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
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 .
