Alberto Casado Cerviño takes up office as Vice-President of the EPO

5 September 2012

Alberto Casado Cerviño has taken up office as Vice-President of the European Patent Office (EPO). As of 1 September, Mr Casado Cerviño heads the EPO's Directorate-General Operational Support, which is in charge of delivering support for the patent granting process to internal and external users of EPO services, and covers Quality Management, Patent Administration and Information Management.

Appointed by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation on 28 June, the 59-year-old Spaniard succeeds Peter Vermeij of the Netherlands.

Mr Casado Cerviño has extensive experience in IP. From 1978 to 1994 he held various positions at the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, and from 2008 onwards he served as its Director-General. From 1994 to 2004 he was Vice-President of the EU's Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM). Mr Casado Cerviño was also a member of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation from 1988 to 1994, and led the Spanish delegation to the Council from 2008. He also acted as the Chairman ad interim of the Council in 2009.