50 most influential people in IP 2022: MIP recognises António Campinos of the EPO

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50 most influential people in IP 2022: MIP recognises António Campinos of the EPO

António Campinos is president of the EPO in Germany

Antonio Campinos.jpg
António Campinos, president, EPO, Germany

It’s never going to be plain sailing when you are president of the EPO. António Campinos has so far, on the face of it, at least, steered into calmer seas than his predecessor Benoît Battistelli.

In fact, it was a decision of his to overturn one of Battistelli’s more controversial moves that went someway to landing Campinos his place in this year’s list.

Campinos announced that the Boards of Appeal (BoA) would return to the EPO’s Munich headquarters – less than five years after Battistelli ordered them to be relocated to the Munich suburb of Haar, 12km from the city centre. A return date has yet to be set.

The announcement was actually made in the final two weeks of 2021, but it set the tone for 2022.

Since then, it has been a mixed picture for Campinos. On the one hand, he can enjoy the news that the unitary patent – which the EPO will eventually administer – is finally coming into being.

He was also elected for a second five-year term in July, which will begin in 2023.

The threat of worker unrest has not gone away, however.

Disgruntled workers downed tools again in March in the third strike since Campinos’s tenure began in 2018.

Reasons for that strike include an increased workload and an alleged failure by the EPO to commit to international labour standards unless compelled to do so by the UN-based International Labour Organization.

A quiet 2023 is unlikely.

Profiles for the 50 most influential people in IP 2022
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The list is in five categories, which you can navigate by selecting the appropriate section below.

19 Industry leaders
10 Public officials
9 IP authorities
7 Judges
5 Notable individuals
 
Kasim Alfalahi is CEO at Avanci in the US
Shannon Thyme Klinger is chief legal officer at Moderna in the US
Jim Sullivan is a director at Shazam Productions in the UK
Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen are founders at Andreessen Horowitz in the US
Audrey Lee is general counsel at Starz Entertainment in the US
Beat Weibel is chief IP counsel at Siemens in Germany
Jack Randles is head of legal at Manolo Blahnik in the UK
Mattia Fogliacco is president of Sisvel International in Luxembourg
Joyce Ang is senior vice president for IPR protection at Lazada in Singapore
Daniel Zohny is head of IP at FIFA in Switzerland
René Claude Metomo is the president of the Association of Penja Pepper Producers in Cameroon
Niall Trainor is senior director of brand protection at eOne in the UK
Stephen Wurth and John Scott are legal counsel at Qualcomm in the US
Scott Frank is CEO of IP at AT&T in the US
Nader Pazirandeh is president at Unicolors in the US
Juliette Rouilloux-Sicre is vice president of legal and intellectual property at Thales in France
Clemens Heusch is global head of dispute resolution at Nokia in Germany
Craig Wright is a computer scientist in Australia
Robert Devonshire is a partner at MML Capital in the UK
 
The investigation lead at the Spanish National Police asked to remain anonymous
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the director general of the World Trade Organization in Switzerland
Jacob Rees-Mogg is the former secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy in the UK
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the former president of the United Arab Emirates
Edwin Tong is the second minister for law in the Singapore government
Kerstin Jorna is director general of DG Grow at the European Commission in Belgium
Patrick Leahy is a senator for Vermont at the US Congress
Thom Tillis is a senator for North Carolina at the US Congress
Vladimir Putin is president of Russia
 
Alexander Ramsay is former chair of the UPC Administrative Committee in Sweden
Insil Lee is the commissioner at KIPO in South Korea
Christian Archambeau is executive director at the EUIPO in Spain
Tim Moss is former CEO of the UKIPO
Kathi Vidal is the director of the USPTO and under secretary of commerce for IP in the US government
Shira Perlmutter is register of copyrights at the US Copyright Office
Shen Changyu is the commissioner of the CNIPA in China
Konstantinos Georgaras is CEO of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office
 
Wang Jiangqiao is a judge at the Hangzhou Internet Court in China
Prathiba Singh is a judge at the Delhi High Court in India
Klaus Grabinski is president of the UPC Court of Appeal in Germany
Colm Connolly is the chief judge at the District Court for the District of Delaware in the US
Suzanne Barnett was the interim chief judge at the Copyright Royalty Board in the US
Len Stark is a judge at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in the US
Orlando Garcia is the chief judge at the District Court for the Western District of Texas in the US
 
Amber Kotrri is the founder of House of Zana in the UK
Taras Kulbaba is a partner at Bukovnik & Kulbaba IP Guardians in Belgium
Ankit Sahni is the owner of the RAGHAV Artificial Intelligence Painting App in India
Ed Sheeran is a pop star in the UK
Lynn Goldsmith is a celebrity photographer in the US
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