IT SHOULD very frequently be emphasised that Benoît Battistelli basically 'bought' the election/position for EPO President, as did António Campinos when he pursued a top job at OHIM/EUIPO. Prior to that, Battistelli also wanted to become the chief of WIPO (and failed). But more importantly, those responsible for rinsing as well as enabling illegal acts are national delegates, who are admittedly easy to buy/rig; that's how Battistelli rose to power in the first place, in the face of opposition even from French people who knew he was an unqualified sociopath. The patron of Battistelli was recently sentenced to prison for corruption and his bodyguard is in prison for violence. What they lack in experience and understanding they make up for by aggression.

"The problem is so profound that even a Turkish scientist in the patent office (and a former university professor) is willing to go along with the crimes."This morning's installment about Turkey names one of the longtime facilitators (of both Battistelli and Campinos), noting that even Norway failed to vote against an illegal proposal, despite knowing it should be ferociously opposed. Sadly, the EPO's governance suffers a problem more profound than classic gerrymandering. As we noted in this morning's meme, a constituent in San Marino has about 2,500 times more than a German constituent in terms of EPO voting power. That does not make sense at all and this is how we end up with unlawful actions being brushed under a rug (like the attacks on the EPO's judges, which are nowadays compelled to accept European software patents and 'ViCo' as both essential and compulsory despite it being a constitutional violation). The problem is so profound that even a Turkish scientist in the patent office (and a former university professor) is willing to go along with the crimes. As we noted this morning, he (or his deputy) very well understands that what Battistelli did was unlawful.

Turkey is a large country, but that does not mean that it's difficult for Battistelli and Campinos to control. Tomorrow we'll show just how easy it is for them to control Monaco, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Iceland, and Malta. What's considered 'flush funds' (to Germany or France at least, owing to size and economic might) can be a big economic boost to a small island of fishermen and tourism. Some of these microstates are so small that if you pack up each and every single citizen (including children and babies) in a very large stadium, they would only occupy a quarter of that stadium. ⬆

San Marino "covers a land area of just over 61 km2 (24 sq mi), and has a population of 33,562," according to Wikipedia, but in the EPO its vote counts as much as Germany's