New EU commissioners for IP portfolios

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

New EU commissioners for IP portfolios

Elžbieta Bienkowska, formerly deputy prime minister of Poland, is to be the new EU Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SME Commissioner

bienkowska.jpg

Her nomination to the expanded directorate was announced today by President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker.

Her portfolio covers most of the work previously handled by the Enterprise and Industry and Internal Market and Services commissioners.

Notably, she will take over most IP matters from former Commissioner Michel Barnier of France, including oversight of OHIM and responsibility for the proposed trade mark reforms and the work on the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court.

However, copyright work will fall under Commissioner Günther Oettinger of Germany, who is in charge of Communications Networks, Content and Technology.

The European Parliament now has to give its consent to the full College of Commissioners, following hearings in the relevant parliamentary committees.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Managing IP speaks with up-and-coming women lawyers at five law firms about fighting imposter syndrome, maintaining work-life balance and why real representation matters
Kilpatrick’s managing partner for San Francisco discusses taking the longer route to partnership, the importance of female mentors, and strengthening office culture
Home-working and grace periods at IP offices have been announced, while Managing IP understands Iran’s IP office is out of service
With INTA 2026 just two months away, London-based IP practitioners offer tips on making the most out of the city
New platform, which covers SEPs for the Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 standards, includes 10 patent owners
The Texas-based IP litigation hires take King & Spalding’s partner appointments from pre-merger Winston & Strawn up to 12 this year
Sunny Su explains how her team overcame challenges with orchard evidence collection to secure a favourable plant variety decision from China’s top court
Flexible working firm continues trajectory from 2025 with appointment of Matthew Grant and Letao Qin
Anousha Davies, associate and trademark attorney at Birketts, unpicks how the university’s reputation enabled it to see off a proposed trademark for ‘Cambridge Rowing’
IP lawyers, who say they are encouraging clients to build up ‘tariff resilience’, should treat the risks posed by recent orders as a core consideration in cross-border licensing
Gift this article