Alison Brimelow to step down

Via Intellectual Asset Management's IAM Blog comes news that the European Patent Office President, Alison Brimelow, will not stand for re-election when her current term expires at the end of June 2010. President since July 2007, Brimelow is reported to be unhappy at the quantity of politics that has invaded her senior administrative job description.

Formerly head of the UK's Patent Office, Brimelow earned a reputation as a firm but fair leader. At the EPO she has had to deal with protracted arguments over what to do about the unprecedented backlog of unexamined patent applications, as well as calls for the clarification, extension and abolition of the computer program "as such" exception to patentability.