Bonum Certa Men Certa

The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part XXIII: The Balkan League - Bulgaria

Series parts:

  1. The EPO's Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part I: Let the Sunshine In!
  2. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part II: A “Unanimous” Endorsement?
  3. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part III: Three Missing Votes
  4. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part IV: The Founding States
  5. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part V: Germany Says “Ja”
  6. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part VI: A Distinct Lack of Dutch Courage
  7. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part VII: Luxembourgish Laxity
  8. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part VIII: Perfidious Albion and Pusillanimous Hibernia
  9. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part IX: More Holes Than Swiss Cheese
  10. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part X: Introducing the Controversial Christian Bock
  11. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part XI: “General Bock” - Battistelli's Swiss Apprentice?
  12. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part XII: The French Connection
  13. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part XIII: Battistelli's Iberian Facilitators - Spain
  14. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part XIV: Battistelli's Iberian Facilitators - Portugal
  15. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part XV: Et Tu Felix Austria…
  16. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part XVI: The Demise of the Austrian Double-Dipper
  17. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part XVII: The Non-Monolithic Nordic Bloc
  18. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part XVIII: Helsinki's Accord
  19. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part IXX: The Baltic States
  20. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part XX: The Visegrád Group
  21. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part XXI: The Balkan League – The Doyen and His “Protégée”
  22. The EPO’s Overseer/Overseen Collusion — Part XXII: The Balkan League - North Macedonia and Albania
  23. YOU ARE HERE ☞ The Balkan League - Bulgaria


Kamen Veselinov
Head of the Bulgarian delegation in June 2013: Kamen Veselinov



Summary: Today we examine the role of Bulgaria in Benoît Battistelli's liberticidal regime at the EPO (as well as under António Campinos, from 2018 to present) with particular focus on political machinations

In this part the focus is on the Bulgarian delegation, which in June 2013 was headed by Kamen Veselinov, Director-General of the Bulgarian Patent Office (BPO).



Some time after he had played his part in rubber-stamping Battistelli's "Strike Regulations", Veselinov was relieved of his position as head of the BPO in March 2014.

"Some time after he had played his part in rubber-stamping Battistelli's "Strike Regulations", Veselinov was relieved of his position as head of the BPO in March 2014."According to€ a bulletin [PDF]€ published by€ ipbulgaria.bg, Veselinov held the position without the required professional experience and under his leadership€ “the office was brought to a severe crisis" and "as a result of his mismanagement, Bulgaria is on the US Special 301 blacklist”.

Veselinov was replaced by Tanya Naydenova, a graduate in law from the Mikhail Lomonosov Moscow State University who headed the BPO between March and December 2014.

Tanya Naydenova
Tanya Naydenova headed the BPO for a brief period between March and December 2014.



But it turned out that Veselinov had only been temporarily ousted. He was reinstated when€ Boyko Borisov€ took over as Prime Minister in November 2014.

Boyko Borisov
Veselinov and his political patron, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.



This meant that Veselinov was able to revisit his old buddies on the EPO's Administrative Council in Munich at the March 2015 meeting and he could rejoin them in rubber-stamping further dubious proposals tabled by Battistelli. He continued to serve as director of the BPO until the summer of 2016 when he retired at the ripe old age of 70.

Veselinov and Petko Nikolov
Temporarily ousted, Veselinov (left) was reinstated after Boyko Borisov came to power towards the end of 2014. He continued to serve as head of the BPO until the summer of 2016 when he was replaced by Petko Nikolov (right), chairman of the national anti-trust authority.



Veselinov's successor [PDF] as head of the BPO was Petko Nikolov who was born in 1958 in Botevgrad in western Bulgaria. According to the Bulgarian media, Nikolov graduated in law from Sofia University, has a master's degree in finance from the University of Veliko Tarnovo, as well as a specialization in criminal law from the University of Sofia.€ He also has a doctorate in economics.

"But it turned out that Veselinov had only been temporarily ousted."Nikolov initially worked as an attorney until 2001 when he entered politics as a member of the National Movement for Stability and Progress (NDSV), originally known as the "National Movement Simeon II". The NDSV is a liberal, populist political party created as the personal political vehicle of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the deposed heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Bulgaria who succeeded in making a post-communist political comeback as Prime Minister between 2001 and 2005.

Nikolov's first important public sector appointment was as chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Privatization Agency in 2001, under the "Sakskoburggotski government" - or so-called "Tsar's cabinet" - presided over by Simeon von Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. According to media reports, Nikolov obtained his position on the Supervisory Board "as part of the quota of the Simeon II National Movement".

Simeon von Saxe Coburg Gotha
Petko Nikolov's original political patron, Simeon von Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.



In 2003, Nikolov's career took another leap forward when he was appointed chairman of the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC), a position which he held for nearly 13 years [PDF], somehow managing to survive six different governments. In the turbulent and unstable world of Bulgarian politics that is no small achievement.

"In 2003, Nikolov's career took another leap forward when he was appointed chairman of the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC), a position which he held for nearly 13 years, somehow managing to survive six different governments."Nikolov's second term as head of the CPC had officially expired in October 2015 and a legislative amendment earlier that year prevented him from serving a further consecutive term. Nevertheless, due to political wrangling over his successor, he remained in charge of the antitrust authority on a caretaker basis until the summer of 2016.

Before he was replaced at the CPC, rumours began circulating that "out of gratitude for the work done, GERB [the political party of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov] would provide him with a new appetizing position".

"His previous track record as chairman of the anti-trust authority CPC also came in for criticism."His subsequent appointment as head of the BPO attracted a lot of critical comment in Bulgaria where it was reported that he had been parachuted into the position directly by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov without an open competition. [PDF]

His previous track record as chairman of the anti-trust authority CPC also came in for criticism. This criticism centred around claims that Nikolov had been more than favourable to the Bulgarian politician, media mogul [PDF], and oligarch Delyan Peevski in resolving cases which affected Peevski's interests.

Peevski - nicknamed "Shishi" or "Potbelly" in Bulgaria – is a highly controversial figure who was recently sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury which described him in the following terms:

"Delyan Slavchev Peevski (Peevski) is an oligarch who previously served as a Bulgarian MP and media mogul and has regularly engaged in corruption, using influence peddling and bribes to protect himself from public scrutiny and exert control over key institutions and sectors in Bulgarian society."


Petko Nikolov, Boyko Borisov, and Delyan Peevski
Nikolov's appointment as head of the BPO in 2016 attracted critical comment in Bulgaria.
From left to right: Petko Nikolov, Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov and oligarch Delyan Peevski.



"Given his political allegiance to the monarchistically flavoured NDSV and his reputed subservience to homegrown oligarchs like Peevski, it's hardly surprising that when it came to EPO affairs, Nikolov followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Veselinov and turned out to be another uncritical "facilitator" of the tyrant Battistelli and his vicious assault on the rights of EPO staff."Given his political allegiance to the monarchistically flavoured NDSV and his reputed subservience to homegrown oligarchs like Peevski, it's hardly surprising that when it came to EPO affairs, Nikolov followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Veselinov and turned out to be another uncritical "facilitator" of the tyrant Battistelli and his vicious assault on the rights of EPO staff.

In return, Battistelli did his best to cultivate the goodwill of his Bulgarian vassals. In November 2017 (warning: epo.org link), he dispatched his faithful lieutenant Raimund Lutz to deputise for him at the 27th Patent Information Conference which took place in Sofia.

Lutz and BPO
From l. to r.: David Sukalinski (BPO), EPO Vice-President Lutz, Ofelia Kirkoryan-Tsonkova (BPO), Petko Nikolov (BPO), and Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs, Lachezar Borosov (November 2017).



In March 2018, as his EPO presidency was drawing to a close, Battistelli paid his respects to his Bulgarian allies by turning up in person as a guest speaker at a conference on "IP" hosted in Sofia (warning: epo.org link) where he met with Nikolov and various government ministers, including the Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs, Lachezar Borisov.

Battistelli, Lachezar Borisov, and Petko Nikolov
From l. to r.: Battistelli with Lachezar Borisov and Petko Nikolov (March 2018).



More recently, in June 2021, sources in Bulgaria reported that Nikolov had been replaced [PDF] by Vladya Borisova [PDF] following a decision issued by the caretaker government of Stefan Yanev.

"More recently, in June 2021, sources in Bulgaria reported that Nikolov had been replaced by Vladya Borisova following a decision issued by the caretaker government of Stefan Yanev."No reasons were given for Nikolov's departure, but it seems that he was "purged" due to his close connections to previous government led by Boyko Borisov. That government had fallen into disfavour and triggered widespread public protests which lasted from July 2020 until April 2021, when Borisov and his cabinet finally resigned at the end of their four-year term.

Vladya Borisova
The new head of the Bulgarian Patent Office, Vladya Borisova.



Prior to her current appointment, the new head of the Bulgarian Patent Office, Vladya Borisova, was a professor at the Institute of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer (IIPTT) in Sofia.

On its website the IIPTT describes itself as "a unit of the University of National and World Economy for research in the field of intellectual property".

"Prior to her current appointment, the new head of the Bulgarian Patent Office, Vladya Borisova, was a professor at the Institute of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer (IIPTT) in Sofia."The University of National and World Economy (UNWE), which was originally established in 1920 as the Free University of Political and Economic Sciences, claims to be the largest and oldest institute for higher economic studies in Bulgaria and Southeastern Europe. During the communist era it was known as the Karl Marx Higher Institute of Economics and it was given its present post-communist name in 1990.

Karl Marx, Sofia
Bust of former "patron" Karl Marx on the UNWE grounds in Sofia.



It remains to be seen what contribution, if any, Borisova will manage to make to EPO affairs.

Maybe she will surprise us all and make a stand for the rights of EPO staff. But don't hold your breath on that.

"Maybe she will surprise us all and make a stand for the rights of EPO staff. But don’t hold your breath on that."In the present era of unfettered globalised capitalism, the subject of workers' rights seems to be an unfashionable topic of discussion, whether at the UNWE in Sofia or at the EPO in Munich. One wonders what the UNWE's former "patron" Karl Marx would have made of it all...

In the next part we will turn our attention to the delegation representing Bulgaria's northern neighbour, Romania.

Bulgarian EPO

Recent Techrights' Posts

Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
European Patent Office Illegally Gutting and Outsourcing Its Functions, Acting Like an Above-the-Law Commercial Business (It Won't Stop at Formalities Officers (FOs) and Classification Slop at the EPO)
breaking/violating laws and conventions
Links 19/09/2025: Lobbyist of American GAFAM Becomes Data Protection Commissioner in Europe
Links for the day
The Right to Punch People (Apparently)
At Brett Wilson, Brett's job title is "Head of Crime" and Wilson normalises calls for violence
 
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Press Freedom Dying in US, Anti-Austerity Strikes in France, and Alan Rusbridger to Leave 'Prospect'
Links for the day
Offloading to the Sister Site
In the interest of not overwhelming readers
Links 19/09/2025: Coffee Club and "SpellBinding is Now Absurdly Fast"
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Media Freedom Ceases to Exist in US, "Consider Dropping Twitter/X"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/09/2025: Thinking and Insect Bites
Links for the day
Microsoft E.E.E.: Git Will Now (or Very Soon) Fully Depend on Rust, Which is Controlled by Microsoft
Microsoft now makes Git dependent on Rust, or making Git dependent on GitHub, which is proprietary
Slop or Fake Articles Have Turned Linux Journal From a Pioneering/Trailblazing "Linux" Magazine Into a Nuisance
some sites with former reputation - good reputation - turn into cesspools
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 18, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 18, 2025
Brett Wilson LLP Seem to Have Had Only One Litigation Client in 2025, He Was Previously Charged, Just Like the Serial Strangler From Microsoft (Whom They Now Represent)
Karma is superstition, regulators are not
Project 2030 to Cover How "Project 2025"-Styled Anti-Media Zealots From America Targeted Techrights and Tux Machines
The common denominator is also their attacks on women
Brett Wilson LLP Failed to Meet Deadlines Set by Judge 7 Months Earlier, Tried to Ruin Our Holiday, Then Had the Audacity to Ask Us for Over 3,000 Pounds for Its Own Lateness
As a matter of principle we will never respond to assassin while we are on holiday
On Claims That After Bluewashing Red Hat Will Increasingly Become an Indian Company
Discussed this week (long and detailed)
Americans Attacking British Sites Only Months After They Leave America
We find it kind of funny if not ironic that this site, originally an American site, got legal harassment only from Americans and only months after it had moved to the UK
Despite Losing Over a Quarter Million Dollars a Year Software in the Public Interest (SPI) Gives Helping Hand to Libreboot
SPI's financial state depends a lot on its public image or its reputation
Slopwatch: Google Helps Plagiarism and Sends Traffic to Ripoff Artists
That Google as a company helps spamfarms is noteworthy
If You Want to Know the Future, Listen to the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and Andy Farnell
We're sure the FSF will have plenty of its own output
Links 18/09/2025: A Taliban Ban on Internet Access and Troubled US Job Market
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/09/2025: Computer Literacy and Accessing Alhena's Database
Links for the day
Links 18/09/2025: US War on Media (Truth Banned, Cancel Culture by the Hard Right), NYT Chief Executive Warns Cheeto is Deploying ‘Anti-press Playbook'
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, September 17, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, September 17, 2025