Rapporteurs · Board of Appeal
Who decides design appeals
The named decision-lead on each EUIPO Board of Appeal case. A small group: 11 individuals handle essentially all design appeals. The number that matters is the reversal rate — how often the rapporteur’s panel overturns the first-instance decision. Across all appeals it averages 24.4%; individuals range from single digits to over half.
| # | Rapporteur | Decisions | Dismissed | Upheld | Reversal rate (substantive appeals) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C. Bartos | 187 | 70 | 83 | 54.2% |
| 2 | E. Fink | 182 | 98 | 24 | 19.7% |
| 3 | H. Salmi | 130 | 71 | 15 | 17.4% |
| 4 | C. Negro | 113 | 60 | 14 | 18.9% |
| 5 | S. Rizzo | 100 | 44 | 15 | 25.4% |
| 6 | C. Rusconi | 99 | 57 | 11 | 16.2% |
| 7 | A. Szanyi Felkl | 90 | 64 | 2 | 3% |
| 8 | A. Pohlmann | 69 | 50 | 1 | 2% |
| 9 | M. Bra | 57 | 29 | 2 | 6.5% |
| 10 | G. Humphreys | 17 | 8 | 1 | 11.1% |
| 11 | A. González Fernández | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| 12 | S. Stürmann | 2 | 2 | 0 | too few substantive appeals |
| 13 | G. Humphreys Bacon | 1 | 1 | 0 | too few substantive appeals |
Reversal rate = appeals upheld (in full or part) ÷ substantive appeals (dismissed + upheld). Procedural closures (inadmissible, restitutio, discontinued) are excluded from the denominator. A high rate is appellant-friendly; a low rate means the rapporteur tends to affirm. Bars above the dotted line beat the 24.4% Board average.