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16 October 2015Patents

EPO supervisory body resists president’s request to fire EBA member

The supervisory body of the European Patent Office (EPO), the Administrative Council (AC), has resisted an alleged request by president Benoît Battistelli to dismiss a member of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) and instead asked that body to make a formal request for dismissal.

In a communiqué released by the EPO on its website yesterday, October 15, the AC said that “pursuant to article 23 of the European Patent Convention (EPC), the removal from office of a member of the EBA is possible on a proposal from the EBA”.

The communiqué was published following the conclusion of the AC’s 145th meeting, held from October 14 to 15.

However, the AC said it believed that the member should be dismissed for the “unauthorised disclosure of non-public information”.

On Wednesday, October 14, WIPR  reported that Battistelli had asked the AC to bypass the EBA and dismiss the member for allegedly spreading defamatory material about the EPO.

Article 23 of the EPC guarantees the independence of the EBA from the AC and president. In order for an EBA member to be dismissed, that body has to lodge a formal request for such action.

So far, the EBA has not made such a request and in fact refused to propose that the member in question be sacked. It has also previously called for a “ clear limitation on the executive power” of the EPO.

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