08.28.21
Gemini version available ♊︎EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part VI – “A Good Friend of Estonia and a Steady Cooperation Partner”
Series index:
- EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part I – More Captured Delegates?
- EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part II – Old Wine in New Bottles…
- EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part III – Introducing the Finnish “Facilitator”
- EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part IV – Martti Enäjärvi and His “Good Brother” Networks
- EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part V – A Man With a Conviction…
- You are here ☞ “A Good Friend of Estonia and a Steady Cooperation Partner”
Martti Enäjärvi seems to have played a key role in capturing the votes of the Baltic States for Battistelli in 2010.
Summary: A closer look at how Casino Martti (above) set the stage for an unprecedented EPO dictatorship with Frenchmen Benoît Battistelli and António Campinos in an era of quality collapse
In the last part we saw how the former head of the Finnish PRH, Martti Enäjarvi, ended his long career at the top of the Finnish PRH with the ignominy of a conviction as a credit-card fraudster.
In this part we will begin an examination of Enäjarvi’s contribution to EPO affairs, in particular his contribution towards the initial integration of the Baltic States into the “European IP network” and his subsequent role as Benoît Battistelli’s “facilitator” on the Baltic Rim.
“But – as we shall see in due course – appearances can be deceptive.”Finland is a somewhat peripheral country which, at first glance, doesn’t seem to be of much significance in the grand scheme of European “IP” affairs.
But – as we shall see in due course – appearances can be deceptive.
As a matter of fact, during Enäjärvi’s tenure at the head of the PRH, Finland managed to punch above its weight in the world of EPO realpolitik.
This was mainly due to its strategic location straddling the Scandinavian Peninsula and the Baltic Rim. Because of historical and contemporary connections with its neighbours Sweden and Estonia, Finland has significant potential to act as an intermediary or “bridge” between the Nordic and Baltic states.
“Martti Enäjärvi, the former Director General of the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland, offered invaluable legal and technical help at that time.”
–2011 Annual Report of the Estonian Patent OfficeIn the case of Martti Enäjärvi, it would appear that he made full use of this potential.
In this regard, it is known that Enäjärvi cultivated particularly close connections with the head of the Estonian Patent Office, Matti Päts.
In the 2011 Annual Report [PDF] of the Estonian Patent Office, tribute is paid to Enäjärvi’s contribution during the initial phase of re-establishment in the early 1990s:
Martti Enäjärvi, the former Director General of the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland, offered invaluable legal and technical help at that time. Mr Enäjärvi helped the Patent Office to establish relationships with international organizations (WIPO, EPO) and the patent offices of European countries. Finnish experts looked through all drafts and made valuable comments.
In the initial phase of re-establishment Matti Päts of the Estonian Patent Office received “invaluable legal and technical help” from Martti Enäjärvi of the Finnish PRH.
More formal Nordic-Baltic cooperation in “IP” matters started around 2004.
This cooperation takes the form of regular meetings of the directors of the national “IP” offices to discuss global and European issues of common interest.
Official Nordic-Baltic “IP” cooperation started in 2004.
The May 2019 meeting (above) was hosted by the Lithuanian office in Vilnius.
In the context of this cooperation, Enäjärvi started an initiative which led to the signing of a “Memorandum of Understanding” between the national “IP” offices of Finland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia in 2006. [PDF]
2006 Memorandum of Understanding between the “IP” offices of Finland and the Baltic States.
The purpose of this multilateral agreement which was signed on the EPO premises in Munich on 5 December 2006 was to provide “co-operation between the Parties in the field of protection of industrial property”. Amongst other things it was agreed to maintain “a continuous dialogue with a view to facilitating the representation of the interests of the Parties in different institutions of the European Union as well as other international bodies such as the European Patent Organisation and the World Intellectual Property Organization.”
Signing the MoU in Munich on 5 December 2006. From left to right: Zigrīds Aumeisters (LV) Matti Päts (EE), Rimvydas Naujokas (LT) and Martti Enäjärvi (FI).
“Enäjärvi also turned up as a guest of honour at the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Estonian Patent Office held in March 2012.”In the spring of the following year Enäjärvi was invited to give the opening address at a rather low-key ceremony to mark the 15th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Estonian Patent Office. This ceremony was held in the Conference Hall of the Estonian National Library in Tallinn on 13 March 2007.
Enäjärvi concluded his speech with the following words [PDF]:
I believe and hope that the excellent co-operation between the Estonian and Finnish patent offices will continue and develop further. In fact, I feel like one of you.
I am glad about the good co-operation between Estonia and Finland, as well as about the fact that this cooperation is deepening and developing all the time in practice, not only in words.
Enäjärvi gives the opening address at a ceremony to mark the 15th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Estonian Patent Office in March 2007.
Enäjärvi also turned up as a guest of honour at the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Estonian Patent Office held in March 2012.
“As we shall see in due course, thanks to Enäjärvi’s efforts, Finnish-Estonian “cooperation” had in the meantime deepened to the point where it had developed a much broader “European” dimension.”This was a much more lavish affair which provided solid proof of the “deepening and developing cooperation” to which Enäjärvi had referred in 2007.
As we shall see in due course, thanks to Enäjärvi’s efforts, Finnish-Estonian “cooperation” had in the meantime deepened to the point where it had developed a much broader “European” dimension.
“In the next part of this series, we will turn our attention to the mission of a “select committee” of Administrative Council delegates that paid a visit to the Estonian Patent Office at the start of 2010.”More precisely, Enäjärvi’s close connections with the Estonian Patent Office appear to have provided the Machiavellian schemer Benoît Battistelli with the entry point that he needed for conducting his “Baltic Crusade”. The purpose of this action was to “capture” the votes of those delegations in advance of the next round of the voting procedure to elect a new EPO President.
In the next part of this series, we will turn our attention to the mission of a “select committee” of Administrative Council delegates that paid a visit to the Estonian Patent Office at the start of 2010. █
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