The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation is one of the two organs of the

European Patent Organisation The European Patent Organisation (sometimes abbreviated EPOrg in order to distinguish it from the European Patent Office, one of the two organs of the organisation) is a public international organisation created in 1977 by its contracting states t ...

(EPOrg), the other being the

European Patent Office The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation

(EPO). The Administrative Council acts as the Organisation's supervisory body as well as, to a limited extent, its legislative body. The actual legislative power to revise the

European Patent Convention The European Patent Convention (EPC), also known as the Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, is a multilateral treaty instituting the European Patent Organisation and providing an autonomous legal system according to ...

(EPC) lies with the Contracting States themselves when meeting at a Conference of the Contracting States. In contrast, the EPO acts as executive body of the Organisation.Gower's Report on Intellectual Property
, para 1.34

Composition and competences

The Administrative Council is composed of Representatives of the Contracting States and is responsible for overseeing the work of the European Patent Office, ratifying the budget and approving the actions of the President of the Office. The council is also competent for amending the Implementing Regulations of the EPC and some provisions of the Articles of the EPC. Each Contracting State on the Administrative Council has one vote, except under certain circumstances provided for by . The Chairperson of the Administrative Council is responsible for the work of the council and its function. The Chairperson also presides over the meetings of the council. Under , the Administrative Council has set up a Board composed of five of its members,

Managing Intellectual Property ''Managing Intellectual Property'' (also known as Managing IP or MIP) is a monthly magazine published in English and specializes in intellectual property.Managing Intellectual Property website''About us'' Consulted on June 27, 2018 Jeremy Phillip ...

, ''Fees may rise as EPO stresses quality'' (Interview: Roland Grossenbacher), February 1, 2008 including the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman and three other members elected by the Administrative Council, to perform duties assigned by the Administrative Council. The Board is informally called "Board 28", named after Article 28 EPC, and as of 2008 was carrying out a "workload study", i.e., a study on how to manage the workload facing the EPO. The Administrative Council is in charge of appointing the President of the EPO. A majority of three-quarters of the votes of the Contracting States represented and voting is required for appointing the President of the EPO. Reaching a decision on the appointment of a President was difficult in 2003, leading to a split tenure (as a result of a compromise,

Alain Pompidou Alain Pompidou (born 5 April 1942) is a French scientist and politician. A former professor of histology, embryology and cytogenetics, he was the fourth president of the European Patent Office (EPO) from 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2007. He is the adopte ...

(France) was elected for three years and

Alison Brimelow Alison Jane Brimelow CBE (born 1949European Patent Office web site''Alison Brimelow's CV'' Consulted on 2 July 2007. ) is a British civil servant and former chief executive and Comptroller General of the UK Patent Office, now known as the Intell ...

(United Kingdom) succeeded him for an equal term), and was difficult again in 2009, requiring twenty votes and four meetings.EPO web site
''EPO President - election procedure suspended''
, News, 3 February 2010. Consulted on December 6, 2010.James Nurton

, Managing Intellectual Property, Weekly News, 1 March 2010. Consulted on March 6, 2010. When voting, a lot of the members of the Administrative Council are reportedly working under instructions from their respective government, whereas the governments "can have many motivations for supporting one person rather than another."

Criticism

The Staff Union of the European Patent Office (SUEPO) has criticized the Administrative Council as being in a

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

situation:

References

External links

Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation
on the European Patent Office web site

(search interface)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Administrative Council Of The European Patent Organisation European Patent Organisation

Composition and competences

Criticism

See also

References

External links