OHIM to Elect New President

It has recently been announced that the Office for the Harmonisation of the Internal Market (OHIM) is in the process of electing a new President

We previously reported that the European Patent Office (EPO) has elected a new President, Mr Benoît Battistelli, to follow on from current President Alison Brimelow on 1 July 2010. The EPO is not the only European IP body to be appointing a new President this year. It has recently been announced that the Office for the Harmonisation of the Internal Market (OHIM) is in the process of electing a new President, Vice-President and President of the Boards of Appeal.

The OHIM is responsible for processing European Community Registered Trade Mark and Design applications and for maintaining the European Community Registered Trade Mark and Design registers. The President, Vice-President and President of the Boards of Appeal are elected by the Council of the OHIM. The current Vice-President of the OHIM, Peter Lawrence, explained to the Alicante News, that the “large number of posts being filled within a short period is a historical accident, reflecting for example the initial Boards of Appeal appointments 15 years ago in 1995, which have recurred at five-year intervals ever since”.

The OHIM Administrative Board met on 12 April 2010 to decide on a shortlist of candidates for each role to be put forward to the Council. A total of 12 admissible applications had been received for the Presidency, 42 for the Vice Presidency and seven for the President of the Boards of Appeal. The Administrative Board considered all the applications and interviewed potential candidates as part of the process of putting together the shortlists. The shortlists for the roles of President and President of the Boards of Appeal each contained only one candidate, and a shortlist of three candidates was decided on for the role of Vice-President.

The Council are expected to make a decision on which candidates will be elected to the roles at the end of May. This is a formality for the roles of President and President of the Boards of Appeal. The successful candidates are expected to start in their new roles toward the end of this year or the start of next year.

We will update this post when the Council’s decision has been revealed.

Author - Rachel Best, Technical Assistant - details here.