Interview: Christian Archambeau on his exit from the EUIPO

When it was announced that Christian Archambeau would not be re-elected for another term as executive director of the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), much speculation and column inches followed.

The news came last November, coincidentally or not after the number of applications filed at the office during 2022 was lower than anticipated, and said to have impacted both revenue and expenditure.

But, argues Archambeau, this was down to exogenous circumstances rather than performance.

“It's certainly not down to the results, because I think they speak for themselves,” he says in an interview with WIPR, citing the downturn during the pandemic.

There was “an explosion in applications” in 2021, he explains, with increases close to 20%. In 2022, this reversed, at minus 12%.

“When we planned 2022, the first two months were still at the level of 2021,” he explains. “And then Mr Putin had other ideas and decided to invade Ukraine. Of course, that made consumer confidence and business confidence crash, which is directly related to the number of trademark applications.

“These are exogenous circumstances to which you can do nothing. Everybody saw that downturn.”

‘Accidental’ career in IP

A Belgian national, Archambeau came to IP “a little bit by accident”. He began his career as a construction engineer in the Middle East, before moving into facility management for the European Space Agency.

His first job in IP was at the European Patent Office (EPO), initially as a facility director, then as principal director for administration.

In 2010 he joined the EUIPO (then OHIM), as vice president, then deputy executive director.

He was appointed to his current post as executive director in 2018 by the Council of the European Union.

But following the recommendation of the EUIPO management board last November, a majority vote at the Council of the EU Committee on May 17 means that his contract will not be extended beyond September 30, 2023.

The recruitment process has begun—in fact as WIPR goes to press the management board and budget committees have met to discuss this. There has been speculation in the press about who the new executive director will be with João Negrão reported to be in the running.

But as yet, a successor has not been named—something that seems to rankle with Archambeau.

“I think that it would have been nice to be able to deal with some of the challenges that are coming,” he laments. “We have to finish the strategic plan that goes to 2025. Next year, there are elections, there is a new parliament and the new European Commission. So for the relationship with the institution, I believe that continuity would have served both sides.

“To be honest, I don't think it is the right time for a transition. But politics got in the way.”

Myth busting

Responding to criticism over the low numbers of trademark applications, he insists that the EUIPO “came out on top because of the reaction that we took”, which was to cut expenditure “significantly”.

He points to a recently published report, Steady platform for IP and its customers through the storm, which details the EUIPO’s results for the Strategic Plan 2020 under Archambeau’s mandate. It also includes the Office’s main achievements under the current Strategic Plan 2025.

“The best proof that we did the right thing is that we ended 2022 with a positive result, even if it was not sufficient to pay offsetting,” explains Archambeau.

He goes on to say that member states suffered that same reduction in trademark applications, “so how can the Office be reproached for the drop in applications caused by the Ukrainian war, when member states experienced exactly the same?”

He adds drily that national offices had more than two years to prepare and it had a limited impact [on them]—5% for a small office and 0.4% for a big office like Germany or France.

“So this idea that member states were going bankrupt because they wouldn’t get their offsetting payment in 2024 is a myth that needs a little bit of busting.”

Trademarks, he explains, represents 90% of the EUIPO’s income, while designs represent 10%—and so a 20% drop in trademarks will immediately have a significant impact on revenue.

“But that's also why we have built up some reserves to cope with this volatility,” he explains. “And I think we did that very well, because as I said, we ended the year with a positive operational result, which nobody expected, frankly.”

One-stop-shop

Resolutely sanguine, Archambeau explains that there are several achievements under his watch that he’s most proud of.

“We have nearly tripled the financial support that we give to national offices on a yearly basis to corporation projects. So that has grown more than twofold.

“But more importantly, we have re-established good working relations with the European Commission, where we are now a one-stop-shop for the Commission for anything that concerns IP.”

He cites a shift from being a one-size-fits-all approach, to becoming much more customer-focused.

“You don't talk to a big company like BAE the way you talk to an SME or to an intermediary law firm, for example,” he explains. “So we are adjusting the services that we provide and we've embedded that now into our new revamped customer response teams.”

The deployment of many new services based on artificial intelligence (AI) and new technologies (including a revamped website, due to launch officially in June) has also helped this shift, he says.

“All this has led to the highest ever customer satisfaction; in the last survey this was 90%, which I think speaks for itself.”

Challenges ahead

Post-pandemic, the main challenges facing the EUIPO right now, says Archambeau, are the geopolitical and economic situation and their consequences.

“All this generates significant volatility in numbers of applications,” he adds. “So you have to take a prudent approach for the moment until the numbers come back. But when they come back, you have to be ready to redeploy the necessary resources to maintain the level of customer service that you depend on.

“So what we've done in the last couple of years is concentrated more on flexibility and resilience. It is important for the office to remain flexible and resilient.”

Then there are the aforementioned changes within the Commission, parliament and leadership, he says, adding that the relationship with the Commission and the institution and the implementation of projects “is very important and should continue”.

SEPs

There is much to be hopeful for, suggests Archambeau, who is particularly excited about the Office’s future involvement in standard essential patents (SEPs), revealed in the European Commission’s proposed regulations published in April.

The Commission intends to introduce a royalty process for SEPs and to facilitate fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) determinations.

As part of the proposals, the EUIPO is earmarked to become a ‘competence centre’ which would oversee the whole process, including establishing and managing a SEP register. It would also provide advice and training to SMEs on licensing negotiations; monitor the SEP market; conduct studies on SEP licensing; and promote alternative dispute resolution.

Responding to the scepticism that this proposed involvement has attracted, Archambeau remains confident.

“It is true that it is a new field for the office,” he says, “but I think we are extremely well equipped to deal with this; we have a track record of attracting new competencies.

“There is an overarching goal of the institutions and I think also of the member states, which have approved this, to get a one-stop-shop in Europe for EU regulations and titles. So, we are the logical agency to deal with that now.”

In terms of skills necessary to meet the demands of this new service, he makes clear that there will not be a mass recruitment drive for examiners. Instead, the EUIPO will use its network of national offices for occasional resourcing; draw from experts within the private sector; and will hire a small number of new people.

Whether that number of new recruits is 10 or 20 will depend on factors such as the volumes that are involved or the rate of sampling, he says.

The office has “already had some approaches” from experts following the publication of the proposal by the Commission to explore how those services could be provided.

“But we first have to see how the proposal is going to work,” Archambeau goes on. “We have a track record to show that we can attract new competencies in a relatively short time and deal with this successfully and efficiently.”

Future plans

When asked what qualities he thinks the next executive director needs to have and the priorities they should focus on, he is reticent.

“l don't think [it is my] place to give advice to my potential successor. So I'll be there for a chat and for assistance if he or she wishes that to happen. I think they must have the freedom to operate like I did.”

But before he finishes, there are a few things on his to-do list before he departs the role in September.

One is to continue with the implementation of the strategic plan 2025, adding that there are several big projects coming to fruition.

“Basically the business continues—we need to continue to serve customers.”

As for his next move, he is frank. “To be honest, I don't really know,” he says, adding that the logical thing would be to continue in the IP world.

He says he would like to “do something which has some impact” and is in discussions over a number of options, but notes that there are “significant” limitations to what he can do for the first two years after leaving the role.

Those limitations refer to the regulation on revolving doors, lobbying and conflict of interest.

Limits, he insists, that he does not wish to test.

“You are obviously bound by integrity and discretion, which is not a problem, but you are not allowed to deviate from the lines defined by the institutions,” he explains. “You cannot lobby your former network and colleagues for other interests and the interests of the Union.

“So the limitations, when you look at them, are quite significant. And I have absolutely no appetite to go and test those limits and go into grey areas like maybe some others do.

He finishes by saying he needs to reflect on it. In the meantime? “Obviously, I'm going to take some time off as well. I think that will be nice.”

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