Benoît Battistelli took up office, on 1 July, as president of the European Patent Office (EPO). A French national, he succeeds Alison Brimelow of the UK, who has headed the EPO since July 2007. Battistelli was elected to the post in March 2010 by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation, the EPO’s governing body. His term of office is five years. www.epo.org