Composition and Competences
The Administrative Council is made up of members of the contracting states and is responsible for overseeing the work of the European Patent Office, ratifying the budget and approving the actions of the President of the Office. The Council is also competent for amending the Rules of the European Patent Convention (EPC) and some particular provisions of the Articles of the EPC.
Jesper Kongstad was elected as Chairman of the Administrative Council on June 29, 2010 and took up office on July 1, 2010 for a period of three years. The Chairperson of the Administrative Council is responsible for the work of the Council and its function. The Chairperson also presides over the meetings of the Council.
Under Article 28 EPC, the Administrative Council has set up a Board composed of five of its members, including the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman and three other members elected by the Administrative Council, to perform duties assigned by the Administrative Council. The Board is informally called "Board 28", named after Article 28 EPC, and as of 2008 was carrying out a "workload study", i.e., a study on how to manage the workload facing the European Patent Office.
The Administrative Council is in charge of appointing the President of the European Patent Office (EPO). A majority of three-quarters of the votes of the Contracting States represented and voting is required for appointing the President of the EPO. Reaching a decision on the appointment of a President was difficult in 2003, leading to a split tenure (as a result of a compromise, Alain Pompidou (France) was elected for three years and Alison Brimelow (United Kingdom) succeeded him for an equal term), and was difficult again in 2009, requiring twenty votes and four meetings. When voting, a lot of the members of the Administrative Council are reportedly working under instructions from their respective government, whereas the governments "can have many motivations for supporting one person rather than another."
Read more about this topic: Administrative Council Of The European Patent Organisation
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