Swedish Judge appointed President of the Boards of Appeal

Carl Josefsson, currently serving as Senior Judge of Appeal at the Svea Court of Appeal, has been appointed the first President of the EPO’s Boards of Appeal (BoA) by the Administrative Council of the EPO. This was announced in December and Josefsson will begin his new commission on 1 March, 2017. The post of President of the Boards of Appeal is an entirely new position. The appointment is for a period of five years and Josefsson may be reappointed after that.

The President of the Boards of Appeal will be the administrative and judicial head of the Boards of Appeal Unit and he will be responsible for enhancing the independency and efficiency of the BoA Unit.

In addition to appointing Josefsson, the AC also decided that the BoA shall move to new premises in Haar and to the 8inOne building in Munich. The move from the current location in the Isar building will take place during the summer of 2017.

EPO President Benoît Battistelli said in a statement that: ” Josefsson’s appointment and the relocation to Haar are crucial steps for delivering a more independent and effective judicial body. Once implemented, the measures will benefit any users who might need access to efficient judicial review and will therefore be of value to the entire European patent system.”