Jesper Kongstad's last day at the EPO was 11 days ago. We heard he had been sacked/pushed out by his government (which previously offered him protection). Even the DKPTO gave him just months to go, presumably because he wanted to retire (so he said).

"Kongstad has high-level access/connections/nepotism in institutions such as the EPO and DKPTO."Well, guess what... less than a week ago, as readers point out to us, a sort of self-promotional press release titled "Jesper Kongstad joins Zacco" turned up in the company's site.

"It is with great pleasure we can announce that former Director of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO) and Chairman of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organization (EPO), Jesper Kongstad has joined Zacco as Industrial Advisor and Investor," said the press release. "Jesper will have three primary focus areas in Zacco – advising clients on strategic level, developing and building the business of Zacco, and as vice chairman of the Board of Directors of Zacco. Jesper has extensive experience and shown impressive results within the IP business and he will bring important and positive competences, knowledge and insights to Zacco. We are very excited to bring this into play in our continuous development ensuring that we can continue to deliver IP counselling that makes a difference to our clients."

Kongstad has high-level access/connections/nepotism in institutions such as the EPO and DKPTO. As is common with former officials, sometimes the real product they offer is "ties" (e.g. to the government). We shall see what happens next. ⬆