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16 October 2014Patents

Staff ‘barred’ from EPO meeting

Staff representatives at the European Patent Office (EPO) have been excluded from a meeting of its supervisory body, contrary to established practice, it has been claimed.

Representatives from the central staff committee (CSC) were prevented from attending an administrative council (AC) session yesterday (October 15), it has been alleged.

The CSC had put forward four nominations—a representative from Munich, The Hague, Berlin and Vienna—to attend the meeting, which was arranged to discuss policy.

The AC, forms part of the European Patent Organisation and acts as the office's supervisory body. It is made up of 38 member states.

According to EPO rules of procedure, staff representatives have the right to attend AC meetings but approval is at the discretion of the president, Benoît Battistelli.

“To the best of our knowledge and according to staff representatives, there has never been a case to date where the president has refused approval,” a source told WIPR.

In a letter seen by WIPR that was sent to the AC’s chairman Jesper Kongstad and other AC members, the CSC said its nominations had “not been accepted.”

“We would be thankful if you could take every measure in order to make sure that all nominated CSC members can honour your invitation next week,” it added.

According to sources, the refusal may have been a result of recent staff elections at the office that resulted in new members being elected to the CSC and local staff committees at each EPO office.

The CSC, which comprises members from all four offices, has to meet in one location to constitute itself.

According to the CSC, its plan to arrange a meeting within the last month was disrupted after it was denied travel.

“It seems that this has been exploited as a pretext to claim that the nominations to attend the AC meeting could not be approved due to the fact that the new CSC had failed to constitute itself after the recent election,” a source added.

The EPO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Staff will hold a ballot later this month to decide whether to undertake what would be a third strike in seven months.

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