Staff members of the European Patent Office will demonstrate in front of the Isar building in Munich during the meeting of the Administrative Council on 29 June 2022, where re-election of president António Campinos will be discussed. The demonstration has been organised by trade union Suepo. According to an announcement distributed among Suepo members, Campinos was…

The creation of a dedicated administrative tribunal could be a way to improve the settlement of labour disputes at the European Patent Office. Eric De Brabandere, professor of international dispute settlement at Leiden University in the Netherlands said this in an interview with Kluwer IP Law. The tensions at the EPO have risen over the…

Social tensions at the European Patent Office seem to have reached new lows in a meeting last week between an ‘extremely hostile’ EPO president Antonio Campinos and staff representatives. In a letter about the event which was sent to staff members last week, the Central Staff Committee (CSC) wrote the atmosphere at a General Consultative…

The European Patent Office (EPO) received 188 600 applications in 2021, up 4.5% on the previous year and the highest number to date, according to the EPO’s Patent Index 2021. Patent filings rebounded after a slight dip in 2020. “Digital communication (+9.4% compared with 2020) narrowly overtook medical technology (+0.8%) as the field with the largest number of European…

Members of the trade union of the European Patent Office, SUEPO, have voted for industrial action, including ‘work to rule’, ‘go slow’, and a strike on 22 March 2022 during the meeting of the Administrative Council. They SUEPO members demand the restoration of fundamental rights at the EPO and the suspension or reversal of major…