The President of the Boards of Appeal and the President of the Office jointly propose to the Administrative Council to re-locate the Boards of Appeal from Haar to the building Pschorr-Höfe 7 in Munich, owned by the EPO, as of 2025/2026.
While this pretty spectacular U-turn still has to be confirmed by the Administrative Council in 2022, I have little doubts that the AC will do so (the tail is usually wagging the dog in Eponia). And in this case, it would clearly be the right decision for many reasons, even though we have not yet seen the price tag associated with this planned measure. But it makes little sense at least to me to rent expensive office space outside Munich while leaving EPO-owned facilities empty. It is still amazing and puzzling to me that this simple insight came so late.
Apparently, it takes years to undo the workings of a President who had obviously forgotten everything he had or should have learned about Montesquieu and the great tradition of French enlightenment.
Meanwhile I hope that the public will soon learn more about the EPO’s “New Ways of working” (CA 77/21), and whether these “New Ways” will bring a lively office back to the EPO’s premises, which are currently pretty deserted. Stay tuned!
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