Brussels, 03/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - According to the 2015 annual report of the European Patent Office (EPO), which was presented on Thursday 3 March by its president, Benoit Battistelli, the Office's results are particularly positive. However, the president continues to face stern criticism internally over his management of the personnel and, in particular, union representatives.
The figures speak volumes. Last year, the EPO opened up the European patent to two new non-member states (Morocco and Moldova), saw a 1.6% increase in the number of patent applications (with around 279,000 applications compared to 274,000 in 2014), and an even greater growth in patent registrations (+4.8% compared to 2014). Internally, the president hailed the increase in staff productivity, in other words the number of products issued per examiner, which is reported to have leapt by 14% in 2014, bringing the overall figure to around 365,000. This means that the Office issued more than 68,000 patents in 2015, nearly 6% up over one year - a record, according to the inter-governmental organisation.
According to the president, these results are partly due to the reforms he has undertaken since arriving in office, particularly regarding the career advancement system, which had previously been based on a system of promotion depending on years of service, which has now been replaced with a system based on merit and performance. This means that some 70% of the staff were promoted in 2015, he said, and the envelope for staff compensation was increased by 22%. This, according to the president, has led to increased motivation among the staff, hence this very positive result. Additionally, the management hopes to reform the pension system between now and 2017, following a financial audit carried out this year. “The EPO is fully financed out of own funds”, the president explained to EUROPE, adding that if the organisation's budget should be lacking, the member states would top it up, “but on their own conditions”, suggesting that these would certainly be less favourable to the staff.
Presidency in the hotseat over its management of staff, particularly union representatives. With his term in office having been extended for three years by the board of administration in June last year, the president is currently under fire over his management of the personnel and, in particular, over social dialogue issues. According to one source, members of the bureau of the board of administration (B28) expressed concern over internal social discontent at their most recent meeting in February, and in particular disciplinary decisions underway against Munich union representatives. The B28 is reported to have sent a letter of proposals to the president (for instance suggesting an external audit on interdisciplinary decisions), which the president is reported to have dismissed. The case is now to be brought before the board of administration on 16 March, bringing together the 38 member states of the organisation, to discuss the decisions of the management. The voting system based on “one member state, one vote” could, however, play to the advantage of the president, as smaller member states may form coalitions, French MP Pierre-Yves le Borgn' told La Tribune, and thereby “build silence”.
With the date of the board meeting rapidly approaching, the Presidency is taking action. On 3 March, for instance, the president announced that he had concluded a memorandum of understanding with the FPP, one of the two unions covering the office, which will lay down a clear legal negotiating framework, Battistelli said. According to one source, however, FPP represents just 1% of the staff of the organisation, which employs around 7,000, and its members are all Dutch, which would seem to call into question the legitimacy of future agreements concluded. When asked by EUROPE, Battistelli, acknowledged that the union is indeed a minority one, but said that it represents a sizeable European-level federation (FFPE), meaning that the legitimacy of the agreement is by no means diminished. However, he hopes that the majority union (SUEPO), which represents nearly half of the staff, will soon come on board the agreement.
Last week, furthermore, the EPO management wrote to its senior officials to solicit their support for the Presidency's action before the administrative board. According to certain sources, this letter has an approximately 50% success rate in securing the support of its officials. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)