Düsseldorf, October 27, 2017 – The European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich has a new President: António Campinos was elected by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation on October 10, 2017. The 49-year-old Portuguese is thus the successor of Benoît Battistelli. As head of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in Alicante, António Campinos brings with him extensive experience in the management of an international organization and its adaptation to the digital age. His ability to organize was proven among other things in 2016, when the “Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market” was renamed EUIPO under his direction.
His five-year presidency at the EPO in Munich begins in July 2018 – and will also be a political challenge in terms of personnel: It has in the past come to partly serious conflicts between the administration, the EPO staff and the SUEPO union. From Cohausz & Florack’s point of view the new president is certainly up to the task: “We believe he brings with him the best prerequisites to moderate an agreement process between the administration and the employees of the EPO,” explains Gottfried Schüll, patent attorney and partner of C&F. And great challenges also await him on a structural level: It is thus that the independence of the EPO boards of appeal has to be ensured, while at the same time accompanying the currently faltering introduction of the planned unified EU patent. “For this too, António Campinos is surely a good choice,” Schüll continues.