EPO election shambles

The European Patent Organisation has for the third time failed to elect a replacement for outgoing president, Alison Brimelow.

Despite the repeated failures, and the looming date of Brimelow’s departure, the EPO’s administrative council insists the next vote, to be held on 1 March, will use the same procedures and with the same pool of candidates.

Three candidates are still vying for the role: Susanne As Sivborg, director general of the Swedish Patent Office, Benoît Battistelli, director general of the French National Institute of Industrial Property and Roland Grossenbacher, director of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property.

Sivborg won a majority in the first vote in October, but not the 75 per cent of votes needed to win. The tables then turned in December when Battistelli had the majority of the 36 national patent offices behind him, but again not enough to win outright. News from the administrative council today is that round three of the election was once again a stalemate.

Jesper Kongstad, director general of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office, had been a fourth candidate but dropped out of the race after the second vote in December. Without new candidates, further drop-outs or some serious swings of allegiance, it’s getting harder to see how the administrative council will be able to come to an agreement.

The process to find a president began way back in July last year after Brimelow announced she would leave the institution on 30 June 2010, not completing her five-year term.

The lack of a president looks likely to affect the debate surrounding the EU Patent. The European Parliament will need the currently leaderless EPO’s input and impetus to drive the ambitious project forward.