Johannes Bob van Benthem
Dutch lawyer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Johannes Bob van Benthem (5 January 1921 in Buitenzorg – 11 September 2006 in The Hague)[1][2] was a Dutch lawyer. He was the first president of the European Patent Office (EPO), from 1977 to 1985.[2]
He obtained a Doctorate in Dutch Law from the University of Amsterdam in 1946.[3] Then, he worked for the Netherlands Patent Office (Octrooiraad), first as a lawyer starting in 1946, then later on as President of the Netherlands Patent Office from 1968 to 1977, prior to working at the European Patent Office (EPO).[2] "He was awarded honorary doctorates by the law faculties of Munich and Strasbourg Universities."[2]
Since the beginning of December 2007, a street near the buildings of the European Patent Office in Rijswijk, near The Hague, Netherlands, is named after him. More particularly, "the stretch of Koopmansstraat between Tinbergenstraat and Limpergstraat [is] known as Van Benthemlaan".[4] In October 2013, the address of the EPO headquarters in Munich was also renamed in his honor.[5][6]