Election to Council 2026
Members of the Institute are invited to stand for election to the epi Council. Being a Council member means formally representing and championing the interests of the members of your constituency as well as bringing your passions and interests to the fore. You can actively shape the work and services of the Institute, elect the Board of epi, and can yourself become one of its members. It also allows you to be part of the body that is leading the epi task forces that address issues relevant to the Profession and your own constituency. The responsibilities of a Council member are described in the By-Laws (https://patentepi.org/r/info-2503-3), and include attending the Council meetings, one in Spring and one in Autumn.
At the beginning of next year, the Council of the Institute is due to be elected for its new term. You can declare from 1 October 2025 – 3 November 2025 according to the Rules for Election to Council that you are ready to stand for election or for re-election to the Council. Your nomination can be done online through the epi website. The log-in to the epi website, including instructions for creating a user account, can be found here: https://patentepi.org/en/login
Alternatively, if online nomination is not possible for you, you can use the nomination paper form that will be mailed to you by 1 October 2025 (please allow a few days for delivery).
All information on the nomination (online nominations and nominations per paper) are available on the epi website.
The usual case is that you stand for election in your own constituency, corresponding to your address as registered at the EPO. Your constituency is the State party to the EPC in which you have your place of business or employment. Depending on the number of epi members in each constituency, 2, 4, or 6 council members are elected to represent the constituency, and the same number of substitute Council members.
The election shall be by remote e-voting. By 15 January 2026 at the latest, letters to the epi members shall be sent by post, providing a web address for a secure website, and a personal password from our independent voting service provider.
If remote e-voting is not possible for you, the epi Secretariat will send you a ballot paper by post. You can request the ballot paper by returning a corresponding form that you will receive together with the paper nomination form mentioned above. The form must be received by the epi Secretariat at the latest on 3 November 2025.
If you have any questions, please contact the epi Secretariat as follows:
Tel +49 89 242052 0 or email: committees-support@patentepi.org
