A message from FICPI President, Elia Sugrañes
Dear FICPI members
At the Executive Committee meeting on Monday 13th October 2025, EXCO delegates voted on election of the new Bureau, as per the FICPI statutes. The Executive Committee (EXCO) is FICPI’s governing body which consists of delegates from each of FICPI’s member National Associations and Sections.
The Bureau is elected every three years by the EXCO and assumes the duties and responsibilities of the day-to-day management of FICPI, all are FICPI members and all the positions are honorary.
I am pleased to inform you that the EXCO members voted in the new Bureau for the 2025-2028 term as:
- President – Elia Sugrãnes (ES)
- Vice President – Michael Caine (AU)
- Secretary General – Sharon Crane (US)
- Treasurer General – Uwe Borchert (DE)
- Deputy Secretary General – Swarup Kumar (IN)
- Deputy Secretary General – Louis-Pierre Gravelle (CA)
I would like to thank Roberto Pistolesi, former President for his leadership.
At the EXCO we also announced the Presidents of our Committees for the term 2025-2028:
- CET (Study & Work) – Robert Watson (UK)
- Admissions – Didier Intès (FR)
- Deontology – Doug Deeth (CA), plus Vice President Philip Coyle (IE)
- FAB (Finance Advisory Board) – Philip Mendes da Costa (CA)
- Communications – Julian Crump (UK)
- Statutes – Jürgen Schmidtchen (DE)
- The FICPI Academy (formerly TEC Training & Education) – Essenese Obhan (IN)
- PMC (Practice Management) – Anne Lévy (FR)
Many of you will know our longstanding webmaster and administrator, Rebecca Sandland, and she continues her excellent work for us as we go forwards, admirably supported by administrative secretary, Jennifer Tsimpris.
Get involved
We look forward to a new term where we can continue to take further steps towards supporting National Groups and Sections through measures such as the roll-out of the National Websites and by contributing FICPI Officers to speak at National events; and to supporting our membership and creating opportunities to make connections, share insights and grow knowledge through events such as the 2026 Open Forum in Budapest; the Focus-45 webinar series; and meetings with IP Offices.
If you have an interest in any Committee areas, we urge you to contact the Presidents of those Committees, to find out you can get involved.
There are also opportunities to get involved through the seven individual CET groups and in other areas of FICPI work such as the webinar committee; the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility committee; or by contributing articles and blogs to share your knowledge and views with other members.
The possibilities and opportunities to connect, share and grow with FICPI expand as your input into FICPI’s work, meetings, and communications expands.
I look forward to working with you and thank you for your contributions to our global community of independent IP attorneys.