EPO staff to demonstrate outside British diplomatic office in Munich
A demonstration by staff members of the European Patent Office (EPO) will take place later this month, with workers again protesting against the office’s supervisory body the Administrative Council (AC).
Certain staff members, unhappy with various alleged governance issues at the office, will take to the streets of Munich on February 25.
Staff will start marching from the EPO’s Isar building at 12.10pm local time (11.10 GMT) and travel to the British Consulate-General’s office in the city.
In a statement, the EPO’s staff union said it has reproached the AC for its “failure to exercise due oversight” over EPO president Benoît Battistelli, its “failure to fulfil its duty of care” towards EPO staff and its “lack of transparency” towards the office’s users and the general public.
According to the union, the Consulate-General’s office has been chosen because of the existence of UK representatives at the AC, which is made of representatives of all EPO member states.
John Alty, who is chief executive of the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO), serves as the UK’s representative at the AC.
The union has said that Sean Dennehey, deputy chief executive of the IPO, is a member of a board within the Administrative Council, known as Board 28.
According to the union, the board is currently discussing the future of the EPO’s boards of appeal, including the Enlarged Board of Appeal.
Last year, the AC backed a decision by Battistelli to impose a ‘house ban’ on an Enlarged Board of Appeal member following allegations of misconduct.
The AC suspended the worker in December despite receiving two separate letters from Enlarged Board members, including English judge Lord Justice Floyd. The letters’ authors asked the AC to recognise that Battistelli does not have the authority to ban a board member.
The Enlarged Board is supposed to be independent from the EPO in its decision-making and is bound only by the European Patent Convention.
Last month, around 1,000 workers meet at Kurt Haertel passage, near the EPO building in Munich, and marched to the Danish embassy in the city.
The chair of the AC is Danish national Jesper Kongstad.
A spokesperson for the IPO told WIPR: "We are aware of the social unrest at the EPO. This comes at a time of significant reform to support the long-term future of the EPO. We encourage the management and staff of the EPO to work together to ensure the reforms are implemented successfully."
The EPO declined to comment.
