ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL
Reports on meetings of the Administrative Council
Report on the 126th meeting of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation - (14 and 15 December 2010)
The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation held its 126th meeting in The Hague on 14 and 15 December 2010 under the chairmanship of Jesper Kongstad (DK).
The Council noted the activities reports presented by its chairman and by the President of the Office, Benoît Battistelli, and congratulated the President and all EPO staff on the Office's good performance in 2010. The Council particularly welcomed recent initiatives to improve both social dialogue within the Office and relations with users.
After noting the oral report by the chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Academy of the European Patent Organisation, the Council congratulated the Academy on having been awarded the Diesel Medal by the German Institute for Invention.
Turning to procedural matters, the Council approved proposals concerning the arrangements for electing officers of the Council and its bodies, and adopted a proposed amendment of its rules of procedure with a view to streamlining the conduct of meetings.
The Council then elected Miklós Bendzsel (HU) as its deputy chairman and Friedrich Rödler (AT) as deputy chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee. Both appointments were for a three-year term with immediate effect. Susanne Ås Sivborg (SE) was elected as a member of the Council's Board ("B28") for a non-renewable three-year term. The Council also noted the decision of Mihály Ficsor (HU) to step down as chairman of the Committee on Patent Law. The procedure to elect a new chairman would be initiated with a view to appointing a successor at the Council's 127th meeting, in March 2011. The Council noted, furthermore, that a number of positions on the Supervisory Board of the Academy would be falling vacant shortly. These appointments too were to be made at the Council's March 2011 meeting.
The Council agreed to postpone its decision on a request from the EPO Pensioners' Association for observer status, pending a review of general policy concerning the admission of observers to Council meetings.
The Council made three appointments to its Appeals Committee for 2011: Sten Niklasson (SE) as chairman, and Jean-Claude Combaldieu (FR) and Alfons Schäfers (DE) as members. It also noted the list of members appointed by the staff representatives, and paid tribute to the committee's outgoing chairman, Max Engels (NL).
The Council then appointed Manfred Wieser (AT) as chairman of a board of appeal and technically qualified member of the Enlarged Board of Appeal with effect from 1 January 2011. It also appointed Rolf Gerdes (DE) as technically qualified member of the boards with effect from 1 January 2011, Winfried Marx (DE) and Beat Stolz (CH) as technically qualified members with effect from 1 April 2011, and Simon Robert Walker (GB) as technically qualified member with effect from a date between 1 January 2011 and 1 July 2011 to be agreed between him and the President of the Office.
The Council decided to abolish its Performance Committee, set up in 2006 by a decision which was now rescinded.
Under legal and international affairs, the Council was pleased to note that the Kingdom of the Netherlands had recently ratified the Patent Law Treaty, and that the London Agreement had been ratified by Hungary.
The Council noted the oral report of the co-chair of the Working Party on Litigation, Roland Grossenbacher (CH), on the working party's 15th meeting, held in The Hague on 15 December 2010, as well as the status report on the EU patent delivered by the Belgian delegation, representing the state holding the EU presidency in the second half of 2010, and the comments of the Hungarian delegation, representing the incoming presidency, on developments expected in the first half of 2011.
Concerning pension matters, the Council noted the oral report given by the chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Reserve Funds for Pensions and Social Security, Jean Sebeyran, on the board's meeting in November 2010.
The Council noted the results of two recent staff surveys and invited the Office to continue investigating the issues identified. After considering the opinion delivered by its Appeals Committee on a number of appeals filed in 2009 against decisions relating to the pension scheme, it decided to reject the appeals as inadmissible and unfounded, except for a claim relating to a flawed consultation procedure. The President of the Office was mandated to submit a new set of documents as soon as possible after proper consultation of the relevant internal advisory body, while continuing to apply the decisions under appeal until final decisions were adopted.
In the area of finance and budget planning, the Council, having noted the findings of the Actuarial Advisory Group and the positive opinion given by the Budget and Finance Committee and the Supervisory Board of the Reserve Funds for Pensions and Social Security, adopted a decision setting up a reserve fund for healthcare insurance and thereby enlarging the reserve fund created by its previous decision CA/D 14/09.
The Council adopted the 2011 budget, amounting to EUR 1 638 750 000, and table of posts, comprising 7 075 staff (2010: 7 129), and approved the financial estimates for 2012-2015 and the planned costs for products and services in 2011.
The Council noted that a Memorandum of Understanding on machine translation for patents had recently been signed by the President, on behalf of the European Patent Organisation, and Google Inc.
Finally, the Council paid tribute to Thomas Hammer, the outgoing Vice-President DG 1, and thanked Wim Van der Eijk, whose term as acting Vice-President DG 5 was due to end on 31 December 2010.