Bonum Certa Men Certa

Update on Civil Complaints and Criminal Complaints Against EPO Vice-President Željko Topić in Lufthansa/Airplus Case

Topić on the left, wearing shades in the shade

SIPO article



Summary: Some much-needed transparency in the cases (some among many) against Željko Topić, who is now crushing staff unions at the European Patent Office (EPO)

Benoît Battistelli's right-hand man, Željko Topić, was said to have faced “a dozen serious criminal charges,” but the exact number may not be known to anyone other than Topić and his highly expensive lawyers whom we mentioned here before. When dealing with EPO scandals, there are many different kinds of scandals. It's not some singular scandal but a large number thereof. The same applies to Topić in Croatia. One of the scandals which we wrote about several times in the past involved German airliner Lufthansa. This is the most detailed explanation published here thus far.



"For your information," a reader told us, there is a new article titled "ŽUPANIJSKI SUD ISTRAGU PROTIV ŽELJKA TOPIĆA PROGLASIO NEDOPUÅ TENOM" (TOPIĆA being Topić). "The report appeared on the Web site of the Croatian news portal tjedno.hr on 23 February," said our the reader.

Might anyone among our readers be able to get a quick translation? Our understanding, based on a source, is that this update from Croatia says: "Is everybody equal before the law?"

"According to the report," the reader told us, "in proceedings before the Municipal Criminal Court of Zagreb, the presiding judge Zoran Luburić dismissed two criminal complaints against Željko Topić as "inadmissible".

“Mr. Frgačić has filed both criminal and civil complaints against Topić in relation to the Lufthansa/Airplus dispute.”
      --Anonymous
"It seems that the plaintiff in these cases was Mr. Rikard Frgačić who according to our information has lodged an appeal against the decisions of the Criminal Court.

"The Judge Mr. Luburić apparently rejected the criminal complaints against Topić on the grounds that the matter relates to the Lufthansa/Airplus trademark dispute which is still pending before the SIPO following a decision of the Administrative Court to send Mr. Frgačić's case back to the SIPO for re-examination.

"Mr. Frgačić has filed both criminal and civil complaints against Topić in relation to the Lufthansa/Airplus dispute.

"So, the matter is still open in civil proceedings. As far as the criminal proceedings are concerned, as mentioned above, Mr. Frgačić has filed appeals against Mr. Luburić's decisions to dismiss his criminal complaints."

“So, the matter is still open in civil proceedings. As far as the criminal proceedings are concerned, as mentioned above, Mr. Frgačić has filed appeals against Mr. Luburić's decisions to dismiss his criminal complaints.”
      --Anonymous
It's this kind of cases that led us to actually speaking to the familiar parties directly.

"Mr. Frgačić might be able to provide you with more details about the recent court decisions," our source noted. We have been in touch with Topić's victims for over a year and also spoke to Frgačić more than usual lately. The EPO won't tell its staff anything about it, but Topić is still under a barrage of legal cases, some of them more severe than others. Criminal cases are numerous. We are going to do our best to keep readers abreast of developments in this area, as too few people out there can comprehend Croatian. Lack of information -- a vacuum that no doubt the EPO benefits from -- only serves Mr. Topić right now. To prove his innocence he will have to win a lot of court cases, some of which he repeatedly loses (and then appeals because he can afford it -- unlike his victims -- supported by a massive salary from the EPO).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Another Failed Use Case for Chatbots (LLM): Legal Advice and Analysis
They're just some self-discrediting toy that costs way too much to operate
Nonfree Software in My Bank, by Richard Stallman
Updated 8 hours ago
 
Yes, Microsoft is the Problem
"I am no MS shill."
It's About the Cost of Workers, Not the Fictional Skills Shortage (That Does Not Exist, the Media Spreads False and Sometimes Self-Fulfilling Narratives)
This issue isn't limited to computing, some dub it "globalism"
Links 29/07/2025: More Pushbacks Against Slop and More Praises of Tom Lehrer
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/07/2025: Purple Yarrow and Understanding Op Amps
Links for the day
This Monday WebProNews Absolutely Flooded the Web With Fake (LLM Slop) 'Articles' About "Linux", Google News Promoted Them as Legitimate
All of the following are fake articles attributed to pseudonyms or authors that don't exist; the images are also slop. Why does Google promote these?
Linuxiac is Not a Slopfarm, But at Least Some of Its Articles Are Machine-Generated Fakes
what we said about it was correct
Expect More Microsoft Layoffs
"Are more job cuts coming?"
Microsoft Behaving Like It's Running Out of Money to Pay Salaries
Does that seem like the behaviour expected from a company which claims it is "worth" trillions?
LWN Downtime Due to Linode, Not LLM Bots
"I’ve received an email letting me know that there is a potential for data loss."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 28, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 28, 2025
Links 28/07/2025: Science, Health, and Conflicts
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Healthy Self-Image With Autism and a "New Life"
Links for the day
Links 28/07/2025: COVID-19 Sped up Brain Aging, "Circumvention is More Popular Than Compliance"
Links for the day
Richard Stallman is Usually Right Because He Thinks "Outside the Box"
he is able to observe society (mores and norms) as somewhat of an outsider
LWN Has Been Down for a Long Time, Another Casualty of LLM Bots?
Time will tell. How much time though?
Slopfarms Versus 'Linux' (and Against People Who Write Real Articles About GNU/Linux)
LLM slop in slopfarms by Brian Fagioli and Redazione RHC
Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray and Running pkgsrc in a FreeBSD Jail
Links for the day
Microsoft Turns News Sites Into Spamfarms
Is the site The Register MS the next IDG?
The Register MS/The Register US
On Saturday I contacted them for a comment (before issuing criticism)
Hacking revelations at Vatican Jubilee of Digital Missionaries
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 27, 2025
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
Pushers of systemd Rewrite History (Richard Stallman Said UNIX "Was Portable and Seemed Fairly Clean")
Unlike systemd
"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
Trajectory of The Register: From News Site/s Into "B2B"... and Into Microsoft Salespeople
Something isn't right at The Register
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