Head of the Slovak delegation, Luboš Knoth. [PDF]
As already noted in an earlier part of this series, Slovakia was the only member of the Visegrád Group that actively withheld its support from Benoît Battistelli's "Strike Regulations" proposal.
"A former EPO employee like Susanne Sivborg from Sweden, Knoth seems to have had a certain degree of empathy with his erstwhile colleagues at the EPO..."Knoth was head of the Industrial Property Office of the Slovakian Republic between June 2012 and October 2016 and prior to that he had worked at the Vienna branch Office of the EPO as a "project manager for administration of cooperation activities" between September 2005 and 2008.
A former EPO employee like Susanne Sivborg from Sweden, Knoth seems to have had a certain degree of empathy with his erstwhile colleagues at the EPO, unlike the majority of his peers on the Administrative Council who behaved in the manner of "absentee landlords".
In this regard, Knoth and Sivborg acted in stark contrast to the San Marino delegate Bruno Cinquantini, a shameless opportunist who appears to have had no scruples about selling out his former colleagues at the EPO.
"The Slovak refusal to support the "Strike Regulations" is noteworthy because Battistelli had done his level best to co-opt this junior member of the Visegrád Group."However, like Sivborg, Knoth's criticism of the manifestly unlawful "Strike Regulations" was rather muted and timid and gives the impression that there were only minor problems with Battistelli's proposal.
This can be seen from the statement of the Slovak position recorded under point no. 115 of the minutes of the 136th [PDF]
Administrative Council meeting:
"The Slovak delegation commented on some of the detailed drafting. On balance, it felt that the proposal was a good faith one, but not ideal. Having said that, it shared the understanding that a legal basis should be set and rules established. It would favour a review of the policy and its results, should the Office's proposal be adopted. It would like to see a fair and constructive, functioning social dialogue in the Office in future."
"The backdrop to this conference was the European Union's plan for "the introduction of a unitary patent and litigation system"."Already in June 2011 (warning: epo.org
link) – that is to say, approximately one year after he had assumed the position of EPO President - Battistelli convened a conference of "the EPO and its member states" in Bratislava for the purpose of discussing "how to bring co-operation forward in a number of areas in order to improve the quality and efficiency of the European patent system, and thus better serve industry".
The backdrop to this conference was the European Union's plan for "the introduction of a unitary patent and litigation system".
The official records show that Battistelli was accompanied on that occasion by his cooperation fund "bagman" François-Régis Hannart and his virtuoso of legal sophistry, EPO Vice-President Raimund Lutz.
Battistelli (r.) accompanied by EPO "bagman" François-Régis Hannart (l.) and EPO Vice-President Raimund Lutz (c.) at an EPO conference held in Bratislavia in June 2011.
[PDF]
, Battistelli sent a delegation headed by his "bagman" Hannart on a visit to the Slovak Industrial Property Office to discuss "bilateral cooperation" affairs. Hannart was accompanied by Georg Artelsmair from the EPO's "European Cooperation Directorate" and Katarína Laššová, a cooperation projects co-ordinator.
EPO "bagman" François-Régis Hannart (c.) flanked by Georg Artelsmair (l.) and Katarína Laššová (r.) visiting the Slovak Industrial Property Office in November 2012.
epo.org
link) to mark the 20th anniversary of the Slovak Industrial Property Office.
"With hindsight it seems clear that as far back as 2013, Campinos was being carefully groomed as the "designated successor" of Battistelli at the helm of the EPO, a role which he ultimately assumed in July 2018."Battistelli was accompanied by an "EPO delegation" which met with the Slovak Minister of Economic Affairs TomᚠMalatinský.
This "EPO delegation" included an "observer" in the person of António Campinos, who was at that time the head of EU trademark agency OHIM.
With hindsight it seems clear that as far back as 2013, Campinos was being carefully groomed as the "designated successor" of Battistelli at the helm of the EPO, a role which he ultimately assumed in July 2018.
Battistelli meeting with Slovakian Minister of Economic Affairs TomᚠMalatinský in Bratislava in May 2013.
His "designated successor", António Campinos, can be seen in the background.