Summary: What makes Portugal rather unique when it comes to Mr. Battistelli, who is allegedly desperate for support from smaller countries whose vote is easier to 'win'

EARLIER today we wrote about rumours that Battistelli would pursue an extension of Topić's appointment and we also wrote about rumours regarding 'buying' of votes or how Battistelli was getting small nations on his side.

"It is said that one of the delegations which is strongly pro-Battistelli is Portugal," a source told us. "By a curious coincidence, the "Inventor of the Year" extravaganza will take place in Lisbon on the 9th of June." (warning: epo.org link)

“Campinos from the recently rebranded EUIPO in Alicante (formerly the European Trademark Office) is Portuguese and he is reputed to be a close ally of Battistelli.”
      --AnonymousSince the EPO is not connected to the EU and the Lisbon Treaty was repeatedly snubbed by the EPO's interests, the choice of Lisbon is interesting to say the least. Not many patent applications come to the EPO from Portugal, so is the location politically-motivated?

"It is rumoured," we were told, "that the Portuguese President is scheduled to attend the event so this seems to confirm the rumour that Portugal is solidly behind Battistelli.

"It's not clear what role, if any, António Campinos might have in this. Campinos from the recently rebranded EUIPO in Alicante (formerly the European Trademark Office) is Portuguese and he is reputed to be a close ally of Battistelli."

"There will be EPO protests on the same day in all EPO sites, so coverage might turn out to be embarrassing again (if "media partners" are allowed to act as journalists rather than EPO stenographers)."We wrote about the connection between Battistelli and Campinos a few months ago.

"By another curious coincidence," our source added, "Campinos is also on the jury for the "Inventor of the Year" award." (warning: epo.org link)

It is worth noting that this year, unlike last year, the EPO has got FTI Consulting helping it (US PR firm with massive but undeclared budget), so "media partners" like CNN are listed in the page along with the Financial Times (which often repeats the PR of the EPO), Les Echos (which censored itself for the EPO last year), Handelsblatt, ViEUws (source of puff pieces for corporate agenda in Europe and softball interviews with Battistelli, UPC promotion), and finally euronews. There will be EPO protests on the same day in all EPO sites, so coverage might turn out to be embarrassing again (if "media partners" are allowed to act as journalists rather than EPO stenographers). ⬆