OEB, Communiqué du 14 juillet 2022 – 171ème réunion du Conseil d’administration

Niveau juridique : International

Texte du communiqué :

« The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation held its 171st meeting in Munich on 29 and 30 June under its Chairperson Josef KRATOCHVÍL (CZ). It was the first ever « hybrid » Council meeting, combining in person with online attendance.

Firstly, the Council unanimously decided to re-appoint Mr António CAMPINOS (PT) as President of the European Patent Office for a second mandate of five years. Numerous delegations warmly congratulated the President on his re-appointment and the Office’s outstanding achievements in the past four years of his presidency.

The Council was also presented with the Office’s activities report in the form of a comprehensive video, highlighting the prominent achievements from 2021, major changes related to the « new normal » and its substantial progress with the Strategic Plan. The President thanked all colleagues for their outstanding efforts in challenging times. Several member states congratulated the Office on the excellent results achieved under difficult circumstances.

The Council subsequently discussed several other key topics and approved:

the proposal on the professional mobility package

the request by the Visegrad Patent Institute for observer status on the Administrative Council

the requests on working agreements on search co-operation by Portugal and Austria

The Office presented a proposal for the set-up and blueprint of the Observatory on Patents and Technology, which received a favourable opinion from the Council and so did the proposal by the Chairperson on the modernisation of the EPO’s external governance.

An update on the Unitary Patent was presented by the Chairperson of the Select Committee, as well as the French and Czech delegations, which hold the EU Presidency for the first and second semester of 2022 respectively. More information on recent achievements and the remaining steps is available in the Communiqué of the Select Committee, which held its latest meeting on 30 June 2022.

Turning to financial matters, the Council noted the opinion of the Board of Auditors and approved their report, along with the EPO’s accounts for 2021. Delegations praised the Office’s ongoing prudent approach to its planning assumptions in 2023, which take into consideration recent geopolitical tensions such as the military aggression against Ukraine, as well as the ongoing impact of the pandemic.

Furthermore, the Council noted the reports of its Chairperson and of the respective Chairpersons of the Select Committee, the Budget and Finance Committee, the Technical and Operational Support Committee, the Committee on Patent Law and the Supervisory Board of the Reserve Funds for Pensions and Social Security (RFPSS).

In a closed session, the Council took note of solid progress reported by the Office with preparations for the future membership of Montenegro, its co-operation activities to support the Ukrainian Patent Office, and an extensive update provided by the Office on social dialogue.

Finally, the Council also took a number of decisions on individual appointments:

election of Mr Johannes Christian WICHARD (DE) as Chairperson of the Technical and Operational Support Committee for a three-year mandate

extension of the mandate of Mr Ola HOLLUM (NO) as member of the Board of Auditors for another three years

Appointment, re-appointment and promotion of members of the Boards of Appeal (BoA), based on proposals by the President of the BoA and on his consultation or recommendations on proposals from the Chairperson of the Council.

Council Secretariat »

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