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13 December 2017Patents

EPO staff demonstrate in Munich following UN agency decisions

Staff members at the European Patent Office (EPO) are holding a demonstration at the EPO’s Munich office today.

The EPO’s Administrative Council is meeting today and tomorrow, December 14, also in Munich.

One of the items on the agenda is the reinstatement of a suspended EPO Board of Appeals judge to his former post.

The International Labour Organization’s Administrative Tribunal (ILOAT) handed down five decisions last week, with two of the judgments ordering the “immediate reinstatement” of the judge, who had been suspended because of alleged misconduct.

The judge is believed to be Patrick Corcoran.

One of the judgments said that as it might be reasonably thought that the EPO’s president Benoît Battistelli was “directly, specifically and individually offended by the misconduct for which the complainant was charged”, he could not take part in any individual proceedings regarding the complainant.

The ILOAT added: “The president’s participation in these proceedings has given rise to the unlawfulness of the individual decisions impugned with the tribunal.”

According to the Staff Union of the European Patent Office (SUEPO), the demonstration is being held to signal to the Administrative Council that its governance is needed if it wants to avoid further criticism from the tribunal.

“Battistelli is still showing a total and utter lack of respect, not only for his staff and their rights, but also for the Administrative Council and for the tribunal,” claimed SUEPO.

The EPO had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

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More on this story

Patents
11 December 2017   The International Labour Organization’s Administrative Tribunal (ILOAT) handed down five decisions concerning the European Patent Office (EPO) last week, in an “extraordinary session”.
Patents
30 June 2017   Staff members at the European Patent Office are holding another demonstration today and Monday, July 3.
Patents
1 February 2018   The International Labour Organization’s Administrative Tribunal (ILOAT) dismissed a series of complaints against the president of the European Patent Office, Benoît Battistelli, in its 125th session, held in October and November last year.