Roland Grossenbacher reappointed to top position in the European Patent Organisation

The Hague/Munich 29.10.2002 (PROTEXT/ots) - At its 90thmeeting, the Administrative Council of the European PatentOrganisation (EPO) re-elected Roland Grossenbacher to serve asits Chairman for a second term, beginning on 5 March 2003.Grossenbacher is Director of the Swiss Federal Institute ofIntellectual Property in Bern.

This is the first time in the EPO's 25-year history that theAdministrative Council has exercised the option of reappointingits Chairman. The Organisation currently faces major challengesin the further integration of the European economic area and theextension of the European patent system to the countries ofcentral and eastern Europe. Roland Grossenbacher emphasised hisdetermination to maintain and enhance the role of the EPO bothin Europe and in the worldwide network of the patent system. The EPO is an international organisation set up on 7 October1977 by the contracting states to the European Patent Convention(EPC), which was signed in Munich in 1973. The Organisation hasa current total of 24 member states - all the EU members plusBulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Liechtenstein,Monaco, Slovakia, Switzerland and Turkey. Its task is to overseethe granting of European patents under the EPC by the EuropeanPatent Office, which is based in Munich.

The EPO's Administrative Council, made up of delegationsfrom the member states, is the Organisation's legislative body.It is responsible for policy matters and supervises theactivities of the Office. ots Original Text Service: European Patent Office Internet:http://www.presseportal.de For further information, please contact: Rainer Osterwalder Press Officer European Patent Office, MunichPhone: +4989/2399-5012, Fax: -2850 e-mail: rosterwalder@epo.org

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