Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Darker Past of the Next President of the EPO - Part IV: Links Between CGD (Former Employer of António Campinos) and the INPI

Everything comes together

INPI and banks
Large (legible) version



Summary: More information about connections between CGD and the Portuguese Intellectual Property Office (INPI)

THE next President of the EPO isn't quite what he seems. There are things about him which he isn't eager to disclose, hence our series about his past.



Previous parts of this series are as follows:



Campinos and his supporters boasted/showed off his experience in the field of "IP" (they intentionally don't say trademarks, which are not the same as patents). But what does his track record in trademarks really show? This is the subject of today's final part of this series.




Some interesting details about links between CGD and the Portuguese Intellectual Property Office (Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial - INPI) have been unearthed on the official Web site of the INPI.

An undated press release posted on the INPI Web site reports on the establishment of a "strategic partnership" agreement between Caixa Capital, a venture capital company of CGD Group, and INPI for the promotion of technology-based entrepreneurship.

The collaboration protocol was signed the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Caixa and by the President of INPI, António Campinos.

Campinos took up his position as President of the OHIM in Alicante (now EUIPO) on 1 October 2010 just three months after Battistelli had been installed as President of the EPO.

This means that the press release must date from some time between 2005 and 2010, in other words from the time that Campinos was Director of the INPI.

Translation of the text of the undated press release:

Technology-based entrepreneurs with easy access to financial resources



Caixa Capital, a venture capital company of CGD Group, and INPI have established a strategic partnership agreement for the promotion of technology-based entrepreneurship.

This agreement aims to support national inventors, creators and entrepreneurs in the protection and economic valuation of their innovations, in particular by promoting the availability and facilitating access to financial instruments and resources to enable them to realise business ideas.

It was also announced during the signing of the protocol, the creation of the Invention Award of the Year, to be launched in the first quarter of 2010 within a fair that will showcase inventions and other intellectual creations registered with INPI.

It is also planned to jointly organise a series of Academy-Industry meetings, with the aim of facilitating the transfer and valorisation of the research results developed by the entities of the National Technological and Scientific System.

The collaboration protocol was signed by Eng. Faria de Oliveira, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Caixa and Dr. António Campinos, President of INPI.


A more recent press release from January 2015 reports on a further and much more far-reaching "collaboration protocol" between the INPI and CGD.

Translation of the text of the January 2015 press release:

INPI and CGD sign Collaboration Protocol



Taking into account INPI's strategic orientation, to promote cooperation with national organisations and entities with a view to increasing Portuguese business competitiveness and strengthening the use of Industrial Property among the academic, scientific and business communities, it was signed on 5 January of 2015, a Protocol of Collaboration between INPI and Caixa Geral de Depósitos.

The Protocol, in addition to establishing the terms of the partnership between the two entities, also intends to implement the following activities:

- Sharing of statistical information related to Industrial Property rights, made available by INPI;

- Sharing of publicity materials made available by INPI;

- Organisation of training actions in matters of Industrial Property, within the framework of the activities promoted by the Industrial Property Academy of INPI;

- Participation in events and publicity actions organised by CGD.

If the INPI and CGD deem it appropriate to pursue the objectives set out in the Protocol, other forms of cooperation may be established, duly agreed upon and introduced in an addendum to the Protocol.

23 January 2015


An earlier press release from February 2011 reveals that the INPI had already been closely involved in events and publicity actions organised by CGD.

In this case, the event in question was the "INVENTA - Caixa prize" which is an "Inventor of the Year" award of the kind which will be familiar to observers of the EPO. Of course the Portuguese event is a small-scale one and far more low key than the "European Inventor of the Year" ceremony.

By a curious coincidence, the "personalities" who turned up for the "INVENTA - Caixa Prize" ceremony in Lisbon in February 2011 included none other than EPO President Benoît Battistelli. Maybe this is where he got his inspiration for his EPO extravaganza?

Translation of the text of the February 2011 press release:

INVENTA - Cash Prize | INPI - Winners



The winners of INVENTA - Caixa Prize | INPI.

In a ceremony held yesterday at Caixa Geral de Depósitos headquarters in Lisbon, the sector and absolute winners of INVENTA - Caixa Prize | INPI.

INVENTA.com

PT Innovation with the patent "High Performance Discovery Device for Content Transmission"

INVENTA.san

University of Coimbra with the patent "Nouveaux derives de porphyrine, notamment chlorines et / or leurs applications en therapie photodynamique"

INVENTA.eco

Oon Recycling Solutions with the patent "Transforming food oil used in candles"

Overall Winner

University of Coimbra with the patent "Nouveaux derives de porphyrine, notamment chlorines et / or leurs applications en therapie photodynamique"

The sector winners will be awarded a prize of 15,000 euros and the overall winner a prize of 25,000 euros.

The prizes were delivered by the following personalities:

Dr. Maria Leonor Trindade of the National Institute of Industrial Property;

Dr. Jorge Tomé of Caixa Geral de Depósitos;

Dr. Luís Portela from Health Cluster Portugal;

Dr. Diogo Vasconcelos of the Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications;

Prof. Daniel Bessa from COTEC and

Dr. José Honório from the Business Council for Sustainable Development,

all members of the jury,

the President of CGD Faria de Oliveira,

the President of the Office for Harmonization of the Internal Market António Campinos,

the President of the European Patent Office Benoît Battistelli and

by the Secretary of State for Justice and Judicial Modernization José Magalhães.

To all candidates, nominees, sector winners and absolute winner, INPI presents its congratulations.

25 February 2011


A Portuguese press article from May 2017 (see the top) reported that CGD had been successful in a trademark dispute between CGD and the Spanish-owned Caixabank. The dispute involved the "Caixa" trademark.

The word "caixa" in Portuguese means something like a cash desk (similar to the Spanish "caja" or French "caisse") so it seems somewhat surprising that such a generic term can be protected by trademark. But with the right connections to your local Intellectual Property Office it seems that nothing is impossible these days.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Comparing U.E.F.I. to B.I.O.S. (Bloat and Insecurity to K.I.S.S.)
By Sami Tikkanen
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
 
People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
And recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 18, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 18, 2024
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
Links for the day
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 17, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Links 17/03/2024: Microsoft Windows Shoves Ads Into Third-Party Software, More Countries Explore TikTok Ban
Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 16, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, March 16, 2024
Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
Suffice to say, we're not meaning to imply Taliban is "good"
Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day