Lawyer - Linguist - Munich

Under the European Patent Convention (EPC), the EPO boards of appeal have final-instance jurisdiction over the grant of European patents. As a lawyer in Legal Research (a support unit for the boards of appeal) you will perform the following tasks:


Main duties
responsibility for analysing and documenting board of appeal case law and decisions on patent matters taken by national courts in the EPC contracting states
editing work on board of appeal decisions for publication in case law reports and electronic information systems
researching and writing reports and studies for the boards and Vice-President DG3 on general legal questions helping to translate German and French legal texts into English
language checks on board of appeal decisions, revising English texts, proofreading legal texts in English, French or German intended for publication.

Other duties

assisting the Vice-President DG3 and the director 3.0 on general issues
taking part in working parties and advisory committees and co-operating with international organisations

The ideal candidate will have
extensive knowledge or relevant experience in the field of industrial property, especially patent law
an understanding of how the EPO and the patent system function
proven project-management experience, especially for publications

Candidate profile

completed university degree in law or - in exceptional cases - equivalent professional experience
excellent knowledge of the three official languages
very good practical IT skills, especially MS Office
good communication skills (oral and written)
ability to work in a team
a highly service-oriented approach
a systematic, results-oriented approach
initiative and a willingness to innovate
This role requires exceptional language skills in the three official languages.

Minimum qualifications
Completed university degree or - in exceptional cases - equivalent professional experience. Excellent knowledge of one official language, and substantial ability to understand the other two.

The successful candidate will be selected on the basis of qualifications, supplemented as appropriate by interviews, tests and/or a psychometric questionnaire.


The closing date for applications is 30.06.2008.

If this post appeals to you, our homepage at www.epo.org will provide you with additional information. Please complete the application form online quoting reference INT/EXT/4574.

The closing date for applications is 30.06.2008.

To apply for this position please click here

You can email this vacancy advertisement to yourself for later reference. Enter a valid email address into the field and click on the button to submit.

You can email this vacancy advertisement to a friend. Enter valid email addresses into the fields and click on the button to submit.