President Kober's mandate extended at the EPO

Munich (ots) - The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation, gathering in Munich for its 93rd meeting, unanimously decided to extend the term of office of Ingo Kober, President of the European Patent Office, to 30 June 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 for electing his successor. None of the candidates standing for election was able to command the three-quarters' majority required by the European Patent Convention.

The Council decided to launch a new election procedure, resolving to designate Mr Kober's successor at its next meeting in October 2003.

The EPO is an international organisation set up on 7 October 1977 by the contracting states to the European Patent Convention (EPC), which was signed in Munich in 1973. The Organisation has a current total of 27 member states - all the EU members plus Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey. Its task is to oversee the granting of European patents under the EPC by the European Patent Office, which is based in Munich.

The EPO's Administrative Council, made up of delegations from the member states, is the Organisation's legislative body. It is responsible for policy matters and supervises the activities of the Office.