03/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - On 1 July, Alison Brimelow took up her post as president of the European Patent Office (EPO). She succeeds Alain Pompidou, who has headed the EPO since July 2004. Outlining the aims of her presidency, Ms Brimelow cites the need to ensure the quality of patents and equip the Office to face new challenges. “The EPO is an intensely competent and professional patent office. The task now is to make sure that the patents that we grant are relevant. What we need is not more patents, but more good patents,” she says in a press release. Ms Brimelow, a British civil servant, was appointed Chief Executive and Comptroller General of the UK Patent Office in 1999. From 2003 to 2006, she was Deputy Chair of the EPO Administrative Council. (mb)