Head of Patents and Designs
Agricultural Engineer. European Patent Attorney since 2013.
IP consultant in the field of patents, specializing in the engineering sector. Maria Mercè joined PONTI & PARTNERS in 2002 and she became Head of the Patent Department in 2015.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Engineering by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Maria Mercè was granted a two-year research staff training scholarship by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia of the Spanish government for carrying out her senior project on research of organic wastes. During this period, she worked as a trainee in the Agronomy Department of the Escola Superior d’Agricultura de Barcelona. Subsequently, she completed a Postgraduate course on company environmental management by the Universitat Pompeu Fabra and worked for six years in engineering and consulting service companies where she came into contact with industry, in particular with the agrifood industry.
Her professional experience in the field of patents includes the drafting and prosecution of European, Spanish and international patent applications, the drafting of reports on patentability, infringement and validity of patents, and the representation in opposition proceedings of European patents including attendance to oral hearings before the European Patent Office. She also has professional experience in the field of plant variety protection.
Maria Mercè is a member of the European Patent Institute (EPI) and the International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AIPPI). Currently, she is a tutor of the “European Patent Law Course” organized by the Center d’Études Internationales d’Intellectuelle Propriéte (CEIPI). She is also an authorised Consultant by ACCIÓ (Agency for Business Competitiveness).
She has been ranked in IAM Patent 1000 2022 as one of the few Spanish IP experts in the growing agri-food sector.
Her working languages are Spanish, Catalan, English and French.
Publications
Vidal, Maria Mercè (2022): The new system of European Patent with unitary effect.
Vidal, Maria Mercè (2020): Criteria for assessing disclosure of designs on the internet.
Vidal, Maria Mercè (2019): Summary of main changes in the revised Guidelines for Examination of the European Patent Office – effective November 1, 2019