Kerstin Jorna has been appointed head of the industrial property unit in the IP directorate, which is part of the internal market directorate general.
She reports to the director, Margot Fröhlinger, and replaces Oliver Varhelyi, who left the department in December last year.
Jorna, who is German, joined the Commission in 1990 and has held various roles in the internal market directorate general over the past 20 years.
She has worked closely in the past with Commissioner Michel Barnier.
Jorna’s responsibilities cover patents, designs and trade marks. Among her priorities will be discussions on the EU unitary patent and proposals to reform the Community Trade Mark Regulation and Trade Marks Directive, which are due to be published in the next two months.