Reference: Order of succession
YESTERDAY we wrote about the EPO musical chairs. It's like they're not even hiring for qualifications but for each other's work/career ladder and job security.
More about musical chairs
According to internal sources from within Battistelli's trusted circle with the to prepare the election of "his" candidate, Battistelli would have visited the Belgian Delegation with A. Campinos to make following deal: Belgian supports Campinos at the EPO and in exchange France supports Belgian Christian Archambeau (former PD HR at EPO, A.K.A. "Magnum" for his pronounced taste for both moustache and Ferraris) at the head of EUIPO in replacement of Campinos.
Nothing can beat la Famiglia
"We have long shown that Campinos was selected by Battistelli and groomed for succession (rather than elected by the AC, which seems to have gotten things in reverse and accepted Battistelli as its 'king', at least delegates of small countries)."The media coverage of Campinos' upcoming appointment/tenure is disturbing, but we expected this. They nonchalantly treat him like a "blank slate", conveniently ignoring all sorts of things. Here is how Lexology put it this week (revealing what Juve had said in German): "Campinos to EPO? – German legal magazine JUVE is reporting that António Campinos, the current head of the EUIPO, is set to be elected president of the European Patent Office (EPO). Claiming to have heard from the EPO’s board of directors, it is understood the search for a new EPO president has “produced few suitable candidates”, with Campinos expected to be selected today and to succeed president Benoît Battistelli from July next year. Our sister title IAM understands that the other candidate for the role is Cuno Tarfusser of Italy, who is a judge at the ICC and has no IP background. “Hard to see anything other than a clear Campinos win,” is the general consensus – and, if true (update: it's true and here's our analysis), it will be a hefty loss for the EUIPO, and speculation is already underway about who will fill his shoes in Alicante..."
"The media coverage of Campinos's upcoming appointment/tenure is disturbing, but we expected this.""Our sister title IAM," it says. We didn't even know about this connection. Either way, EUIPO is an EU institution and the EPO makes the EU look very, very bad. Even though the EPO is totally detached from the EU -- however there are occasional overlaps -- the EU/EC could intervene in many ways. Why doesn't it?
SUEPO has already picked a few more headlines about it, e.g. in German and in English [1, 2]. The latter is using multiple domains (they're a marketing spam site too, as we shall show in the weekend). There were also mentions in some other roundups, often just quoting the EPO's official announcement from Wednesday morning. "His five-year term will start on 1 July 2018," it says. Well, if the Office even survives this long (as some insiders have said they have doubts)...
"Even though the EPO is totally detached from the EU -- however there are occasional overlaps -- the EU/EC could intervene in many ways."Could Campinos be the last ever EPO President?
Looking at some patents-centric news [sic] sites (they're mostly marketing and lobbying), we were disgusted, but that did not surprise us at all. Such utterly shallow coverage (parroting the EPO) is what they often do; nothing about the scandals or connections surrounding Campinos. Nothing at all. There's a back story (or back room story) to how Campinos got his job at the EPO, but patent 'news' sites won't mention it. Obviously they won't. What's for them to gain from it? They prefer to keep their relationship with the EPO. The EPO already threw millions of euros at European media for PR or repetition of official narratives, such as Jesper Kongstad 'retiring'. He joined the private sector only a few days after his premature end of term at EPO and DKPTO. Jesper Kongstad did not even wait a week to expose/debunk his own lies about 'retirement'. This makes us ever more certain that what we heard was true (he had been sacked/forced out). Here is his official new page (as seen less than two weeks ago he was still at the EPO/DKPTO). No 'cool-off' period?
To make matters worse, see last night's Managing IP post which is Michael Loney's roundup. To quote: "Interview: Jesper Kongstad, former chair of the EPO..." (paywall)
Yes, go ahead and groom him already. Like you have done before (for Campinos also).
"Jesper Kongstad did not even wait a week to expose/debunk his own lies about 'retirement'."What is this? They call themselves media?
IP Watch's William New, for a change, wrote that "Campinos ran against one other candidate, Cuno Tarfusser, an Italian judge at the International Criminal Court, according to sources. Some watchdogs seeking change in the organisation have raised concern about a close relationship between Campinos and Battistelli."
He alludes to us ("watchdogs"). This only person (a single candidate) who ran against Battistelli's pick for President gave an illusion of choice. We previously wrote about other applications, which simply got rejection as ineligible (not even considered).
Is this what we ought to expect from job openings in the 21st century in Bavaria? This is nepotism disguised as a "choice". Remember that for a long time there was no candidate at all other than Campinos.
"Is this what we ought to expect from job openings in the 21st century in Bavaria? This is nepotism disguised as a "choice"."We were also appalled to see the coverage from WIPR. It's total whitewash with the headline "Campinos the ‘sensible’ choice [sic] to replace Battistelli as EPO president" (like there was much "choice").
Watch what WIPR did in order to compose this 'report'. Only the patent microcosm was asked about it (request for comment). The whole article is just a bunch of praises from patent maximalists.
Incredible and noteworthy is the fact that after Battistelli had set up an old friend to be successor, WIPR approached for a comment the firm that Battistelli hired to bully me. They asked this firm for an opinion on this! They don't quote the guy called "Capone" (real name) but another one, "Marshall" (not from Marshall/Martial Law but Fieldfisher). Here it is:
Joshua Marshall, associate at Fieldfisher, said the role has previously gone to French, German, British, Swiss and Dutch nationals, so this is a significant step in terms of diversification and a “tremendous accolade” for Campinos and Portugal generally.
He added that Campinos has been credited with providing a more efficient and engaged service, making IP more accessible and user-friendly for smaller businesses.
“It is hoped he will bring the same pragmatism and dynamism to the EPO. However, the role will not be without its challenges, particularly regarding the pending implementation of the unitary patent following Brexit and the role of London in hosting the Unified Patent Court (UPC),” Marshall said.
"So basically, a cabal of self-serving patent firms is preemptively sucking up to Campinos."We have seen very similar (to to above) quotes in Managing IP, so they must be reusing E-mails when receiving inquiries from the 'media'.
"CIPA enjoys a positive and productive relationship with the EPO," says a man from IP Kat about himself (in case anyone still wonders why IP Kat refuses to cover EPO scandals).
In their own words:
Tim Moss, chief executive of the UK IPO, said: "I welcome the election of António Campinos as the new EPO President. From his time as Executive Director of the EUIPO, he brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge of both the challenges and the opportunities that the global IP system presents. The UK IPO looks forward to working with him and his team during his tenure."
Stephen Jones, President of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, said: "CIPA enjoys a positive and productive relationship with the EPO and we look forward to this continuing under the leadership of Mr Campinos, who brings with him great experience of the global IP system. We wish him every success in his new role."