The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation, in its meeting in The Hague on 25/26 June, extended the mandate of the President of the European Patent Office (EPO), Benoît Battistelli, by a further three years, to 30 June 2018.
At the meeting, the Council expressed its continued support for the EPO’s quality/efficiency strategy adopted in 2011 under President Battistelli, which is being implemented by means of five „roadmaps” in the areas of IT, co-operation, human resources, buildings and quality. The Council fully endorsed the steps taken and progress achieved so far, and unanimously approved proposals for further action in all five of the updated roadmaps.
The Council also made a number of further appointments, electing Josef Kratochvil (Czech Republic) as Chairman of the Technical and Operational Support Committee (TOSC) with effect from 26 October 2014, and Bucura Ionescu (Romania) as deputy chairman of the TOSC with effect from 1 July 2014. They also appointed Patricia Garcia-Escudero (Spain) and Marco Dinis (Portugal) as members of the Supervisory Board of the European Patent Academy with effect from 26 June 2014.
The Council also approved the accounts for 2013 and general orientations for the budget of 2015.
