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2 June 2016Patents

EPO accused of decreasing power of boards of appeal

Proposed reforms to the boards of appeal at the European Patent Office (EPO) have been slammed in a leaked letter sent by some of the boards’ members.

In the letter, sent late last month and seen by WIPR, EPO president Benoît Battistelli’s proposed reforms were criticised as “decreasing the level of autonomy and independence” of the boards.

As it stands the boards of appeal are classed as a directorate-general of the EPO, meaning they are a specific branch of the office.

The proposals aim to make the boards a separate organisational entity as far as possible without reforming the European Patent Convention (EPC), the framework that created the European Patent Organization, under which the EPO operates.

According to the letter, sent by the presidium of the boards of appeal and the Association of the Members of the Boards of Appeal, the “delegation of powers” is insecure as it may be “revoked by the president of the office on his own initiative, without any safeguards”.

Battistelli’s proposals, initially outlined in May, cover the office’s 28 appeal boards.

Among the other proposals are the appointment of a new president for the appeal boards to which Battistelli will “delegate certain functions and powers”.

The presidium is a committee including the vice-president in charge of the boards of appeal as well as six chairmen and six members of other EPO boards.

The letter also highlighted an alleged lack of consultation: “The boards have been given little or no opportunity to comment on central aspects of the current proposal. Many of them have not been presented to the boards at all,” it said.

Relations between EPO senior management and staff have been in the spotlight over the last two years. Earlier this week, WIPR reported that Battistelli’s bicycle brakes were allegedly cut.

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27 May 2016   The European Patent Office’s president Benoit Battistelli seems to be facing more resistance from his own staff after his bicycle brakes were allegedly cut.