The Stakeholder Quality Assurance Panels project (SQAP) was launched as part of the EUIPO’s Strategic Plan 2020 . It aims to close the gap between the users’ perception of the quality of the Office’s decisions and the Office’s quality measurements.
SQAP involves panels of users, representing user associations, who meet on the Office premises and carry out audits on a sample of Office decisions. The decisions are checked against the Office quality criteria.
During the audit, first, each auditor checks individually the decisions assigned to them. Then, the auditor presents their findings to the panel. During the panel discussion Office experts are available to clarify any doubt on Office practice. At the end, all findings are recorded in an audit report that is approved by the panel.
After the audit, the Office experts analyse the findings in order to identify opportunities for improvement and follow up actions. Auditors and user associations are regularly informed on the improvements implemented thanks to SQAP.
In SQAP, users are directly involved in the Office’s quality management system and contribute directly to improving the quality of Office decisions, in particular their clarity, consistency and predictability.
SQAP
Listening to our users
2018 2019 2020
Representatives of User Associations participating to 2020 SQAP audits:
Marieke Westgeest
Representing
AIPPI
Stoyan Sirakov
Representing
AIPPI
Richard Mair
Representing
ANIPA
Constance Laennec-Cuny
Representing
APRAM
Isabelle Thill
Representing
APRAM
Alfredo Llamas
Representing
ASIPI
Geoff Weller
Representing
CITMA
Boris Osgnach
Representing
ECTA
Philipp Homann
Representing
ECTA
Elia Sugrañes
Representing
FICPI
Elena Miller
Representing
FICPI
Stephan Biagosch
Representing
GRUR
Jana Bogatz
Representing
GRUR
Maria Antonella Incardona
Representing
INTA
Wolfang Mayv
Representing
INTA
Representatives of User Associations participating to 2019 SQAP audits:
Nathalie Luis
Representing
AIM
Alix Ducher
Representing
AIM
Stoyan Sirakov
Representing
AIPPI
Marieke Westgeest
Representing
AIPPI
Franck Caso
Representing
APRAM
Pierre Massot
Representing
APRAM
Stève Félix
Representing
APRAM
Constance Laënnec-Cuny
Representing
APRAM
Julien Delucenay
Representing
APRAM
Christian Duran
Representing
ASIPI
Lucy Cundliffe
Representing
CITMA
Geoff Weller
Representing
CITMA
Jade MacIntyre
Representing
CITMA
Richard Mair
Representing
CNIPA
Cristina Bercial-Chaumier
Representing
ECTA
Tobias Dolde
Representing
ECTA
Benjamin Fontaine
Representing
ECTA
Angelica Lodigiani
Representing
ECTA
Carlo Sala
Representing
ECTA
Niccolò Ferretti
Representing
ECTA
Sarka Petivlasova
Representing
ECTA
Eleni Kokkini
Representing
FICPI
Paula Sailas
Representing
FICPI
Elia Sugrañes
Representing
FICPI
Elena Miller
Representing
FICPI
Stephan Biagosch
Representing
GRUR
Jana Bogatz
Representing
GRUR
Roberto Kunz-Hallstein
Representing
GRUR
Dirk Jestaedt
Representing
GRUR
Minna Aalto-Setälä
Representing
ICC
Ana de Sampaio
Representing
ICC
Elisabeth Logeais
Representing
ICC
Paola Ruggiero
Representing
INTA
Alicja Zalewska
Representing
INTA
Christian Spintig
Representing
INTA
Thomas David Hvammen Nicholson
Representing
MARQUES
Zsófia Klauber
Representing
MARQUES
Roland Mallinson
Representing
MARQUES
Representatives of User Associations participating to 2018 SQAP audits:
Nathalie Luis
Representing
AIM
Marieke Westgeest
Representing
AIPPI
Stève Félix
Representing
APRAM
Constance Laënnec-Cuny
Representing
APRAM
Julien Delucenay
Representing
APRAM
Franck Caso
Representing
APRAM
Christian Duran
Representing
ASIPI
Lucy Cundliffe
Representing
CITMA
Geoff Weller
Representing
CITMA
Tamás Kocsis
Representing
ECTA
Benjamin Fontaine
Representing
ECTA
Angelica Lodigiani
Representing
ECTA
Tobias Dolde
Representing
ECTA
Philipp Homann
Representing
ECTA
Elia Sugrañes
Representing
FICPI
Eleni Kokkini
Representing
FICPI
Roberto Kunz-Hallstein
Representing
GRUR
Stephan Biagosch
Representing
GRUR
Jana Bogatz
Representing
GRUR
Ana de Sampaio
Representing
ICC
Minna Aalto-Setälä
Representing
ICC
Paola Ruggiero
Representing
INTA
Pablo Amat Rodriguez
Representing
INTA
Alicja Zalewska
Representing
INTA
Roland Mallinson
Representing
MARQUES
Zsófia Klauber
Representing
MARQUES
Thomas David Hvammen Nicholson
Representing
MARQUES
Legend:
Participated to audit(s) on Opposition Decisions
Participated to audit(s) on Absolute Grounds
Participated to audit(s) on Design Invalidity decisions
2020 Show Hide
26 27 Nov
13Nov
21 22 Oct
02Oct
30 01 Jun-Jul
23Jun
15 17 Jan
Decisions fourth quarter 2019
2019 Show Hide
02 04 Oct
Decisions third quarter 2019
10 11 Sep
03 05 Jul
Decisions second quarter 2019
08 10 Apr
Decisions first quarter 2019
16 18 Jan
Decisions fourth quarter 2018
2018 Show Hide
03 05 Oct
Decisions third quarter 2018
04 06 Jul
Decisions second quarter 2018
09 11 Apr
Decisions first quarter 2018
17 19 Jan
Decisions fourth quarter 2017
2017 Show Hide
02 03 Oct
Decisions third quarter 2017
06 07 Jul
Decisions second quarter 2017
04 05 Apr
Decisions first quarter 2017
It is very good to be able to show the concerns of the users and also for the users to understand why the decisions are drafted in a certain way.
Tobias Dolde
ECTA
For EUIPO we think it is important that they know about our views as well as how the market parties think and what is important to them.
Marieke Westgeest
AIPPI
It is really constructive, (…), to have direct contact with examiners, with the Office, and to hold constructive discussions in a positive atmosphere.
Stève Félix
APRAM
If you want to participate in SQAP, please, contact your User Association.
The requirements to participate in SQAP are:
be a member of a User Association listed on the EUIPO website ;
be proposed by the User Association as their SQAP representative;
fulfil the required technical competencies, including:
consolidated experience with the product under audit;
familiarity with the EUIPO Guidelines;
fluent English;
be included in the list of SQAP auditors established every year by the Office.
If you want to know more about how we handle SQAP auditors' personal data, please check the Privacy Statement .