THE reputation of the European Patent Office (EPO) won't be redeemed as long as António Campinos shows himself to be his predecessor's shadow.
"The above photo comes from a very tactless photo op, which accompanies this very latest puff piece from the EPO."Put aside the corruption associated with Christian Archambeau at EUIPO and his presence at this event along with Željko Topić's 'mistress', Ljiljana Kuterovac (there are court documents detailing the relationship).
The above photo comes from a very tactless photo op, which accompanies this very latest puff piece (warning: epo.org link) from the EPO. It says this:
A delegation headed by the EPO President attended an international conference on challenges in intellectual property held in Zagreb last week under Croatia's EU Council presidency. The conference was opened by the Croatian Minister of Science and Education, Blaà ¾enka Divjak, the Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, Darko Horvat; the Minister of Culture, Nina Obuljen Korà ¾inek, and the Director General of the State intellectual Property Office, Ljiljana Kuterovac. Speakers and panellists included Executive Director of the EU Intellectual Property Office Christian Archambeau, and representatives of the World Intellectual Property Organization, European Commission and other leading European and Croatian organisations in the IP field.
In his opening address, EPO President António Campinos thanked the Croatian government for putting IP firmly on the agenda of the EU presidency. He emphasised the importance of international co-operation in responding to the rapid changes in the IP landscape due to an ever increasing number of applications, and the rise of technologies such as AI and blockchain. He stressed the need to ensure the delivery of high-quality, legally robust patents - which are the "cornerstone of the European patent system" - to bring about tangible benefits for users and the public.
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The conference participants discussed topics such as support for SMEs, shaping IP policy to boost Europe's industrial competitiveness in the digital age, Standard Essential Patents and Artificial Intelligence, and the role of IP in fostering green technologies.