Short Survey of Past Media Coverage About Campinos, EUIPO, and a Call for Action on EPO Press Coverage
The European Patent Office (EPO) has several newsworthy scandals right now. Asking readers to contact journalists has paid off.
Regarding Spanish journalists, readers sold of "two possible contacts", based on their existing knowledge of EUIPO problems and António Campinos, back then its chief (he was parachuted into the EPO despite of his lack of expertise in patents). Regarding "Spanish journalists," we got told, and "for information..."
"Between December 2016 and July 2018, the Spanish daily El Mundo published a number of articles which were critical of Campinos and his governance of the EUIPO in Alicante.
"The first article in December 2016 was written by Gema Penalosa and was about the drunk driving incident involving Jorge Buratti Campinos (Antonio's son) and his unsuccessful efforts to invoke his father's diplomatic immunity.
GEMA PEÑALOSA
01/12/2016 - Papá, ¿me prestas tu inmunidad?
"Apparently Campinos was really irritated by this article and thereafter treated El Mundo with contempt.
"Towards the end of 2017 El Mundo published a number of articles about a controversial EUIPO outsourcing decision where around 150 IT jobs which had been performed by local contractors were outsourced to India.
ALICANTE - Denuncia de la eurodiputada de EU
28.11.2017 - Albiol: "La EUIPO contrata en India el mantenimiento informático y deja sin trabajo a 150 alicantinos"
IMPRESIÓN
30.11.2017 - La larga y polémica despedida de Campinos de la ciudad de Alicante
HÉCTOR FERNÁNDEZ
03.12.2017 - EUIPO y la deslocalización
HÉCTOR FERNÁNDEZ
17.12.2017 - La Euipo no puso reparos a la externalización de 150 puestos de trabajo a la India
"Finally in July 2018, El Mundo published a rather sarcastic article bidding "farewell" to Campinos as he departed from Alicante to take up his new job at the head of the EPO in Munich.
"In this article, Fernandez mentions how Campinos reacted to the December 2016 article about his son's drunk driving by treating El Mundo and its readers with contempt.
HÉCTOR FERNÁNDEZ
15.07.2018 - Adiós Campinos, queda tu carril
"The journalists responsible for EUIPO coverage at El Mundo were Gema Penalosa and Hector Fernandez.
"Penalosa is still with El Mundo.
"Hector Fernandez is now with El Espanol."
Of course Campinos got a sniff or a taste of lawlessness and impunity in Spain. Then he exported that to Germany.
Before Techrights contacted Spanish journalists it repeatedly attempted to contact German journalists. That would not result in anything, but it would show that German media is by no means better than the press in Moscow (because 0 out of anything is still 0% and even in Moscow there's a remote possibility of non-zero). █