Benoît Battistelli takes over as President of the European Patent Office

07-05-2010: Benoît Battistelli took up office as President of the European Patent Office (EPO). A French national, he succeeds Alison Brimelow of the UK, who has headed the EPO since July 2007. Mr Battistelli was elected President in March 2010 by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation, the EPO's governing body. His term of office is five years.

In a first statement, the new President paid tribute to his predecessors' significant contribution to developing the European patent system over the past 30 years and to the EPO's 7 000 employees who perform a vital function for the European economy and have turned the office into a benchmark of patent quality. Outlining the aims of his presidency, Mr Battistelli cites the need to safeguard this high quality and keep the EPO on track to face new challenges: "My first EPO internal priority will be to develop a climate of trust between the management and staff of the Office". Externally, against the background of the growing importance of a global economy, he cites the need to improve co-operation with the EPO member states in the framework of the European network of patent offices, and strengthen international co-operation in order to reduce duplication of work at patent offices around the world. Two key projects, in which the EPO should continue to harness its expertise, are the introduction of a European Union patent and the development of a European patent litigation system.

Benoît Battistelli has had a long and distinguished career in the French civil service. A lawyer by training and graduate of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (IEP) and Ecole nationale d'administration (ENA), he joined the Ministry of Economic and Financial Affairs in 1978 and has been instrumental in developing and implementing public policy in various ministries and public bodies. He has served as trade commissioner or deputy trade commissioner at the French embassies in Italy, India, Turkey and Poland. In 1999 he was named Deputy Undersecretary for Industry in charge of innovation policy and competitiveness in the Ministry of Economic, Financial and Industrial Affairs, and in 2002 he became Chief Advisor to Industry Minister Nicole Fontaine. In May 2004, Mr Battistelli was appointed Director General of the French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). He has also served as Deputy Chairman (December 2006 until March 2009) and Chairman (since March 2009) of the EPO's Administrative Council, and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the European Patent Academy (July 2005-July 2008).