Bonum Certa Men Certa

Nellie Simon Expected to Join the 'Club Med' of Battistelli and Campinos

Nellie SimonSummary: Speculation about the new management team that will surround António Campinos and will quite possibly be announced in less than 10 days

Yesterday we wrote about António Campinos giving or leaving his job to Archambeau, who had worked for the EPO.



"As we reported," wrote one among a couple of related sites that covered it yesterday, "Archambeau has been the acting executive director of the office since July 1, and began his tenure as permanent executive director yesterday. He was previously the EUIPO’s deputy executive director under António Campinos, who joined the European Patent Office (EPO) as president back in July. In all, he’s been worked at the EUIPO’s Alicante office since 2010. Given the significance of the leadership position, we sought out reaction from those across the community. We reached out to key associations, national IP offices in the European Union and some of the leading trademark filing law firms in the EU for their response to the move. We present the responses we received in full below (we'll add any more we receive to the end of this article)..."

"Why does the media of trademark/copyright/patent maximalists hail Campinos as some sort of heroic manager?"In his later days at EUIPO Campinos made a lot of people redundant, even needlessly so. Why does the media of trademark/copyright/patent maximalists hail Campinos as some sort of heroic manager? Based on what substantial accomplishment?

Referring to our article from last night, one reader wrote to say this:

Today's post about Mr Archambeau's EUIPO appointment has prompted this response to let you know that some interesting information has been discovered recently about the EPO's Club Med and its internal intrigues and favourite games of "musical chairs" and "revolving doors".

To jog your reader's memories, "Club Med" refers to the Franco-Iberian clique which is suspected to have masterminded a secret behind-the-scenes "takeover" of key European IP institutions.

The kingpins of this Club are reported to be a "triumvirate" comprising or consisting of the Corsican "padrone" Battistelli, his faithful Galician squire Alberto "Sancho Panza" Casado and the Franco-Lusitanian chameleon Antonio Campinos, former crown prince of EUIPOtania who was recently enthroned as the new king of EPOnia. "Club Med" is also rumoured to have close links with the "Le Grande Cirque du Balkan" directed by the infamous Bosnian-Croatian ringmaster Željko Topić.

Research into these matters is still ongoing so it is probably best not to say too much at this point. But as they say "Watch this space ..." because some interesting revelations are likely to follow over the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, don't be surprised if some key EUIPO staff follow Ms Nellie Simon from Alicante to Munich. For those who may have missed it Ms. Simon "coincidentally" appeared alongside Campinos at the 2018 IP Executive Week held in July in Munich and is tipped by EPO insiders to become Topić's successor as the new Vice-President in charge of "human resources".

The appointment of the new Vice Presidents (Christoph Ernst, Nellie Simon and Philip Cadre) which has already been agreed "behind-the-scenes" is expected to be announced following the upcoming Administrative Council meeting on 10 and 11 of this month.


Ms. Simon was mentioned by EUIPO and EPO (in passing) back in July and the source/context of the photo (there's very little public information about her) makes one wonder to what degress she is qualified, e.g. experienced, for the said job. EPO workers have already seen the impact of the grossly improper appointment of Ms. Bergot -- a subject we wrote a great deal about three years ago.

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Better the Understanding or the More Nations Understand the Threat Posed by Microsoft, the Faster It'll be Eradicated
We believe that the thing to advocate is self-hosting and Free software... A lack of simplicity or absence of alternatives is a form of vendor lock-in
A Week of Sunlight
They say transparency is like sunlight to a vampire
"Linux" Sites That Went Astray
there are even worse things than shutdowns
Links 16/06/2025: Climate, Wildfires, Breaches, and Monopolies
Links for the day
Links 16/06/2025: Summer in Finland and Misunderstandings
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 15, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 15, 2025
Gemini Links 15/06/2025: Rainy Season and OpenDocument Format (ODF)
Links for the day
Links 15/06/2025: Military Games, Parade, and Actions
Links for the day
Links 15/06/2025: Windows TCO, Openwashing, and Wars
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/06/2025: "AI Fatigue and Crappiness"
Links for the day
When Abusive Law Firms (Working for Microsofters Against Us) Assert That Someone Writing in Social Media About Himself is Confidential Information
There was no reason to throw "GDPR" into 2 SLAPPs; they know it, but the goal was to increase the cost of a Defence and lessen the incentive to challenge the SLAPPs
Microsoft Attack Dogs Against Watchdogs and Guard Dogs in Software
Last year Microsofters hired attack dogs or "guns for hire"
Slop Cannot Replace Domain Expertise
All this "AI" hype (it's not even intelligence, it's all a misnomer, as many of us have insisted all along) will fizzle and be written off as a failed experiment
IBM's Fresh 'PIPs' (Action Before Layoffs)
At times like these, even once-reputable employers resort to PIPs and other procedures/tricks for denial of workers' rights
Microsoft is a Problem Not Just for Denmark
Every country should consider what Denmark is doing, why Denmark is doing it, and then do the same
The Slopfarms' Self Detonation
If more sites like BetaNews go under, then maybe we can still salvage some of the Web
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 14, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, June 14, 2025
Links 14/06/2025: FDA Changes Priorities, Cassette Data Storage From The 1970s
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/06/2025: Steam Next Fest and Thoughts on Gemini
Links for the day
Site/Datacentre Maintenance Next Week
speed things up
Bulgaria: GNU/Linux Near 10%
The Bulgarian market seems to be changing
I Never Spoke to BetaNews. But BetaNews Wants to Ensure I Never Will, Either.
Sometimes just the reluctance to talk about it can say a great deal
Throwing Money at Lawyers Can't Stop Us (It Never Did)
Even just trying to censor things can result in the opposite of the desired outcome
Online Search or Large Search Engines Aren't Working Anymore
business models that directly compete with interests of Web users
Holidays and Breaks
I've hardly taken any long breaks since I got married
Danish OpenDocument Freedom
"year of Linux"
Links 14/06/2025: Wars and L.A. Distortion Effect
Links for the day
BetaNews Has More or Less Died After Experiments With LLM Slop, Is Linuxsecurity Next?
It doesn't seem like BetaNews knows what it's doing, let alone what it talks about
Gemini Links 14/06/2025: Historic Ada Design and GeminiSpace.Club to Expire
Links for the day
Links 14/06/2025: India Plane Crash and Middle-Eastern War
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 13, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, June 13, 2025