Silvia Rossi and Bruno Cinquantini, the delegates from San Marino, were guilty of a shameful betrayal of the principle of "Libertas" at the EPO.
Finally, we come to the Most Serene Republic of San Marino, a landlocked enclave situated close to the city of Rimini on the Adriatic coast of Italy.
"San Marino acceded to the European Patent Convention on 1 July 2009."In June 2013, its delegation on the EPO's Administrative Council was headed by Silvia Rossi who has presided over the State Office for Patents and Trademarks since January 2006.
Rossi's deputy was the Italian patent attorney, Bruno Cinquantini.
Cinquantini was born in Blera, Italy, in 1953 and he graduated from the University of Pisa where he studied aircraft engineering.
He joined the EPO in 1980 as an examiner of patents at grade A1 assigned to The Hague branch office. He transferred to the EPO's Munich head office on 1 September 1984 and to its branch office in Vienna on 17 January 1992. In February 1996 he returned to Munich as a principal administrator at grade A4.
"He joined the EPO in 1980 as an examiner of patents at grade A1 assigned to The Hague branch office. He transferred to the EPO's Munich head office on 1 September 1984 and to its branch office in Vienna on 17 January 1992. In February 1996 he returned to Munich as a principal administrator at grade A4."While serving in the EPO office in Vienna, Cinquantini lived either in the city or on the outskirts. However, he retained his flat in Munich and with one exception his sons attended the European School there. For a brief period during 1992-93, his wife and second son lived in Blera, and the boy went to school there. By 1993 his wife and three sons were together again in Munich, and they lived in his flat there until he himself returned in 1996.
After returning to Munich, Cinquantini submitted a request to the EPO for an "installation allowance" connected with his relocation from Vienna. He also requested an additional "installation allowance" for his family, falsely claiming that his wife and three dependent children had taken up residence in Munich on 1 March 1996.
Shortly thereafter, Cinquantini moved into a bigger apartment in Munich with his family. It seems that he planned to cover the costs of this move with the "installation allowance" payments that he hoped to obtain from the EPO.
The EPO granted Cinquantini a basic "installation allowance" for himself in respect of his relocation from Vienna. This is normal practice when an official transfers his or her place of employment from one EPO duty station to another.
However, the additional claim to an allowance for his family members was rejected on the grounds that they had stayed on at the same address in Munich while he had been serving in Vienna.
The aggrieved Cinquantini proceeded to bring a complaint before the ILOAT in Geneva.
The case was decided by Judgment No. 1820 delivered on 28 January 1999 (local copy [PDF]). The Tribunal found Cinquantini's pleas for "a more liberal construction" of the applicable rules to be "unconvincing" and it dismissed his complaint as "utterly devoid of merit".
"When San Marino made its debut on the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation in October 2009, Cinquantini mysteriously appeared as its deputy head of delegation, a position which he has held ever since."Some time later in the same year, Cinquantini left the EPO. It is not clear whether his departure was due to "sour grapes" over his failure to obtain the additional "installation allowance" for his family, or whether there were other reasons behind it.
In any case, he embarked on a new career as an "IP consultant" with the prominent Italian law firm, Notarbartolo & Gervasi.
When San Marino made its debut on the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation in October 2009, Cinquantini mysteriously appeared as its deputy head of delegation, a position which he has held ever since.
His official title is "Advisor to the Secretariat of State for Industry, Handcraft and Commerce".
Bruno Cinquantini (l.) and Silvia Rossi (c.) with Secretary of State Marco Arzilli (r.).
"Like the other EPO micro-states, the role of San Marino in "le système Battistelli" was very much that of a "captured state"."The preface of the relevant proposal document - CA/54/13 (warning: epo.org link) - notes that similar agreements had already been concluded with Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta and Monaco.
Now it was San Marino's turn, and the Council agreed to the proposal submitted by Battistelli in CA/54/13. We shall keep this local copy [PDF] as the original will vanish one day.
A few months after Rossi and Cinquantini had played their part in rubber-stamping the "Strike Regulations", their supervising minister, Marco Arzilli was invited to Munich for the "honour" of signing of a bilateral agreement with EPO President Benoît Battistelli in October 2013: (warning: epo.org link)
"This is a very important signature for the San Marino business world, and a step forward for innovation and development," said Minister Arzilli. ... Thanks to this agreement with the EPO, the Republic of San Marino can be on an equal footing with other European countries with regards to the possibility to innovate and enter new markets."
San Marino Secretary of State Arzilli signing a bilateral agreement with Battistelli in October 2013.
The San Marino delegation betrayed the guiding principle of "Libertas" by acquiescing in the corrupt and oppressive tyranny of the Battistelli-Kongstad diarchy.
"As a matter of fact, by endorsing Battistelli's "Strike Regulations", Rossi and Cinquantini helped to trample on the fundamental rights of EPO staff."Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that they betrayed the cause of "Libertas", which is supposed to be the guiding principle of the "Most Serene Republic" that they purported to represent.
Cinquantini's complicity in this affair was particularly perfidious in view of the fact that he had previously worked at the EPO for almost two decades between 1980 and 1999. The fundamental rights of his former colleagues were clearly of no consequence to this shameless opportunist.
Bruno Cinquantini's opportunistic sell-out of his former colleagues at the EPO was particularly perfidious.
"In the upcoming parts, we plan to look at these abstentionist delegations in more detail."That concludes our in-depth look at the Administrative Council delegations which voted in favour of Battistelli's "Strike Regulations" in June 2013.
As we previously noted, no delegation had sufficient integrity and moral courage to vote against Battistelli's egregiously flawed proposal. However, seven delegations withheld their support by abstaining.
In the upcoming parts, we plan to look at these abstentionist delegations in more detail. ⬆
