Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part XVIII – A Baltic Circus in Riga

Series index:

  1. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part I – More Captured Delegates?
  2. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part II – Old Wine in New Bottles...
  3. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part III – Introducing the Finnish “Facilitator”
  4. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part IV – Martti Enäjärvi and His “Good Brother” Networks
  5. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part V – A Man With a Conviction...
  6. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part VI – "A Good Friend of Estonia and a Steady Cooperation Partner”
  7. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part VII – A Self-Appointed “Select Committee”
  8. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part VIII – Pulling for the Portuguese Pretender?
  9. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part IX – António's Faithful Acolyte in Alicante
  10. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part X – A Pan-European “Good Brother” Network Celebration?
  11. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part XI – With a Little Help From My Friends…
  12. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part XII – Battistelli and His Baltic Fiefdoms
  13. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part XIII – Out With the Old, in With the New?
  14. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part XIV – Business as Usual in Tallinn
  15. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part XV – Worse Than “a Backward Kolkhoz”…
  16. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part XVI – A Promising Start Followed by an Unfortunate Cock-Up
  17. EPO Exposé: The Besieged Baltic States – Part XVII – Secret Bank Accounts in Switzerland and Germany
  18. You are here ☞ A Baltic Circus in Riga


Directors of the Latvian Patent Office
The directors of the Latvian Patent Office between July 2010 and September 2013.
Clockwise from top left: Jekaterina Macuka, Reinis Bērziņš, Guntis Ramāns, Ieva Viļuma.



Summary: In this part we look at the high turnover of "directors" and "acting directors" at the Latvian Patent Office over the last decade

AS we mentioned in the last part, the first "acting director" who appeared on the scene following the departure of Zigrīds Aumeisters in June 2010 was Jekaterina Macuka.



Macuka came from the Latvian Ministry of Justice where she had headed the Board of Religious Affairs which is responsible for supervising the activities of religious institutions in Latvia.

"Macuka then moved back to the Justice Ministry and, almost a decade later, in February 2020 she was appointed to a new position at the head of the Latvian Data Protection Authority."She remained in charge of the Patent Office for about a year until she was replaced by Reinis Bērziņš in August 2011. During her time at the head of the Patent Office it seems that she failed to discover the secret bank accounts operated by her predecessor Aumeisters.

Macuka then moved back to the Justice Ministry and, almost a decade later, in February 2020 she was appointed to a new position at the head of the Latvian Data Protection Authority. [PDF]

"Macuka's successor at the Patent Office was Reinis Bērziņš who comes from Cēsis, a town of about 15,000 inhabitants located about 90 km to the north-east of the capital Riga."Let's hope that she does a better job protecting the privacy rights of Latvian citizens than she did protecting the fundamental rights of EPO staff during her time on the EPO's Administrative Council at the start of Benoît Battistelli's presidency.

Macuka's successor at the Patent Office was Reinis Bērziņš who comes from Cēsis, a town of about 15,000 inhabitants located about 90 km to the north-east of the capital Riga.

Bērziņš studied law and attended the Riga Graduate School of Law where he completed a master's program "Law and Finance". He also attended the BA School of Business and Finance in Riga and completed the Swiss Business School Master's Program in Business Management.

Before taking charge at the Latvian Patent Office, Bērziņš had been a Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Justice and a Legislative Adviser to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Defence.

"Before taking charge at the Latvian Patent Office, Bērziņš had been a Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Justice and a Legislative Adviser to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Defence."His main achievement as Director-General of the Patent Office appears to have been the discovery of the secret bank accounts operated by Zigrīds Aumeisters and the recovery of the funds contained in those accounts for the state treasury.

Berzins and Battistelli
Bērziņš posing for a photo-op with Battistelli during the EPO President's visit to Riga in May 2012.



Bērziņš turned up for a photo-op with Battistelli during the latter's visit to Riga in May 2012 (warning: epo.org link). However, he didn't stay long at the Latvian Patent Office.

He was the archetypal "young man in a hurry" and clearly destined for greater things. In March 2013, it was announced that he had been appointed as a legal advisor to the Latvian President [PDF], Andris Bērziņš.

[Note: Bērziņš is a relatively common family name in Latvia and there is no indication that Reinis Bērziņš is related to the politician Andris Bērziņš.]

"He was the archetypal "young man in a hurry" and clearly destined for greater things."A few years later in October 2015, Reinis Bērziņš was appointed Chairman of the Board [PDF] of ALTUM, a specialized development finance institution operated by the Latvian government which provides state support to private business through a full range of financial instruments: loans, credit guarantees, mezzanine loans, and co-investment in venture capital funds.

Bērziņš also serves as a member of the supervisory board of the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund, an investment vehicle for financing key transport, energy and digital infrastructure projects in the eastern European region spanning the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas.

In November 2019 it was reported [PDF] that Bērziņš was a candidate for the position of Governor of the Latvian Central Bank. The position became vacant after the former incumbent - Ilmars Rimsevics - had been arrested and charged with accepting a bribe. As far as can be gathered from media reports, criminal proceedings against Rimsevics are still pending and he has recently come under suspicion of witness tampering.

In the end, Bērziņš was not successful in his bid to become Governor of the Latvian Central Bank and the job went to Mārtiņš Kazāks.

"In the end, Bērziņš was not successful in his bid to become Governor of the Latvian Central Bank and the job went to Mārtiņš Kazāks."Meanwhile back at the Latvian Patent Office, following Bērziņš departure in 2013, there were two ad interim directors, namely Guntis Ramāns, the head of the patents department, and Ieva Viļuma, a lawyer in charge of the legal department.

This interregnum period ended on 1 October 2013 when a newly appointed Director-General, Sandris Laganovskis, took up his position.

Sandris Laganovskis
Sandris Laganovskis took up his position as head of the Latvian Patent Office on 1 October 2013.



With the arrival of Laganovskis the semblance of stability was restored and it was back to "business as usual", including the signing of bilateral "cooperation agreements" with the EPO and photo-ops with Battistelli.

Battistelli and Sandris Laganovskis
Sandris Laganovskis posing for a photo-op with Battistelli in March 2017.



Battistelli in Riga
Laganovskis and Battistelli in Riga in March 2017. EPO "bagman" François-Régis Hannart is on the left beside Guntis Ramāns, head of the patents department at the Latvian Patent Office.



"Laganovskis seemed to be the new rising star of the "IP community" in the Baltic region."Under Laganovskis, the Latvian Patent Office hosted a number of regional seminars on "the enforcement of intellectual property rights", co-financed by the EPO and EUIPO.

Laganovskis in EUIPO-EPO event
Laganovskis speaking at a conference co-sponsored by the EPO and EUIPO in May 2017.



Laganovskis seemed to be the new rising star of the "IP community" in the Baltic region.

However, at the end of December 2020 it was announced that Baiba Graube, the director of the trademarks and industrial design department, had been appointed as acting director of the Latvian Patent Office [PDF]. Baiba Graube is the wife of Lieutenant General Raimonds Graube, who is Latvia's Chief of Defence.

"Lārmane is the director in charge of the "examination of inventions", in other words the patent department of the Latvian Patent Office."At around the same time it was announced that the representation of Latvia on the Administrative Council of the EPO would be taken over by Līga Lārmane [PDF]. Lārmane is the director in charge of the "examination of inventions", in other words the patent department of the Latvian Patent Office.

Baiba Graube and Liga Larmane
Baiba Graube, Acting Director of the Patent Office and Līga Lārmane who represents Latvia on the Administrative Council of the EPO.



But what about Laganovskis? Where did he disappear to?

"But what about Laganovskis? Where did he disappear to?"In order to understand what happened to the new "IP whizz-kid" in Riga we need to take a look at the relationship between the national patent offices of the Baltic States and the EU trademark agency OHIM/EUIPO. This will be the focus of our attention in the last two parts of the series.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Leaks and Whistleblowers: Our Plan for Today
Society simply cannot advance when too many people self-censor
The Same People Who Attacked Richard Stallman (RMS) Are Attacking Daniel Pocock to Discourage People From Listening to His Information
Pocock is being demonised for the same reasons and by the same people who attack RMS
We Are Safe in a Modern "Tech" Society, Right?
People are safer if they control their own computing
The Way Things Are Going, They May Soon Stop Saying "Web Address" and Instead Say "Chrome Address"
The Web isn't built or based around open Web standards anymore. It's centered around user-agent.
Microsoft as a Golden Cage
"I was laid off by Microsoft and can't find a job. I'm weeks away from giving up my apartment and moving across the country to live with family."
Weekend Discussion About How IBM's Bluewashing of Red Hat Will Cause "Enshittification" for Users
"I worked at a software company that was acquired by IBM so I knew it was game over for RedHat the day they were acquired"
Brett Wilson LLP Getting Sued by Its Very Own Clients, a Legal Story That Has Made the Mainstream News (Law360)
Law360 or Law.com are about as mainstream as one can get in that "sector" (litigation 'industry')
 
Gemini Links 13/10/2025: Good Films, Wizard of Earthsea, Upgrading the Steam Controller's Stick
Links for the day
It's Not Justice When One Side Denies the Other Side the Ability to Even Speak
At this stage, Brett Wilson LLP is in my humble opinion acting in contempt of the Court
Links 13/10/2025: Australian Catholic University Uses Slop to Libel Students, Canada Threatens to Kill Beluga Whales
Links for the day
How Not to Silence Tux Machines (It'll Only Backfire, Badly)
defending Microsoft while attacking this site
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT and Google News
It seems abundantly clear that Google News and Google in general participates in the slop epidemic
Vincent Danjean (not INTERPOL), Claire Bardel & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Christmas lynchings: Martin Krafft (madduck), Penny Leach (mjollnir) & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 13/10/2025: Birthdays and "Committee Unable to Contact Nobel Prize Winner"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 12, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 12, 2025
Your Typical Anti-Richard Stallman (RMS) Cancellist
"About the RMS cancellation"
Richard Stallman (RMS) Has Announced His Talk in Rome Less Than 20 Hours in Advance (and on a Sunday)
Why did he wait until the night before?
GNU Tools Cauldron Event in Portugal: Videos Now Available via Invidious
Go have a look
Slopwatch: GNU/Linux Sites That Became Slopfarms and Spamfarms
The Web is a mess and "Linux" or "Ubuntu" sites became part of the problem
Richard Stallman's Talk 25 Hours Away, Aula Magna Palazzo del Rettorato (CU001), Sapienza Università di Roma (Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5)
The talk is 25 hours away and we see some QR code for it
Gemini Links 12/10/2025: Watches, the Depression of 2026, Gamboling with Odds
Links for the day
Links 12/10/2025: 'False' DMCA Claims and Slop Facing Perils Again (the Hype Wears Off)
Links for the day
Microsoft Has Just Lost Privacy Case in Austria and Its Latest Moves Make a Complete Ban Seem Imperative
Microsoft is not a software company, it's a spying agency that uses software to collect data
The Register MS: Microsoft is the Security Expert, Not the Prime Culprit, So Buy More Microsoft
This front page feature is devoid of any actual substance, it's just Microsoft copypasta
Paris 'Love Nest' & Debian Outreachy: from Lycée Lakanal to ENS Cachan, Cr@ns, nepotism
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Stefano Zacchiroli (Zack) & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Lucas Nussbaum & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 12/10/2025: "Palm Computering", Further Exploration of Slide Rules, and Key Takeaways from The Well-Grounded Rubyist
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 11, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 11, 2025
Tomorrow: Founder of the Free Software Foundation and of GNU/Linux, Richard Stallman, Speaks in Roma (Rome), Italy at 4PM
GNU/Linux is more important than ever in this dystopian world
Microsoft and Apple Are Rare Topics in Geminispace
in Geminispace it's rather safe to assume everyone is into BSD, GNU/Linux, and sometimes retro
Qualcomm and Manchester United Appear to Have Dumped Microsoft (Qualcomm Now Invests More in Linux, Apparently)
It's a relief to no longer see Microsoft logos and brands on a local football club's gear (I'm not a Manchester United fan, but not a foe either)
As Guest of Honour in Rome, Founder of the Free Software Foundation to Speak ("Distinguished Lecture") After Introduction by Leonardo Querzoni
Happy hacking...
All Things Open is Proprietary
The OSI has become a front group of proprietary software openwashers, led and sponsored by proprietary giants
When Microsoft Lays Off Lots of Workers They Say It "Invests in AI" (a Lie), Now It's "Reshuffles" or "Microsoft Tightens"
Microsoft "news" by bots
"I saw Richard Stallman give a talk in the mid 80s, which began my fear and loathing of software patents" and "Richard Stallman was always right."
"By betraying the legacy of our ancestors, we’ve set ourselves on a path toward self-destruction — moral, intellectual, economic, and ultimately biological."
There Were Several Waves of Microsoft Shanghai Layoffs in 2025, Western Media Continues to Turn a Blind Eye to Chinese Layoffs of an Epic Scale
Sometimes select Taiwanese news sites (published in English) or automated translations are all we have
Brett Wilson LLP Spreads Trumpism to the United Kingdom, Looking to Profit From 'Legal Colonialism' (Overriding Sovereignty)
There's growing recognition of this conundrum worldwide
The Demise of Shopping in Person
In a world like this, how valued is the customer?
This Past Friday, "Nearly 700 People Came to Listen to RMS!" (Richard Stallman)
"Nearly 700 people came to listen to RMS!"
Distinguished Lecture by Richard Stallman This Coming Monday in Rome
After "Free software, Crucial for Freedom in a Digital World"
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT Churning Out Plagiarism and the Slopfarm LinuxSecurity Turns to Pseudonyms
Our hunch is, UbuntuPIT will sooner or later realise that this toxic approach is just harming UbuntuPIT and tainting the reputation of past articles
The Lawsuit by Clients of Brett Wilson LLP Against Brett Wilson LLP is Officially On, It is Progressing, The 'Experts' Pick Outside Law Firms (RPC and Mills & Reeve) to Spare Them From Litigants in Person
So it is probably quite potent
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: Nyctography, Gerrymandering, and Lurking
Links for the day
The 'Culture Wars' in Free Software Have Gone Out of Control
Social control media amplifies such utterly infantile discourse
Teaser: To Compensate for the Fact Our Clients Are Terrible Human Beings Who Strangle Women (While on Microsoft's Payroll) and We Get Paid by Mystery Parties We Bombard You and Your Wife With Almost 10 Kilograms of Legal Papers
If you can't win an argument, then drown the other side with papers?
Links 11/10/2025: World Mental Health Day 2025, Another European Legal Defeat for Microsoft 360
Links for the day
MIT Technology Review is Part-Time SPAMfarm of Billionaires and Mega-Corporations
Does MIT operate its own "b2b" SPAMfarm?
Open Source Initiative Executive Director Leaves, Replacement Sought by Monopolists, Not the Community or OSI Members
Serves to show who runs this show...
Links 11/10/2025: China-US Tensions Grow Again, "Hey Hi" More Widely Recognised as Bubble Made of Capital That Doesn't Exist
Links for the day
Now Confirmed in Western Media: Microsoft Azure Layoffs This Month
Affirmed by more sources moments ago
Peter O'Callaghan QC represented grandparents, Westernport Hotel, at Liquor Royal Commission
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Either The Register MS Divests From FOSS Coverage or Liam Proven is on Long Holiday
Publishers perish when their audience loses trust in them
Microsoft Cancelling Another Datacentre is a Sign of Financial Trouble and Lack of Growth
The debt continues to grow
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: An Evening at the Fair and Fast Fourier Friday
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 10, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 10, 2025