Early Bird discounts are ending soon! REGISTER HERE for the ECTA 43rd Annual Conference, Bears on the Loose, in Berlin (18-21 June).

Among the various interesting topics discussed at the Annual Conference this year, we will have a highly practical and insightful conversation between Sven Stürmann (President of the EUIPO Boards of Appeal) and Fabio Angelini (ECTA Amicus Curiae Task Force Chair, Bugnion, Italy) on the practice of the EUIPO Boards of Appeal. Learn more about this session from the moderator:

1. Fabio, introduce yourself and your link to ECTA.
I am an Italian and US lawyer and I have been a member of ECTA for nearly 30 years. During this rather long period of time, I have always actively participated in ECTA’s activities as a former Supervisory Board member and Chair of the Law and Copyright Committees. I am now Chair of the newly formed Amicus Curiae Task Force, which I hope will be an important tool to have ECTA’s constituency voice being heard in Courts and TM Offices.

2. Introduce the topic for your Conference session.
With the preliminary admission mechanism for appeals - introduced on 1 May 2019 by Article 58a of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) - appeals to the highest EU Court are allowed to proceed only if they raise an issue that is significant with respect to the unity, consistency or development of EU law. Since the establishment of that mechanism the CJEU has allowed only a small number of appeals to proceed, in particular because the conditions to be met are strict. This change has thus vastly amplified the importance of the EUIPO Boards of Appeal because, practically speaking, their decision can now only be reviewed by the General Court, and thus how the Boards work and how they handle cases is more than ever a must to know. The session will explore - in an interview format - the often unknown world of the EUIPO Boards of Appeals.

3. Introduce the panel of your Conference session.
The session will feature Mr. Sven Stürmann, recently appointed President of the EUIPO Boards of Appeal. Mr. Stürmann has been with the EUIPO since 2004 in roles ranging from Lawyer Linguist to Chairperson of the 2nd Board of Appeal. His leadership in the establishment of the EUIPO’s Mediation Service, along with his broad experience in dispute resolution, has made him a key figure in IP law in Europe and his hands-on approach to complex legal issues makes him particularly well suited to engage audiences - thus, I am sure the session will be lively and deeply informative.

4. Why should Conference participants join your session, and at whom in particular will it be directed?
As indicated above, given the increased importance of EUIPO Boards of Appeal in trade mark and design cases, the session should be followed by any IP practitioner who deals with the EUIPO, as the practical and theoretical insights which will be gained during the session will be a valuable asset for better understanding the functioning and the peculiarities of the EUIPO Boards of Appeal.

5. Why should IP colleagues register for the ECTA Annual Conference?
Attending the ECTA Annual Conference gives IP professionals a unique opportunity to learn, discuss and share important developments in the IP field in Europe and worldwide, but quite importantly, it provides a friendly and unhurried environment to expand their networks. In addition, it offers the possibility of becoming a more active member of ECTA by joining its Committees, which in my view is the greatest way to experience ECTA.