President Kober's mandate extended at the EPO
6.06.2003, 16:19
Munich (ots/PROTEXT) 06.05.2003 - The Administrative Councilof the European Patent Organisation, gathering in Munich for its93rd meeting, unanimously decided to extend the term of officeof Ingo Kober, President of the European Patent Office, to 30June 2004, and expressed its thanks to him.
Mr Kober, who has been in charge of the Office since 1996,agreed to this extension after the failure of the procedure forelecting his successor. None of the candidates standing forelection was able to command the three-quarters' majorityrequired by the European Patent Convention.
The Council decided to launch a new election procedure,resolving to designate Mr Kober's successor at its next meetingin October 2003.
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 27 member states - all the EU members plusBulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary,Liechtenstein, Monaco, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerlandand Turkey. Its task is to oversee the granting of Europeanpatents under the EPC by the European Patent Office, which isbased in Munich.
The EPO's Administrative Council, made up of delegations fromthe member states, is the Organisation's legislative body. It isresponsible for policy matters and supervises the activities ofthe Office.
ots Original Text Service: European Patent Office Internet:http://www.presseportal.de
Contact: Rainer Osterwalder Press Office European PatentOffice D-80298 München Telefon: (+49-89) 2399-5012 Fax:(+49-89) 2399-2850 Handy: (+49-173) 9461630 E-Mail:rosterwalder@epo.org
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