Rogers
Legally qualified member, Boards of Appeal, and UK and Irish Solicitor. He was formerly with the European Commission, EUIPO and in private practice in the City of London. He is a permanent member of the Enlarged Board of Appeal.

Ambrogio Usuelli
Ambrogio is a technically qualified chair at the Boards of Appeal and member of the Enlarged Board of Appeal. He chairs Board 3307, which handles cases related to pharmaceutical and cosmetic patents. Ambrogio studied Chemistry at the University of Milan where he graduated in 1993 with a thesis in the field of organometallic chemistry. He worked from 1994 to 1999 in the patent department of a pharmaceutical company. He passed the Italian qualifications for patent attorney in 1999 and the EQE in 2004. Before joining the Boards of Appeal as a technically qualified member in November 2013, Ambrogio was an examiner in the cluster of Pure and Applied Organic Chemistry, having joined the EPO in January 2000.

Mélanie Bessaud
Mélanie Bessaud served for five years in the Paris Court of First Instance, specialising in intellectual and industrial property law, and is currently judge in the French Cour de cassation, in the Commercial Chamber, dealing in particular with patent and supplementary protection certificate matters. Since 2023 she is also a legally qualified judge at the Unified Patent Court’s Central Division in Munich and a member of different panels in local divisions of the UPC.

Sir Richard Meade 
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.