Hanane El Harrak

German

Expert

15+ years of experience

Language:

English, German, French

Arabic: native

Present Function:

Function: Head of ICT Patent Examination Unit (since July 2024); previously Senior Patent Examiner and Head of Electrical/Control Systems Unit.
Institution/Employer: French Patent and Trademark Office (INPI).
Years of service: 2009–present (15+ years).
Technical field: ICT, telecommunications, cryptography, AI, electrical and automation technologies.

General Expertise:

Technical Expertise:

Certifications and/or licenses

Personne qualifiée en Intellectual Property – INPI, France (Apr 2018)

Professional legal or litigation experience related to the scope of competence of the PMAC

Function: Senior Patent Examiner; Head of ICT Patent Examination Unit
Institution/Employer: French Patent and Trademark Office (INPI)
Years of service: 2009 – present (15+ years)
Technical field: ICT, telecommunications, cryptography, AI, electrical systems
Relevant experience:

Decision-making practice: examination of the validity and patentability of applications on a daily basis, including novelty, inventive step, sufficiency of disclosure and clarity, in accordance with French patent law.

Reasoned decisions: authored numerous written opinions and rejection decisions , applying legal criteria under the French Intellectual Property Code.

Opposition proceedings: member of three-examiner opposition panels, contributing to collegial decision-making on patent validity.

Employee invention disputes: appointed expert in employee-invention disputes before the French National Commission (CNIS), providing independent and impartial assessments on inventor remuneration.

SEP/FRAND regulatory involvement: involvement in SEP/FRAND matters, including contributions to European Commission discussions and essentiality-related initiatives.

Professional technical experience related to the scope of competence of the PMAC

Function: Head of ICT Patent Examination Unit; formerly Embedded Software Engineer
Institution/Employer: INPI (2009–present); Teleca Systems GmbH, Nuremberg, Germany (2005–2008)
Years of service: 18 total (15+ years at INPI, 3 years industry)
Technical field: Information and Communication Technology, Artificial Intelligence, telecommunications, cryptography, data processing, electrical technologies
Relevant experience:

Patent examination: conducted technical examination of patent applications in ICT, AI, telecommunications and cryptography, including prior-art searches, novelty and inventive-step assessment, and analysis of technical validity issues.

SEP essentiality checks: contributed to the European Commission pilot project on SEP essentiality checks as a member of the team carrying out the assessments, helping to continue the testing work and participating in discussions on the project, its methodology and its results.

Technical input to policy: contributed technical expertise in discussions with the European Commission and other patent offices on SEP/FRAND and essentiality verification methodologies.

Engineering background: developed and implemented embedded software for mobile communication systems, including network signaling (GSM/GPRS), and performed testing and debugging in a telecom standards environment.

Memberships and/or accreditations

CPI: Qualified Industrial Property Attorney (INPI, 2018)