08.30.21
Gemini version available ♊︎EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part VIII – Pulling for the Portuguese Pretender?
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…
- EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part VI – “A Good Friend of Estonia and a Steady Cooperation Partner”
- EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part VII – A Self-Appointed “Select Committee”
- You are here ☞ Pulling for the Portuguese Pretender?
EUIPO functionaries Campinos and Negrão visiting the Icelandic patent office in Reykjavík in May 2016.
Summary: The likely behind-the-scenes horsetrading that led to the rise of Campinos, a French-Portuguese ‘guru’ in so-called ‘IP’
In the last part we saw how a self-appointed “select committee” of Administrative Council delegates paid a visit to Matti Päts of the Estonian Patent Office in January 2010.
“We have already seen that the main item on the agenda was an attempt to canvass support for Battistelli’s candidacy in the succession race at the EPO.”This “select committee” consisted of the head of the French delegation (Battistelli) together with his INPI gofer from the French INPI (Requena), the head of the Finnish delegation (Enäjärvi) and the head of the Portuguese delegation (Campinos) together with his deputy (Negrão).
According to the 2010 Annual Report [PDF] of the Estonian Patent Office the purpose of the meeting was to discuss “the development trends of both EPO and OHIM”.
We have already seen that the main item on the agenda was an attempt to canvass support for Battistelli’s candidacy in the succession race at the EPO.
“The first point to note here is that Enäjärvi’s “good brother” relationship with the Portuguese INPI goes back a long way and is connected to his activities at the EU trademark agency OHIM/EUIPO.”However, the presence of António Campinos – at that time director of the Portuguese INPI – together with his deputy, João Negrão, makes it likely that there was an additional reason behind the visit: namely to canvass support for Campinos in the upcoming succession race at the EU trademark agency Alicante (now the EUIPO, but known as OHIM in those days).
“Between 1998 and 2001, Martti Enäjärvi was deputy Chairman of OHIM’s Management Board which was chaired by the head of the Portuguese INPI, José Mota Maia.”Once again, the evidence is mainly circumstantial but as soon as the dots are joined a very clear picture begins to emerge.
The first point to note here is that Enäjärvi’s “good brother” relationship with the Portuguese INPI goes back a long way and is connected to his activities at the EU trademark agency OHIM/EUIPO. [PDF]
“The Chairman of the Board at that time was the head of the Portuguese INPI, José Mota Maia.”Between 1998 and 2001, Enäjärvi served as deputy Chairman of OHIM’s Administrative Board (the equivalent of the EPO’s Administrative Council). The Chairman of the Board at that time was the head of the Portuguese INPI, José Mota Maia.
Between 1998 and 2001, Martti Enäjärvi was deputy Chairman of OHIM’s Management Board which was chaired by the head of the Portuguese INPI, José Mota Maia. [PDF]
“Campinos joined the Portuguese INPI in 2000 as Director of Trademarks and in 2005 he was appointed Director-General of the office.”Back in those days, Campinos was an Assistant Secretary of State at the Portuguese Ministry for Economic Affairs. In this capacity, he was part of a Portuguese delegation led by Mota Maia which attended an intergovernmental conference of the EPO’s member states held in Paris in June 1999 [PDF]. That was at a time when national ministries still exercised some oversight in relation to EPO affairs.
Campinos joined the Portuguese INPI in 2000 as Director of Trademarks and in 2005 he was appointed Director-General of the office (see OHIM Annual Report 2005 [PDF] and OHIM Annual Report 2006 [PDF]). In this capacity he became the head of the Portuguese delegation to the Administrative Council of the EPO [PDF] where his name is listed for the first time in July 2005. [PDF]
Campinos joined the Portuguese INPI in 2000 as Director of Trademarks.
Prior to that Campinos had never participated in the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation because his area of expertise at the Portuguese INPI was trademarks.
“Prior to that Campinos had never participated in the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation because his area of expertise at the Portuguese INPI was trademarks.”Meanwhile at the OHIM, in 2004 Enäjärvi was elected as Chairman of OHIM’s Administrative Board [PDF], a position that he held until 2007.
Enäjärvi was the Chairman of OHIM’s Management Board between 2004 and 2007.
When Enäjärvi’s term ended in 2007 he was succeeded as Chairman of the Administrative Board by Campinos. [PDF]
At the time of the visit to Tallinn in January 2010, Campinos’ term as head of the Administrative Board was gradually coming to an end and he nurtured ambitions for the position of Executive Director (the OHIM/EUIPO equivalent of the EPO’s “President”).
“At the time of the visit to Tallinn in January 2010, Campinos’ term as head of the Administrative Board was gradually coming to an end and he nurtured ambitions for the position of Executive Director (the OHIM/EUIPO equivalent of the EPO’s “President”).”The top job at the EU trademark agency was due to become vacant later that year because the term of office of the incumbent, Wubbo de Boer from the Netherlands, was scheduled to expire at the end of September 2010. [PDF]
So it’s more than likely that the delegation which visited Matti Päts in Tallinn in January 2010 was also there to canvass support for Campinos’ plans to become Executive Director of the EU trademark agency.
Although we are not privy to what was discussed behind closed doors on that occasion, those involved once again appear to have obtained the outcome that they desired.
“Although we are not privy to what was discussed behind closed doors on that occasion, those involved once again appear to have obtained the outcome that they desired.”Campinos was successful in his efforts to secure the top job at the OHIM/EUIPO. He took up his new position as Executive Director on 1 October 2010 and he was succeeded as Chairman of the Administrative Board by the Vice-President of the Hungarian Patent Office, a certain Mihály Ficsor.
Campinos remained in charge at Alicante for almost eight years until he replaced Battistelli as President of the EPO on 1 July 2018.
“Campinos remained in charge at Alicante for almost eight years until he replaced Battistelli as President of the EPO on 1 July 2018.”In the next part we will take a look at Campinos’ faithful acolyte from the Portuguese INPI, João Negrão [PDF], who was at his side in Tallinn in January 2010 and subsequently followed him to Alicante in October of the same year. █
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