JOB DESCRIPTION

VACANCY NOTICE

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), ‘the Office’, is seeking candidates to fill two posts of Member of the Boards of Appeal of the Office.

1. BACKGROUND

Historical and legal background

The Office was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 (¹) (now Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (²) as a decentralised agency of the European Union (‘EU’) to offer IP rights protection to businesses and innovators across the EU and beyond. Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 (³) created the registered Community design which is also managed by the Office, and later, Regulation (EU) No 386/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁴) entrusted to the Office the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights. Lastly, following the entry into force of the Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 October 2023 on the protection of geographical indications for craft and industrial products, the Office received full competence for the management of the registration process of this new EU IP right.

Since its foundation in 1994 the Office has been based in Alicante, Spain, where it manages the registration of the EU trade mark and the registered European Union design, which are valid throughout the EU. As from 1 December 2025, the Office will also manage the registration process for geographical indications of craft and industrial products (CI GIs). The work at EU level also extends to the convergence of tools and practices in cooperation with the partners in national and regional IP offices throughout the EU, users and other institutional partners. Together, these offices constitute the European Union Intellectual Property Network (EUIPN), working jointly to offer users a consistent registration experience, be it at national or at EU level.

The languages of the Office are English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Nevertheless, certain proceedings may be conducted in other official languages of the European Union.

Governance, management and structure of the EUIPO

The governance structure of the EUIPO consists of the Management Board and of the Budget Committee, each composed of one representative from each Member State, two representatives from the European Commission and one representative from the European Parliament. The EUIPO enjoys legal, administrative and financial autonomy.

The Council decides on the appointment of the Executive Director, the Deputy Executive Director(s), and the President and Chairpersons of the Boards of Appeal from a list of candidates proposed by the Management Board. The Management Board is in charge of the selection and the appointment of Members of the Boards of Appeal.

The Executive Director is the legal representative of the Office and responsible for its management, being accountable to the Management Board and the Budget Committee. The Executive Director is assisted by two Deputy Executive Directors.

The Office’s budget for 2025 is approximately EUR 480 million and the number of posts in the establishment plan is 1172.

The EUIPO is organised into several functional departments.

Although they are integrated into the Office’s administrative and management systems, the Boards of Appeal have been established under EUTMR as a separate unit within the Office to provide an independent review of the Office’s decisions, with further appeals being possible to the EU Courts in Luxembourg.

The Boards of Appeal currently consist of one President, four Chairpersons and sixteen Members assisted by legal and administrative staff. The President of the Boards of Appeal, the Chairpersons and the Members are placed under the authority of the Management Board of the Office. Over 147 staff members work in the Boards of Appeal. Staff are distributed among five individual Boards; the Boards of Appeal Operational Area, which comprises the Registry, the Knowledge and Information Support Service and the Litigation Service; as well as the EUIPO Mediation Centre.

In 2024, 2,366 appeals were filed and 2,647 decisions notified.

The President of the Boards of Appeal chairs the Presidium of the Boards of Appeal, which is responsible for laying down the rules and organising the work of the Boards, implements its decisions and allocates the cases to a Board. Each Board of Appeal is chaired by a Chairperson. The President of the Boards of Appeal also chairs the Grand Board.

For further information please consult the following website:

https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en

A Member of a Board of Appeal of the EUIPO will be expected to review cases and prepare decisions on appeals against decisions of the first instance of the Office (trade mark or design examination, opposition, cancellation and design invalidity) and, in the near future, Craft and Industrial Product Geographical Indications.

The decisions of the Boards of Appeal are taken by three Members, at least two of whom must be legally qualified. In certain specific cases, decisions are taken by the Grand Board chaired by the President of the Boards of Appeal or by a single Member, who must be legally qualified. The President of the Boards of Appeal and the Chairpersons and Members of the Boards of Appeal shall be independent. In their decisions, they shall not be bound by any instructions.

Pursuant to the decisions taken by the Presidium of the Boards of Appeal, Members may be appointed to one or several Boards of Appeal.

Subject to the rules laid down annually by the Presidium of the Boards of Appeal for the organisation of the work of the Boards, each Member of the Boards of Appeal is expected to prepare about 130 draft decisions per year and to participate as a third Member in the decision­making in approximately 130 to 160 more cases.

To perform his or her duties, a Member is provided with support from legal and administrative staff.

Members may also be called upon to perform other tasks compatible with their mandate such as giving lectures, participating in conferences and taking part in the activities of the Mediation Service.

3. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

To be admissible for this selection procedure, candidates must fulfil all the following conditions by the deadline for submission of applications:

General conditions (⁵)

• Be a national of one of the Member States of the European Union and enjoy full rights as a citizen;
• Have fulfilled any obligations imposed by the laws concerning military service;
• Meet the character requirements (⁶) as to suitability for the performance of the duties involved;
• Be physically fit to perform the duties;
• Be able to complete a full 5-year mandate as from the expected date of taking up duties, before reaching retirement age which is set at the end of the month in which the candidate reaches the age of 66 (⁷). The expected date of taking up the duties is as from 1 September 2026.

• Have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma, when the normal period of university education is 4 years or more;

OR

• Have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies attested by a diploma and professional experience of at least 1 year when the normal period of university education is at least 3 years.

Professional experience (⁸)

• Have by the deadline for submission of applications a minimum of 15 years’ professional experience (16 years in the case of having a 3-year degree) acquired after the date of the relevant degree.
• Of these 15 years of professional experience, at least 10 years must have been gained in the field of intellectual property.

Language skills

• Have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union (minimum level C1) – Language 1;
• Have a satisfactory knowledge of one of the languages of the Office (minimum level B2) to the extent necessary for the performance of the duties – Language 2 (⁹).

The five languages of the Office are English (EN), French (FR), German (DE), Italian (IT) and

Spanish (ES). The levels correspond to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (—).

3. SELECTION CRITERIA/ADVANTAGES

In order to select the best-qualified candidates for an interview, the following criteria will be used and individually assessed:

1. Professional experience:

• Demonstrated experience in legal case handling and/or equivalent activities, in particular within the context of IP files, and at least 5 years must be in the area of trade marks and designs;
• Demonstrated experience in judicial and/or litigation activities, including preparation and/or follow-up of court cases;
• Demonstrated experience in IP entities and/or bodies, including within EU institutions and/or agencies, National IP Offices and/or other IP organisations and/or companies.

1. Specific technical knowledge:

• Very good knowledge of EU IP legislation and case-law;
• Very good knowledge of the European IP environment, including counterfeiting and

infringement matters;

• Knowledge of general EU law, policies, institutional framework and procedures;
• Knowledge of mediation.

1. Language skills:

• Professional experience of working in a language other than the candidate’s mother tongue;
• Thorough knowledge of English or German (minimum level C1) which may be one of the languages required under eligibility criteria as mentioned under point 3;
• Thorough knowledge of any other language(s) of the Office (EN, FR, DE, IT, ES) (minimum level C1) apart from the languages mentioned under point 3 of the present vacancy notice.

1. Other experience and skills:

• Demonstrated ability to work in a multicultural and/or international environment.

1. Education:

• Legal qualification (university degree or post-graduate degree in law, such as LL.M. or equivalent).

In addition to the above criteria, candidates invited to an interview will also be assessed against

the following requirements:

1. Competencies, in particular:

• Communication: communicate clearly and precisely both orally and in writing and build consensus to achieve results;
• Analysis and problem solving: identify the critical facts in complex issues, and develop creative and practical solutions;
• Working together: work cooperatively in teams and across organisational boundaries, respecting the differences between people;
• Continuous learning and development: develop and improve personal skills and knowledge of the organisation applying lessons learnt;
• Prioritisation and organisation: work flexibly and organise own workload efficiently, anticipating and prioritising the most important tasks;
• Quality and results: take personal responsibility and initiative for delivering work to a high standard of quality within set procedures;
• Resilience: remain effective under work pressure, be flexible and adapt to a changing work environment;
• Leadership: lead and manage people and teams to achieve results.