SO-CALLED 'reform' at the EPO turns out to be a race to the bottom of everything, except litigation (more and more of it). "Residents of EPC contracting states can perform all procedural steps before the EPO," the EPO wrote the other day, but "not in their language," Benjamin Henrion responded. In other words, services are getting poorer (we have heard such stories from British applicants who complained that the EPO could not even properly deal with English). Imagine what a mess the UPC would be when it comes to languages -- a subject we covered here many times before. It's one of the main reasons Spain opposes the UPC, which will probably never take off anyway (not in its current form). If people need to hire the patent microcosm for services such as translations, not just legal advice, who is this whole system good for? Surely the middlemen, not the inventors. It's especially prohibitive -- from a financial point of view -- to SMEs, which is why they oppose the UPC (don't believe what the EPO and Team UPC say on 'their behalf').
"Quite a few people wrote to us about it, yet the EPO keeps absolutely quiet about it."The EPO's lies have become so routine that they're mundane and banal now. EPO workers hardly believe anything their management says (and rightly so!). In fact, even EPO-friendly media like MIP refuses to accept this latest lie, not a study (commissioned by the EPO and EUIPO themselves, to assess themselves!). "This study by @EPOorg & @EU_IPO analyses the contribution of IPR-intensive sectors to the EU economy," the EPO wrote a couple of days ago, but what they generally do is attribute the success of any domain where patents are grantable to the EPO and EUIPO, then pretend that they are worth trillions. We already mentioned this lie, which is habitually being used to promote the UPC.
The EPO is meanwhile providing a sort of UPC 'attack map', almost as though it's pitching/speaking to patent trolls and showing off to them just how many companies in how many nations they'll be able to attack with an EP and one single court ruling (in a foreign language).
Amid all this nonsense from the EPO's Twitter account there is absolutely no mention and no announcements about Battistelli and his visit to the country where his bulldog is accused of serious crimes, as we first noted yesterday morning. Quite a few people wrote to us about it, yet the EPO keeps absolutely quiet about it. No Battistelli photo ops with Željko Topić's protectors/successors at SIPO Croatia? Did he meet them to say something?
"This time, for a change, Battistelli did not just dispatch some UPC 'lobbyist' like Margot Fröhlinger or Grant Philpott."Regarding "Battistelli in Zagreb," one reader told us, "State media servis [sic] of Republic of Croatia - HINA, (www.hina.hr) made [an] interview with B. Battistelli."
Here is coverage (see screenshot above) other than HINA news about Battistelli in Zagreb.
We waited patiently for more information as quite a few people appear to be talking about it and they are generally disturbed by this for numerous reasons.
"Regarding Battistelli's visit to Zagreb," one reader told us having sent more information, "I got this from Croatian sources." We remind readers that Topić has quite a few enemies (or victims) in Zagreb and they too are eager to see this man facing justice, even arrested like some of his old friends. To quote the information we received:
Battistelli and Topić were guests at the celebration of SIPO's 25th Anniversary which took place in Zagreb on December 9th.
According to information from sources in Croatia, the preparations for the event took place in great secrecy and the SIPO didn't make any prior public announcement on its web site.
The celebration was formally held "under the auspices of the Government", but the Croatian Government refused to contribute financially.
The Assistant Minister of Science Krešo Zadro was sent as the Government representative. This could be interpreted as a subtle diplomatic snub to Battistelli who prefers to have his events attended by top-ranking Ministers.
Sylvie Forbin, a deputy Director of WIPO and Christian Archambeau from the EUIPO also participated.
Unofficial sources say that the SIPO Director Kuterovac got funding for the event from EPO and WIPO.
A puff piece with photos is likely to appear on the SIPO website next week.
Here's the link to the SIPO website http://www.dziv.hr/hr/novosti/ http://www.dziv.hr/en/news/
A short report about the event appeared on the Croatian news portal "Panopticum". http://panopticum.hr/2571-2/
This report does not mention that Topić was in attendance.
An English translation follows
SIPO Celebrates 25 Years
Text: B. Dobrijević
Photo: S. Hoffmann
In Zagreb, on Friday, 9 December 2016, the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) celebrated its 25 years of existence. The celebration took place in the NCB under the auspices of the Croatian Government. The introductory remarks at the celebration were made by the Director of the institution, Ljiljana Kuterovac, and there was a welcoming speech on behalf of the Government of Croatia from the Assistant of Minister of Science, Kreso Zadro. The meeting was also welcomed by the President of the EPO, Mr. Benoit Battistelli, the Deputy Director General of WIPO in Geneva, Mrs. Sylvie Forbin, and Christian Archambeau, Deputy Executive Director of the EU Office for Intellectual Property (EUIPO) in Brussels.
We recall that after the establishment of the Republic of Croatia as an independent and sovereign state, it was necessary to establish the appropriate national institutions and, on 31 December 1991, a national body responsible for the protection of intellectual property which now bears the name of the Croatian State Intellectual Property Office was established.
This article which just appeared gives a clue as to what Battistelli was up to in Zagreb.
RH pozvana da se prikljuÃÂi projektu jedinstvenog europskog patenta ("Croatia invited to join the European Unitary Patent project") http://direktno.hr/en/2014/eu/70154
I don't have a full translation but the gist of it is given by this passage: "Hrvatska je, uz à  panjolsku, jedina zemlja Europske unije koja se još nije prikljuÃÂila projektu jedinstvenog europskog patenta, rekao je u razgovoru za Hinu predsjednik Europskog patentnog ureda Benoit Battistelli i savjetovao Hrvatskoj da zbog razvoja i širenja svojih patenata u EU to svakako uÃÂini."
Translation: "Croatia, along with Spain, is the only country in the European Union which has not yet joined the European Unitary Patent project , said the President of the European Patent Office Benoit Battistelli in an interview with the news agency Hina he advised that Croatia should make sure to do so in view of the development and expansion of its patents in the EU."