EPO User Day 2025

Abdelkrim Benamar
CEO, Powerup technology  
Abdelkrim has served as CEO of French deep tech startup PowerUp since November 2021. He has over 30 years of experience in the energy and telecom industries. Before joining PowerUp, he held several executive roles at leading high-tech companies such as Astellia, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Motorola, in areas such as R&D, strategy and sales. He holds an engineering degree from Telecom SudParis and a PhD in electrical engineering from Paris-Saclay University.

Alexis Dagostino
Docketing and Client Records Co-ordinator, Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner, P.A.
Alexis has 10 years of IP experience and started at SLW as a docketing clerk in 2014. Alexis handles transfer-in projects for both patents and trademarks, maintains the backup database at SLW and trains new colleagues within the docketing department.

Angela Ivanova
Co-founder and CEO, LAM’ON
Angela is the co-Founder and CEO of LAM’ON, a climate-tech company developing patented, bio-based packaging films that fully decompose without leaving toxic residues. With a strong focus on material innovation and circularity, Angela has led LAM’ON through six years of R&D to market launch, securing EU patent protection. She is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, EIT Manufacturing leader and an EIC Ambassador, recognised for driving impactful change in sustainable packaging and advancing next-generation alternatives to fossil-based plastic films.

Angélique Iyer-Baldew
Director Oppositions, European Patent Office
Angelique is a Director for oppositions in the EPO’s Patent Granting Process directorate, covering the area of health, materials and production. She holds a PhD in chemistry and worked as a European patent attorney prior to joining the EPO.

Camille-Rémy Bogliolo
Head of Unitary Patent Division, European Patent Office
Camille has led the Unitary Patent Division since the launch of the Unitary Patent in 2023. Previously, he has worked extensively in Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) legal matters, first at WIPO between 2001 and 2005, and then at the EPO since 2006. Camille holds a degree from Sciences Po and a Master of Laws from the University of Maastricht.

Catarina Maia
Head of IP, iLoF
Catarina is the head of legal and IP at iLoF, a startup headquartered in the United Kingdom with operations in Portugal. She holds both an MSc and an MBA in management and has a background in supporting technology-based innovation and deep tech startups. Catarina is also a guest faculty member at the University of Porto, where she teaches innovation and entrepreneurship. Before joining iLoF, she was responsible for driving IP strategy and research commercialisation as head of the technology licensing office at INESC TEC.

Claudia Gaur
Formalities Officer, European Patent Office
Claudia is an administrative employee who has worked at the EPO for 19 years. She has held a variety of roles, beginning as a Formalities Officer in Search and Examination and subsequently working in the Customer Business Analysis Department. She later served as a Key Account Manager in Customer Business Development and, most recently, as a formalities officer in Opposition and the Client Data Registration Team, as well as a member of the EPO's internal Knowledge Sharing Team.

Costanza Galbardi
IP Analyst, Trieste Area Science Park PATLIB Centre
Costanza is a Qualified Patent Information Professional (QPIP) with a background in research support and patent information services. With a career spanning research centres and biotech companies, she has been part of the PATLIB team at Area Science Park since 2010, specialising in patent analysis, IP information and technology foresight. She is actively involved in training and mentoring junior staff, as well as in capacity-building initiatives targeting SMEs, students and researchers through regional, national and EU-funded projects. She also promotes patent awareness through initiatives such as the Premio Bernardo Nobile, an annual award for outstanding academic work on patent information.

Christina ten Hövel
Key Account Manager and Patent Administration Expert, European Patent Office
Since joining the EPO in 2003, Christina has worked as an expert in patent grant procedures and has provided training to internal and external audiences. As a Key Account Manager, since 2015 she has supported EPO users with online tools and services. She has also contributed to various projects, notably the technical implementation of the Unitary Patent.

Eimer Luck
Key Account Manager, European Patent Office
Eimer joined the EPO in 1992. For ten years, she promoted and supported the use of EPO digital tools and services. Her main area of expertise became assisting users with accessing the EPO Mailbox. Open to a new challenge, she became an instructor for the EPO formalities community where she focused on patent grant procedures during four years. In July 2022, Eimer assumed the role of Key Account Manager.

Elke von Brevern
Expert Patent Filing Process and PCT Affairs, European Patent Office
Elke joined the EPO in 2008 as an online filing application manager, working on projects which included online filing tools for the PCT. In 2015 she joined the PCT Affairs department as an expert, where she co-ordinates and legally supports the implementation of PCT-related projects at the EPO.

Enrica Bruno
Founder and Partner of S+B Intellectual Property Law, EPO-qualified US Patent Attorney
Enrica is a founding partner at IP law firm Steinfl+Bruno LLP, based in Pasadena, California. She has more than 25 years of expertise in US and European patent law, working with frontline innovators across a range of technologies to design and engineer patents that drive success and growth. Enrica’s approach centres on her belief that IP assets are much more than defensive legal instruments - they are strategic engines of innovation.

Eve-Marie Mayer-Martin
Director Patent Granting Process, European Patent Office
Eve-Marie is Director in Operations responsible for the end-to-end patent grant process in area of medical technology. After graduating in physics at the Technical University of Munich in 1997, she became a European patent attorney and worked for several years in the Siemens’s patent department. She joined the EPO in 2001 as a patent examiner and was appointed Director in 2013.

Gertrude Kignelman
Researcher, Centexbel
With a PhD in Chemical Engineering from KU Leuven, Gertrude joined Centexbel in 2021. She supports Belgian companies with their IP related questions within the Centexbel Patent Cell and is twinning partner within the European Patent Office's Knowledge Transfer to Africa initiativ. Furthermore, Gertrude leads a task group on standard development related to circular economy.

Jeremy Philpott
Administrator Content Creation Directorate, European Patent Office
Jeremy joined the EPO twenty years ago. He co-ordinates several EPO communication campaigns, which include the annual Patent Index and numerous aspects of the patent grant process and Unitary Patent. He promotes the studies, platforms and tools developed by the Observatory on Patents and Technology. He also conceived and developed the EPO’s New to patents webpage, which contains basic introductory information for inventors, startups and SMEs.

Johannes Schaaf
Patent Analyst, European Patent Office
Johannes holds an MBA and a master's degree in physics. He worked as an engineer and innovation consultant in the corporate technology unit at Siemens and led their community of practice innovation management. He was an examiner in the area of laser technology at the German Patent and Trademark Office. In 2005, he joined the European Patent Office in Vienna and now works in the Chief Economist Unit on Espacenet, patent analytics, PATSTAT, IPscore and technology insight reports.

Kieran Donnelly 
Business Partner, European Patent Office
Kieran is a business partner at the EPO, driving digital transformation through MyEPO services for applicants, opponents and representatives. Since 2014, he has drawn on extensive business and IT consulting experience to modernise workflows and strengthen online user engagement.

Krishna Chellapilla
Head of Patents, Prosecution & Copyrights, Tata Consultancy Services
Krishna has around 20 years of experience in various aspects of intellectual property rights and currently heads IP filing and prosecution services at TCS. His primary responsibility is to create and protect TCS’s IP and his specialisation includes handling patent prosecution across jurisdictions and attending oral proceedings and examiner interviews. Prior to joining TCS in 2011, he headed an Indian law firm and was engaged with a US-based law firm as an IP attorney.

Lisa McDonald-Maier
Lead of Knowledge Transfer to Africa Initiative, European Patent Office
Lisa joined the EPO in 1992. Over the years she has been heavily involved in trainings and the PATLIB Network, as well as acting as the application manager and user representative for Espacenet. From 2013 to 2023, Lisa headed the unit of user support co-ordination and tools for patent information products and services. She was responsible for the training and continued development offerings of the PATLIB 2.0 project, and in November 2022 she took up the lead in the Knowledge Transfer to Africa initiative.

Marek Bury
Managing Partner and European Patent Attorney, Bury & Bury 
Marek is the co-founder of Bury & Bury, a firm of European and Polish patent and trademark attorneys. With a PhD in telecommunications and a background in information and communication technologies (ICT), Marek specialises in intellectual property protection across a broad range of technical fields—including electrotechnics, mechanics, telecommunications, software and IT. His legal education further qualifies him to represent clients before the Unified Patent Court. Marek is particularly committed to innovation in the patent process, with a strong emphasis on the digital optimisation of communication with patent offices. 
In addition to his professional practice, Marek serves as Chair of the ICT Subcommittee and the Quality Working Group of the European Patent Practice Committee of the epi.

Mark Hesketh
COO and General Manager, Components PureLifi
Mark is the Chief Operating Officer for pureLiFi Ltd where IP management and control is central to its value proposition and protection. With over 40 years’ experience in converting new technology and IP to product solutions in semiconductor, telecom, consumer and defence sectors, he has held leadership positions in SMEs and large corporate organisations. In addition, he co-founded a startup business which was successfully acquired.

Martin Adu
Key Account Manager, European Patent Office
Martin is an experienced trainer who has worked in e-services at the EPO since the early days of online filing software in 2000. He has since worked as brand manager, software application manager and a customer support expert. Three years ago, he joined the Key Account Managers to strengthen the team in supporting EPO users with online tools and services.

Olivier Roche
Patent Examiner, European Patent Office
Olivier has worked at the EPO since 2000, started in The Hague before moving to the Munich office in 2005. He is an examiner in the dentistry field of orthodontics, implants and electric toothbrushes. As a manager, he oversees the reorganisation and development of classification in his unit and works as a quality nominee, reviewing and assessing the quality of classification in the unit done by the EPO and USPTO.

Paramjit Hans
IP Advisor, Library of Birmingham PATLIB Centre
Paramjit is a qualified business and intellectual property advisor based at the PATLIB Centre in the Library of Birmingham. The Centre specialises in providing information and guidance to anyone looking to start or grow a business. His main responsibilities are to run appointments and develop training workshops on all aspects of starting a business and protecting intellectual property rights. His other responsibilities include building partnerships with the many other organisations providing business support in Birmingham, including banks, universities and intellectual property lawyers. This enables the Centre to create an effective referral network. Paramjit is currently on the PATLIB advisory committee

Patrick Lammering
European Patent Attorney, CLAAS Group
Patrick is a European patent attorney with the CLAAS Group, a manufacturer and distributor of agricultural machinery. He holds degrees in mechanical engineering from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the Technical University of Munich. After gaining some years of experience at a patent law firm in Munich, Patrick joined CLAAS, where he advises business units on intellectual property matters and actively contributes to the digitalisation of their IP department.

Paul Tubbing
Head of Department for IT Cooperation Implementation Support, European Patent Office
Paul has worked with the EPO since 2001, focusing primarily on co-operation activities with National Patent Offices and IP entities. He played a significant role in the inception of the IT Cooperation Programme in 2019 and continues to contribute to the programme.

Peter Albrecht
Principal Advisor in Lead of SME Outreach Programme, European Patent Office
Peter joined the EPO in 2018 and has held various senior roles in the Patent Granting Process unit. In his current role he serves as Principal Advisor in the lead of the SME Outreach Programme focused on establishing strong engagement with micro-entities and SMEs, as well as with universities and public research organisations. He began his career in the food industry and previously served as CEO of a medical technology startup. Following the company’s acquisition, he became head of its Corporate Research and Technology group in Europe, leading the front-end innovation process's global efforts. In 2015 Peter joined the Mölnlycke Healthcare as Global Vice President R&D. He holds a Master of Science from the University of Vienna and an MBA in Technology Management from the Technical University RWTH in Aachen.

Peter Holme Jensen
European Inventor Award Winner 2014, CEO, Cambiotics
Peter Holme Jensen holds a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Copenhagen and is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for biomimicry, seeking innovative solutions in nature. Peter won the European Patent Office's European Inventor Award in 2014 for his water filtering technology inspired by nature, is the CEO and co-founder of Cambioticsand is also a board member of Aquaporin A/S and Innovation Fund Denmark.

Rachel Free
Partner, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Rachel is a European patent attorney at international law firm CMS, based in London. She has a background in AI and works with the CMS team of 35 patent attorneys to help clients protect technologies.

Richard Garvey
Key Account Manager, European Patent Office
Richard joined the EPO in 1998. His main responsibility is to facilitate streamlined interaction between the EPO and its users. He complemented his legal studies with a Master's in IT and telecommunications law, which is useful in his role collecting user feedback on the next generation of EPO tools.

Richard Schiettekatte
Customer Services Expert, European Patent Office
Richard joined the EPO in 2003 as an events manager in the Online Services area. He co-ordinates and supports the implementation of activities in both the Key Account Management and Customer Services units.

Robert Rankin
Administrator in Directorate Quality Management, European Patent Office
Robert is an administrator in the EPO’s Quality Management directorate. He began his career at the EPO as an examiner, working in the areas of galenics, vaccines and immunology. In his current position, he has undertaken many tasks including quality metrics and analysis, international co-operation, user outreach and communication on quality matters both internally and externally.

Roberta Andreatta
Key Account Manager, European Patent Office
Roberta joined the EPO in 2001 and has been a Key Account Manager since 2017, primarily covering Italy, Germany and France. In this role she monitors and promotes technical progress in the EPO's online services and supports users in their implementation.

Roberto Vacca
Director Quality Management, European Patent Office
Roberto is Director Quality Management in the Patent Granting Process directorate. Before moving to his present position, he managed a directorate of about 130 examiners and formalities officers in the area of Automotive Engineering. He has extensive experience as an examiner in various mechanical fields, has led technical co-operation with China for four years and has actively taken part in several quality projects, such as the working group on Strategic Quality and the pilot for Collaborative Quality Improvements. Before joining the EPO, he graduated in nuclear engineering at the Polytechnic School of Turin and worked in the aerospace industry.

Roland Feinäugle
Head of Patent Analytics, European Patent Office
Since 2024, Roland has managed the Patent Analytics department in the EPO’s Chief Economist Unit. The unit processes and analyses data, provides insights into the data and makes it publicly available in user-friendly formats such as reports and technology platforms. Prior to this, he managed several departmental units in the EPO including data transformation and awareness, marketing and business of patent information and patent information training.He holds a physics doctorate in space sensor technologies and a post-graduate degree in law. He worked for more than three years at the German and European Space Agency before joining the EPO in 2002.

Stephan Wolke
CEO and Management Board Chairman, thyssenkrupp Intellectual Property GmbH
Stephan studied physics, philosophy and macroeconomics at Bonn University and graduated with a PhD in physics. He spent the first five years of his professional career at McKinsey & Company. After founding and selling two of his own businesses, Stephan worked in several positions at Bayer AG and Danaher Corp. He joined thyssentrupp in 2011 and isresponsible for IP, he is the CEO as well as head of the thyssenkrupp Intellectual Property GmbH management board.

Taichi Higashikawa
General Manager, Patent Attorney, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
Taichi is the General Manager of MHI Head Office’s IP department, overseeing IP strategy for all global business units. From 2023 to 2024, he served as Director of MHI EMEA Ltd. in London, focusing on IP practices in Europe. He studied at Munich Intellectual Property Law Center in 2009 as a part of his LL.M. study at George Washington University Law School. He has been a registered member of the Japan Patent Attorneys Association since 2004.

Thomas Bereuter
European Patent Academy, European Patent Office
Thomas is a Certified Licensing Professional with over 25 years of experience in the international commercialisation of early-stage technologies. He has founded and supported several high-tech startups and university spin-offs and was one of the driving forces behind the business incubation and technology transfer wave in Austria in the early 2000s.

Steve Rowan
Vice-President Patent Granting Process, European Patent Office
Steve joined the EPO in 2019 as Vice President of the Patent Granting Process directorate and as site manager for The Hague. After graduating with a law degree in the UK, he helped steer IP policy issues in government and has served on several executive boards.

Vera Burianek
IP Lab Lawyer, European Patent Office
Vera deals range of patent law and patent litigation-related subjects, with an emphasis on the EPO’s recently adopted new fee policy and legal aspects related to the EPO’s Convergence of Practice programme. Vera graduated from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and University of California at Berkeley with a specialisation in law and technology. Her previous professional experience includes working as an attorney-at-law focusing on patent litigation and licensing. She contributes to patent law commentaries and periodicals on a regular basis and acts as legal member in opposition proceedings before the EPO.

Verena Keil
Head of Patent Paralegal Services, DSM-Firmenich
With 19 years of IP experience in both IP law firms and corporate IP, Verena is internationally recognised for her deep knowledge of global IP management. She joined DSM in 2022 as Head of IP Support and transitioned to Head of Patent Paralegal Services at DSM-Firmenich following a merger, a role in which she has been responsible for aligning processes between the two international teams. Her expertise includes over 10 years at Continental where she held several leadership roles in global IP support. Her international experience extends to the APAC region, where she has established and supported IP paralegal teams and processes in China and Singapore.

Vesna Vajsbaher
Espacenet Business Application Owner, European Patent Office
Vesna joined the EPO in 2004. She now works in the EPO’s Patent Information Tools team and offers expert consultation and user support on selecting and using the EPO’s patent information data, bulk datasets and services, as well as on the tools available to external users. She is the EPO business application owner of Espacenet and has hosted numerous workshops and trainings for internal and external users of all levels.

Yann Ménière
Chief Economist, European Patent Office
Yann joined the EPO as Chief Economist in 2016. He leads a team responsible for the preparation of economic studies, patent analytics and digital tools within the EPO Observatory on Patents and Technology. Yann was previously a professor of economics at Université Paris Sciences et Lettres where he led the chair on IP and Markets for Technology. He has many years of academic and field experience in issues relating to the economics of patents, innovation, technological change and economic growth.

Zhakalazky Carrion
Senior Manager Docketing and Client Records, Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner, P.A.
After finishing law school and passing the bar exam in 2004, Zhakalazky joined SLW in 2005. Since 2013, Zhakalazky has managed a team of ten in the docketing department that deals with a variety of transferred-in applications.