EPO Announces Four Candidates For Next President

The European Patent Office today announced four people in the running to replace its current president, Alison Brimelow, who is not seeking another term after hers expires on 30 June 2010.

The four candidates are: Susanne Ǻs Sivborg, director general of the Swedish Patent and Registration Office; Benoît Battistelli, director general of the Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle in France, Roland Grossenbacher, director of the Eidgenössisches Institut für Geistiges Eigentum (Federal Institute of Intellectual Property) in Switerland; and Jesper Kongstad, director general of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office. A press release announcing their candidacy is on the EPO website here. The description of the posting is available here.

The application deadline for the post was 15 September. The post is vacated on 1 July 2010, according to the release. The term of office is 5 years, and deliberations and voting on the candidates will begin after the EPO’s Administrative Council hears from them at its meeting 27-29 October.

Battistelli is the current chair of the EPO Administrative Council, taking over from Grossenbacher on 5 March 2009, though Grossenbacher remains honorary chairman. Kongstad is the deputy chairman.