Suzanne Herrera

Suzanne spent 36 years at the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich, starting her career as an examiner in the area of pharmaceuticals and concluding with 12 years as director in a variety of managerial positions, including six years as an operational director in the area of applied polymers. Throughout her EPO career she accumulated substantial experience in EPO procedural law, particularly in opposition, as a result of which she was nominated lead director responsible for developing the current centralised opposition procedure. She retains a keen interest in opposition and is involved with training in this area.

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From 2020 until her retirement in 2024, Suzanne was Director for Quality Management, with responsibility for assessing and improving the operational quality and harmonisation of search, examination and opposition at the EPO. She also worked for the EPO International Academy, delivering lectures and courses at numerous internal and external events and supporting a number of national patent offices across the globe to develop their operational practices.

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Suzanne graduated with an MSc in Chemical engineering with a focus on organic and analytical chemistry from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm 1988. Her technical expertise in pharma and applied polymers spans a broad range of highly active topics such as second medical use, gallenics and femtech through to adhesives, glass laminates, and paper and pulp.