Saturday, 18 January 2014

European Patent Institute Elections - where are the hustings?

Chris Mercer EPI veteran
A paper arrived on my desk inviting me to vote in the elections for the Council of the European Patent Institute. One must suppose that this august body has some influence with the European Patent Office. The electorate are European Patent Attorneys. One might imagine there would be hustings and opportunities to learn how the candidates would represent our opinions. Seems not. There was a plaintive call for candidates on the CIPA website on 26 November 2013 and I think the journal published some details but that's not available online so I cannot tell you much about who came forward.

Is it time we re-examined about how these bodies work. It seems to me that senior members of large firms who can be supported by their partners to take part continue to represent the interests of their organisations.

What do you think? Should Council Members hold open meetings in their constituencies to find out what are the real issues and opinions.  The EPI website is very glamorous  but has not got a lot to say about what Council is doing at its meetings

Does anyone want to buy my Vote?



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