The European Patent Office has asked a group of academics and in-house IP counsel to advise it on economic and social issues.
It has appointed 11 people to an Economic and Scientific Advisory Board, which it says will address “important patent-related economic and social issues in a more selective and dedicated way”.
The group includes Robin Jacob of University College London, Dietmar Harhoff of Munich’s Ludwig Maximilian University, Mu Rongping of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ruud Peters of Philips. Each will serve a three-year term.
EPO President Benoît Battistelli said that the board will advise the Office on what studies to conduct, and provide guidance on how they should be evaluated and implemented.
The EPO said that the board will also provide early warnings on what it described as “sensitive issues”, and make policy recommendations. It will hold its first meeting on January 23.
The other members are Bronwyn Hall, University of California, Berkeley; Geertrui van Overwalle, University of Leuven; Mariagrazia Squicciarini, OECD; Sadao Nagaoka, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo; Béatrix de Russé, Technicolor; István Molnár, Biopolisz; and N Ayşe Odman Boztosun, Akdeniz University, Antalya.