Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Case of Rikard Frgacic Versus the Croatian SIPO: Allegation of Corruption in Relation to Trademark Reassignment Under Željko Topić's Watch: Part XVI

LH-Angebot-2008
Click for full-sized version



Summary: The EPO branch and the authorities in Germany are facing increased pressure to take action against Željko Topić as German newspapers cover the unprofessional background of Topić and more information about his dodgy behaviour is gradually becoming public knowledge

LAST year, before Željko Topić lost his defamation case (much to the regret of Benoît Battistelli, who blindly defended him), a source had passed us interesting information about Topić's dirty affairs in his home country, where he he faces many criminal charges. The loss of this latest case serves to legitimise many of the allegations against him, some of which are very serious (bribery for example).



We are worried about the EPO's management not just because today's EPO promotes software patents in Europe but because it is deeply corrupt and it attacks its own staff, even breaking the rules in the process. There is also alleged coverup that mirrors what was seen in SIPO, which Topić came from (see the Ivan Kabalin story). As more German papers and some of the English press pick up and grasp these stories we are likely to see increased pressure for Topić to resign (or be ousted). Almost everyone in Europe can read English and Topić works in Germany.

"As more German papers and some of the English press pick up and grasp these stories we are likely to see increased pressure for Topić to resign (or be ousted)."Today we wish to share more stories about SIPO, the Croatian authority responsible for patents and other monopolies. This story relates directly to Germany as well, so there are plenty of reasons for the German press to cover it.

"In case you might be interested," wrote a source to us, "here's a sub-story of the Topić saga which concerns allegations of irregularities and corruption at the Croatian State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) in relation to trademarks during Topić's time as Director General there. The story has a "David versus Goliath" aspect which makes it interesting.

"Unfortunately, most of the source material is in Croatian or German but you can find a short report in English."

To quote part of this report from the Croatian Times:

Croatian entrepreneur Rikard Frgacic is suing German air carrier Lufthansa for illegal use of his brand for the last 12 years.

Frgacic, a former owner of a travel agency, filed suit against Lufthansa at Zagreb Commercial Court this week.

The daily Slobodna Dalmacija has reported that Frgacic has sued "Lufthansa AirPlus Servicekarten GmbH" for using his brand illegally since 1998.


"To put you in the picture," wrote our source, "here's a summary: Rikard Frgacic is a Croatian entrepreneur who is involved in a number of legal actions against Lufthansa and the Croatian State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO). According to our information, the actions relating to the SIPO include criminal charges against Topić (some sort of corruption or abuse of official authority charge).

"Frgacic, who is involved in the air travel business, claims that he had registered the trademark "AirPlus" with the Croatian SIPO some time around 1996. He became involved in a dispute with Lufthansa over the use of the trademark by its wholly-owned subsidiary AirPlus International.

"At some point in 2009 or thereabouts he discovered that his trademark rights had been cancelled by the SIPO and the contested trademark had been re-assigned to AirPlus/Lufthansa with remarkable speed in response to a request from that quarter.

"The "David versus Goliath" aspect of the affair captured the popular imagination in Croatia. There was even a website entitled "We are all Rikard Frgacic" ("svi-smo-mi-rikard-frgacic") which can be accessed here. [It's all in Croatian but it's possible to get the gist using Google Chrome in translation mode]

"Obviously, we are not in position to judge the merits of Frgacic's claims but the information which we have from our Croatian sources about the current state of play is as follows: In the case relating to the disputed reassignment of the trademark, Frgacic seems to have won a partial victory insofar as a Croatian court ruled that the matter should be remitted back to the SIPO for re-examination where it is still pending.

"Concerning his proceedings against AirPlus/Lufthansa in Germany, these are effectively stayed pending resolution of the disputed reassignment matter which was remitted back to the Croatian SIPO. The problem for Frgacic here is that in the German case some kind of statute of limitations is due to kick in around 2016.

"So if the Croatian SIPO blocks (e.g. due to political pressure and/or corruption) that would basically have a knock-on effect which could screw him as far as the proceedings in Germany are concerned.

"One interesting detail in this whole affair is that back in January 2008 Airplus/Lufthansa tried to settle with Frgacic for EUR 1000. There is documentary evidence of this in the form of a copy of a letter making the offer which is [shown above] (it's in German). The fact that they made such an offer seems to indicate that Frgacic's grievance is not completely unfounded. Otherwise why would they have tried to buy him off like that?

"We can provide an e-mail contact for Frgacic if anyone is interested in contacting him. The problem is that we don't know how good his language skills in English are although we understand that he knows German.

"Rikard Frgacic's e-mail address is as follows if anybody is interested in getting more details about his side of the story: rikard.frgacic@zg.t-com.hr

"However, as we mentioned, we are not sure to what extent he can communicate in English (although we believe that he has a knowledge of German). According to our information, Frgagic spoke to German journalists from the Süddeutsche Zeitung in October 2013, but in the end they did not publish anything about the alleged trademark corruption affair involving Lufthansa. It seems to be another case of "self-censorship" by the corporate media.

Next week my wife and I fly with Lufthansa (to Singapore), so this story leaves us with a bad taste. Indeed, as Frgacic was offered money by Lufthansa (see the letter at the top, click for a larger version thereof) we can assume that his case has merit and Lufthansa is just using its weight to get its way.

Thankfully, some of the Germany press is no longer passive or apathetic. An article was published in the Süddeutsche Zeitung on the 21st of November (just over 3 months ago) and we asked our source for an explanation of it.

"Just for your information," said one of ours sources at the time, "the Munich-based "Süddeutsche Zeitung" finally decided to break its silence on the Željko Topić affair at the EPO.

"In the context of a long article about current social unrest and a strike at the EPO, they included a brief mention of the controversy surrounding Topić's appointment.

"No translation available yet, but here's what they wrote in the original: "Zudem kursieren seit mehr als zwei Jahren üble Gerüchte über den kroatischen EPA-Vizepräsidenten Željko Topić: Kroatische Zeitungen berichten über Vorwürfe, die sich vor allem auf seine Vergangenheit an der Spitze des kroatischen Amtes für Geistiges Eigentum beziehen. Topić bestreitet sie. Und Battistelli ist gegen jegliche Kolportage vorgegangen. In einer Mitteilung an alle Mitarbeiter machte er im Februar 2013 deutlich, dass alle Anschuldigungen jeglicher Grundlage entbehrten.

"Kritiker wunderten sich über diesen pauschalen Freibrief - den der Präsident Monate vor Abschluss einer internen Untersuchung ausstellte.“

Again we kindly asked any of our German- (native) speaking readers to provide an English translation so that we can publish it here, making it accessible to a broader audience.

"We obviously can't say for certain," said our source, "but we have a very strong suspicion that it was the recent extensive coverage of these matters by techrights.org that finally prodded them into putting something into print (after being informed in detail about what was going on for the last two years).

"So, we really have to say "Well done!" to all at techrights.org."

In the midst of our articles about Željko Topić a source told us that it "looks like Battistelli is gearing himself up to take on the "muckrakers"." (citing this now-unpublished 2014 job ad)

"Better watch out in 2015."

The ones who ought to watch out in 2015 are Battistelli and Topić, not people who complain about them. Topić may even end up in prison.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Pushers of systemd Rewrite History (Richard Stallman Said UNIX "Was Portable and Seemed Fairly Clean")
Unlike systemd
Trajectory of The Register: From News Site/s Into "B2B"... and Into Microsoft Salespeople
Something isn't right at The Register
 
The Week to Come
Planning ahead
LLM Slop Has Only Been a Boon for Misinformation Online
The very same companies that were supposed to maintain quality (again, not limited to Google with PageRank) are now actively participating in generating and spreading slop
When They Tell You It's Free, Does That Mean No Charges (If So, Who's Paying and Why)?
there's "no free lunch"
We're Going to Focus Less on the Molotov Cocktail-Throwing Microsofters and More on Patents
We can get back to focusing on what we wanted to focus on all along
Just Trying to Keep Web Sites Honest (Journalistic Integrity)
the latest articles in LinuxIac are real
Links 27/07/2025: Political Affairs, Data Breaches, Attacks on Freedom of the Press
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: Hot in Japan and Terminal Escape Codes
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs Coming, Science and Hardware News
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: FSF Hackathon and "Hulk Hogan Was a Very Bad Man"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: DAW Mixer Chains and Simple Software
Links for the day
The Register MS is Inventing or Giving Air Time to New Conspiracy Theories so as to Distort the Narrative As High-Profile Agencies Fall Prey to Microsoft Holes
But the problem is holes, i.e. Microsoft making bad products; the problem is Microsoft
Most Editors at The Register Are American, Including the Editor in Chief, a Decade-Long Microsoft Stenographer (Writing Prose to Sell Microsoft)
It's not easy to tell where the site is based (we tried) because it's hiding behind ClownFlare and CrimeFlare hasn't been well lately
"New Techrights" Soon Turns 2 (A Few Days Before the FSF Turns 40)
We have a lot more to say about LLM bots
When Silence Says So Much
Garrett, a 'secure' boot pusher, will need to defend himself in the UK High Court
The Register in Trouble
There is not much that can be done at this point
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 26, 2025
Misinformation in Social Control Media
Social control media passes around all sorts of tropes
Slopwatch: Fake Linux 'Articles' and Slopfarms With "Linux" in Their Names/Domains
throwing bots at "Linux" to make some fake articles
Links 26/07/2025: Amazon Shutdown in China, Russian Economy Slows
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: History of Time (1988) and Gemini Games
Links for the day
Links 26/07/2025: 50 Percent Tariffs in Amazon, Dying Intel Offloads Network and Edge Group (NEX)
Links for the day
Doing My Share to Tackle Online Slop and SPAM
Trying my best to 'fix' the Web
Blaming Programming Languages for Users' and Developers' Bad Practices
That's like blaming cars for drivers who crash into things
Slopwatch: Fakes, FUD, Duplicates, and Charlatans Galore
The Web as we once know it is collapsing. Some opportunists try to replace it with low-quality slop.
The Register UK Seems to Have Become American and Management is Changing (Microsofter as Editor in Chief)
The Register 'UK' is now controlled by the Directions on Microsoft guy
Many People Still Read Techrights Because It Says the Truth, Produces Evidence, and Does Not Self-Censor
Unlike so many other sites
The Register is Desperate for Money, According to The Register
I decided to check how they're doing as a business
Microsoft Finally Finds a Use Case for Slop?
Create low-quality chaff to shift the media's attention?
Microsoft Windows Lost 400 Million Users in a Few Years, Why Does The Register Double Down on Windows With New US Editor?
days ago they hired a new US editor
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 25, 2025
For Libel Reform One Must First Bring (or Raise) Awareness to the Issues and Their Magnitude
I myself know, from personal experience
Links 26/07/2025: Rationed Meals in the US and TikTok Repels Investments (Too Toxic)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: "Bloody Google" and New People in Geminispace
Links for the day
Response to Solderpunk (Father of Gemini Protocol) About the Gemini Community
Solderpunk responds to non-sequitur
HTML and the Web Used to be Something a Child Could Learn, "Modern" Web is a Puzzle of Frameworks, Bloat, and Worse
When the Web was more like Gemini Protocol
New US Editor in The Register is 84% Microsoft/Windows Booster
It'll be worrying if it carries on like this
Links 25/07/2025: Slop Blunders and China Has Code of Conduct for Lawmakers in HK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Some Books and Babies and Capital
Links for the day
Links 25/07/2025: NOAA Cuts Endanger Lives, "Europe's Self Inflicted Cloud Crisis"
Links for the day
They Try to Lecture Us on Ethics
They even removed "master" from Microsoft GitHub
The Future of the Web is One Rendering Engine or 'Flavours' of Chrome
The future of the Web does not look bright at all
Best Sites Are Not Optimised for Any Browser, They Work Equally Well With All of Them
Red Hat (IBM) is making rubbish sites
YouTube is a Spamfarm, Slopfarm, and Clickfarm (a Lot of Numbers There Are Fake)
Those who don't fake look unpopular and unimportant
We Don't Do JavaScript and Pages Are Small
Thankfully Gemini Protocol has nothing like JavaScript
'Tech' is Not Technology
Some people use terms like 'Old Tech'
IBM's Debt Rose by Almost 10 Billion Dollars in the Past 6 Months Alone
The "hey hi" circus is coming to an end
Yes, Master
Gaslighting by actual racists
Microsoft Bribes and Buys Politicians to Tell Europe What to Do About Free Software (Which It's Attacking)
Microsoft: we speak for the thing that we are attacking! Follow the money...
Making Backups Quickly and Reliably
Backups are imperative, more so in an age of uncertainty, unpredictable weather, and worsening standards (quality of products going down while prices go up)
Techrights Investigation: Estimating the Point in Time LinuxIac Turned Into LLM Slop (Part of the Time)
Bobby Borisov got lazy
10th Month, Ten Weeks From Now, at Ten AM
In Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 24, 2025
A Nadella Memo Distracts From Microsoft's Cheapening Of the Workforce
Right now the "MSM" (mainstream media) is flooded/overwhelmed by garbage pieces that relay lies for Nadella
Vanishing Faces of GNU/Linux
Free software projects do not depend on any one person or company to still exist
Microsoft Says It Lost 400 Million Windows Users, Now It's Waiting for GNU/Linux to Stop Booting on 'Old' PCs
When it comes to Windows, Microsoft is fully aware of the issue and statements it made earlier this summer suggest it lost 400 million Windows users
Slopwatch: LinuxTechLab, linuxsecurity.com, LinuxIac, and More
Also: The Register's Microsoft agenda (new editor)
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Gemtext Aware Titan Editor and Gemini Protocol Comeback
Links for the day