[OHIM] Support letter from OHIM Staff Committee to the Members of the Administrative Board and the Budget Committee
The Staff Committee of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) has sent a note for the attention of the Members of the Administrative Board and the Budget Committee:
"The OHIM Staff Committee feels deeply concerned and would like to call your attention to the urgent situation at the European Patent Office (EPO) [...] three staff representatives were suspended from service in Munich with immediate effect. The EPO has initiated disciplinary proceedings against them."
"Staff committees count on monitoring bodies such as the Administrative Board to make sure that staff representatives are free to express the worries of staff without fear of punishment for doing so. In other words, staff representatives need extra protection in order to avoid possible abuses of power [...] the Administrative Council should express its concern, in uncertain terms, to the EPO management."