Ingrid Elisabeth Buffolo

Born in Germany, Inge graduated as a telecommunications engineer from the University of Trier. After her thesis and some time working in the Project Centre for Hewlett Packard in Frankfurt, she joined the Société Européenne des Satellites, Luxembourg, where she worked for six years in Business Administration and Project Management.

She has been part of the management team since 2010, holding various positions such as Head of Institutional Relations, Deputy Director of Customer Service and Head of Business Analysis. Her current role is Director of the Customer Department, where she drives the customer-focused evolution incorporating data-driven customer feedback to EUIPO solutions and customer communication.

Since 2018 Inge has led the EUIPO’s SME-focused activity in the context of the 5-year office-wide SME Programme, the objective of which is to get IP information and protection to European SMEs. The SME Fund, part of that programme and launched in 2021, has to date provided grants to over 18,000 SMEs to help them access their intellectual property rights.