Administrative Council re-elects EPO Vice-Presidents

The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation has reappointed all three of the European Patent Office’s Vice-Presidents.

At the Council’s 173rd meeting, Stephen Rowan (a British national), Vice-President for the Patent Granting Process (VP1) was re-elected to serve another five-year term, alongside Nellie Simon (an Austrian national), Vice-President for Corporate Services (VP4), and Christoph Ernst (a German national), the Vice-President for Legal and International Affairs (VP5).

Each of the Vice-Presidents’ current five-year mandates commenced on 1 January 2019 and will end on 31 December 2023. The new five-year term will take effect from 1 January 2024. The reappointment of the three Vice-presidents follows the reappointment in June 2022 of António Campinos, the EPO President, whose next term will begin on 1 July 2023.

The Administrative Council comprises delegations from the 39 member states and is responsible for supervising the activities of the European Patent Office, the Organisation’s executive branch. The Council also approves the Office’s budget and appoints its senior managers, including the President and Vice-Presidents.

The Administrative Council is scheduled to hold its next meeting on 22 March 2023.