04.19.16
Posted in Deception, Europe, Law, Patents at 6:57 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Weapons of mass distraction
Summary: The European Patent Office (EPO) keeps rotting under Battistelli’s leadership and the campaign of defamation against truth-tellers (shooting the messengers) within the Office/Organisation is made more apparent
THREE days ago we became aware of lawsuits against the EPO. We actually knew about this for longer than that, but it took a while to get a translation of an article which covered it (with quotes directly from those involved). It actually turned out to be bigger than we had imagined.
SUEPO has translated [PDF] this recent article from the German media and also highlighted this new article in French. This is about “France’s patent&™ office complaining about EPO’s delays,” Hugo Roy from the FSFE told me. There have been complaints from British stakeholders as well, regarding not just delays but also miscommunication and unprofessional handling of applications. Brain drain [1, 2, 3, 4] taking its toll? We wrote about this last week in the context of Patent Administration staff.
Anyway, the latest interesting article says it all really, and we have highlighted the important bits below.
Handelsblatt
Criminal charges at the Patent Office Uprising in Paradise getting worse
By: Jan Keuchel
Date: 06.04.2016 10:57
Still no ceasefire: The European Patent Office won’t calm down. Management and staff are sniping at each other, and the Munich State Attorney is pursuing criminal charges – a lot of them.
Benoît Battistelli
Dispute with the staff getting even worse.
(Photo: AFP)
Düsseldorf. The European Patent Office (EPO), one of the most important starting points for the protection of inventions, has been tearing itself apart for months in a bitter dispute between the President and sections of the staff. At issue are new promotional and sick leave arrangements, union rights, internal investigations, and sackings.
On 15 March, one day before an important meeting of his Administrative Council, President Benoît Battistelli suddenly started sending out peace signals. According to the Frenchman, 2016 will see a “general review of social rules and regulations”.
In the light of rumours that the Council might dismiss him from office due to the conflict, his overseers may have forced Battistelli’s hand. But only under certain conditions: The squabblers would have to get together and “conscientiously and honestly work towards finding a solution”.
But now things start to become clearer: The much heralded peace turns out to be nothing more than a ceasefire. According to information available to Handelsblatt, the conflict at the EPO has actually involved the Munich I State Attorney’s office since as far back as 2013, and there are still a good number of unresolved criminal cases being pursued.
[Photo]
EPO boss Benoît Battistelli
“Bullying and defamation causing massive disruption”
Benoît Battistelli is the boss of a public authority that is actually one of the most important for the entire European economy: The Patent Office. Critics call him the “Sun King” or “Stalin”. In an interview he speaks for the first time about the accusations made against him. More …
The first of the charges was laid by Battistelli’s Vice-President, and was aimed at a person or persons unknown. The main issue was an accusation of slander and defamation, as Munich I State Attorney’s office confirmed when asked. The charge evidently related to the issues surrounding an Irish patent judge, whom Battistelli had suspended.
At the end of 2015 the Irishman himself then laid charges against Battistelli, on the grounds that his honour has been besmirched. There have been more criminal accusations made against unknown persons, among them by the sacked union executive Elizabeth Hardon. All those involved deny the accusations.
The EPO has been conducting internal investigations against the judge and Hardon since 2013. The Office suspected both of them of having waged a campaign against the President and his deputy.
According to an internal report, among other things, the judge was found to have defamatory letters in his possession. The EPO investigators also found in his office a number of clubs and suspected Nazi material, such as brochure bearing a swastika and entitled “Ich kämpfe”.
Since then, the man concerned has stayed at home. Battistelli later also dismissed Hardon, the chief executive of the staff union Suepo, which he does not recognize. The accusation against her was of threatening non-union members.
Innovation-friendly Europe Development of patent applications
165 000 160 022
152 500
140 000
2011 2015
Applications received in 2015 by sectors
Medical technology 12 474
Digital communications 10 762
Computer technology 10 549
Electrical engineering/mechanical engineering/energy: 10 198
Transport 7802
Handelsblatt Source: EPO
The attorney acting for both of them, Munich-based labour lawyer Senay Okyay, disputes the accusations, contending, among other things, that the clubs which the Irishman had were for gymnastic exercises. The grounds for the criminal charges laid by her client were the wrongful and defamatory accusations that he was a Nazi.
As well as all this, an application for criminal charges has also been made against persons unknown due to the EPO investigation report having allegedly been leaked to various media. “The group of persons entitled to receive this strictly confidential report is restricted to my client, the Administrative Council, and the President of the Office”, says Okyay. Hardon has also sought to lay criminal charges against unknown persons due to her private E-mail account having allegedly been searched in the course of the investigations.
The EPO is unwilling to comment on the charges brought by the Vice-President. With regard to the judge, the word is that they became aware of this after Easter. The State Attorney’s office will know how to deal with such things.
The State Attorney’s office is emphasising that at present all the accusations are being looked into, and no further information can be forthcoming.
[Photo]
Squabbles at the European Patent Office
Uprising in Paradise
Allegations of death threats, a judge with clubs in his office: The European Patent Office is being crippled by internal brawls. The Office is already overdue with thousands of cases, and that is something the economy simply cannot afford. More…
Whatever the outcome, the criminal charges have been stirring things up even more with regard to the issues of social peace at the Office. One particular issue is what the Administrative Council knew about these events when it accepted Battistelli’s peace offering on 16 March.
At the EPO the word is that the Administrative Council has been kept “regularly informed of all relevant events”. The Chair of the Council, Jesper Kongstad, has no comment to make. Perhaps he’s saving his voice. The next Council meeting is in June.
The above contains plenty of new information. It also serves to reinforce the claim that Battistelli (which is referred to above as “Stalin”) has been witch-hunting staff, including (in particular) those who said the truth about Željko Topić (staff calls him “Putin”), about whom we have an ongoing series of articles this week.
As a side note, we no longer make local copies of SUEPO PDFs, but when the EPO management actively censored SUEPO’s Web site (using legal threats) the management basically encouraged us to do so, which meant that things management found embarrassing ended up spreading further and wider. It’s the Streisand Effect. The harder the EPO tries to silence the truth, the worse things will get. █
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Posted in Deception, Europe at 6:07 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Croatian media coverage about some of the scandals as they were seen 4 years ago (around the time Battistelli snatched Topić out of Croatia to become his right-hand man)
IN part one of this series we looked at how EPO Vice-President Željko Topić got accused of forgery. We are not suggesting that it was indeed forgery; we are just presenting what is/was known and who says/said what.
“We are not suggesting that it was indeed forgery; we are just presenting what is/was known and who says/said what.”“These matters were reported in the Croatian press at the time,” told us a person who is responsible for translating some reports, or for putting together some translations. “See for example the article dated 26 April 2012 which was written by the journalist Ilko Ćimić and published in Index.hr.”
Original Croatian text can be found here and below is the English translation with highlights in yellow:
Index reveals – Jovanović investigates the SIPO: Where did the million kuna go? Who was driving the (overly) expensive cars?
Željko Jovanović, Minister of Science
Author: I. Ćimić
Date: 26 April 2012
Index is in a position to reveal that Željko Jovanović, the Minister of Science, Education and Sports, recently sent a request to the Ministry of Finance for a budgetary audit of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), for the period from 1 March 2008 to 22 December 2012 in order to look into a series of allegations about the actions of the controversial SIPO Director, Mr. Željko Topić. The Ministry of Science also found a number of irregularities during their investigation of SIPO’s operations and has requested the assistance of the State Inspectorate and the Labour Inspection! While the Ministry was in the process of investigating the actions of the controversial Director against whom criminal proceedings are pending before the Zagreb County Court, SIPO officially announced that he was stepping down from the position of SIPO Director to take up the position of Vice-President at the European Patent Office based in Munich!
SIPO was responsible for the oversight of ZAMP
For the moment, the question seems to be how much the European institutions really know about Mr. Topić’s track-record as SIPO Director and whether or not they were informed of the charges pending against him. It would also be interesting to know to what extent the credit for his appointment can be attributed to Croatian diplomatic lobbying conducted by the Pantovčak [i.e. the Office of the Croatian President].
We wish to remind our readers that the SIPO is the official institution responsible for the oversight of the Croatian Composers’ Society and its professional service ZAMP. However, it was recently established during the handover to the new government that for years nobody has properly supervised the operations of the SIPO itself. The role of the Director Topić is of key importance here because it was he who responded to a query from the Ministry of Finance as to whether the business operations of ZAMP were actually carried out by a private company Emporion. At the time, Topić claimed that everything was done in accordance with the law.
The Ministry will specifically check the diploma of Director Topić
According to a document in the possession of Index – which can be seen in the picture gallery – Jovanovic’s Ministry carried out its own investigation into the work of SIPO to follow up on some of the allegations against the controversial Director.
The document itself does not contain any spectacular revelations, but it raises a number of questions about Topić’s management of the SIPO as it shows how assistance is being sought from other government agencies such as the State Inspectorate to shed light on Željko Topić’s controversial reign as SIPO Director.
Amongst other things, Mr. Jovanović’s Ministry questioned whether Topić had the educational qualifications needed to lead the SIPO. It was established that the Office which deals with the protection of industrial property and copyright and related rights is managed by an economist who claims to have graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Banja Luka with a master’s degree. Topić sent to the Ministry only a copy of his master’s diploma without the date of issue, and such evidence was considered insufficient so the Ministry requested the Faculty in Banja Luka to kindly send “relevant documents and a statement regarding the academic qualifications of Master of Science, Mr. Željko Topić”.
Disputed payments of around HRK 1m for “unnecessary” work
The Ministry also investigated allegations concerning the expenditure of around one million kuna, which the SIPO paid for intellectual and personal services. It was discovered that some of the money was paid as compensation for participation in organizing professional examinations for authorized representatives in the field of industrial property rights. The problem is that the candidates only paid 4,000 kuna in fees for these professional examinations whereas the total gross compensation paid to the chairman, deputy secretaries and members of the examination committee exceeded the amount that was paid by the candidates.
Another part of the disputed expenditure was on payments for service and copyright contracts which appear not to have been in accordance with the regulations. According to the opinion of Jovanović’s Ministry, the amounts paid for translations are also controversial given that this work should have been performed by SIPO employees [as part of their regular duties].
Sanader approved the purchase of the cars
The Ministry has also found a series of errors in service contracts and has requested special supervision by the State Inspectorate and Inspectors from the Ministry of Labour.
Concerning the controversial purchase of vehicles, including an Audi A6 TDI Quattro Tiptronic B worth 80,000 EUR and a Mercedes E 280 CDI worth 70,000 EUR, which was also subject to investigation by the Ministry, it was established that Topić had the permission of the Government, headed by Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, for the disputed purchase of these vehicles.
Ivo Sanader is now in prison and the local press habitually calls Topić "Sanader's protégé", which helps Topić’s case not at all.
“The reporting in the Croatian press seems to have annoyed Mr. Topić,” we got told, “who had in the meantime been appointed as a Vice-President at the EPO and had moved to Munich.”
In future parts we are going to step deeper into this affair and also cover Topić’s and the EPO’s response. █
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Posted in America, Patents at 6:17 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
His only ‘crime’ (which brought/attracted publicity punishment) is that he sought patent reform
Photo in the public domain, via Wikipedia
Summary: Darrell Issa (photographed above) comes under attacks from boosters of software patents, apologists of patent trolls (often funded by them), and patent maximalists because he correctly insinuated that (most) plaintiffs are like patent trolls in the United States
In the US, a lot of plaintiffs are patent trolls. These patent trolls use software patents that would be ruled invalid if brought before the courts. There’s no denying it, just look at the widely available statistics and then consider money extracted outside the courts (like ‘protection money’) and without the media even being informed (secrecy demanded by the racketeer). The USPTO keeps granting twice as many patents as one decade ago. No quality control seems to be in place, at least no effective control of quality (92% of applications wind up being accepted). These new figures from Patently-O, which cover a particular kind of patents, reinforce this. They completely reaffirm or fit the pattern and as IP Kat has just put it, “the patent system is inimical to innovative activity, at a time where innovation is seen as in decline.”
“These patent trolls use software patents that would be ruled invalid if brought before the courts.”The US patent system is now dominated more by parasites than by innovators. It’s a real issue. But those who insinuate this or ‘dare’ to point it out come under severe attacks, especially if they’re influential. Blowhard Gene Quinn (whom we often called WatchTroll for various reasons) leads the pack in these attacks.
“Congressman Issa calls patent trolls and plaintiffs interchangeable during ITC hearing,” he wrote in Twitter, linking to an article with the same headline. This whole article is based on a small spoken portion which said, “for purposes of my opening statement ‘plaintiff’ and ‘troll’ will be interchangeable.”
This seems like convenient framing for abbreviation when time is limited (a hearing), but watch how far Gene Quinn took this, defending the ITC’s embargo policies and defending patent trolls by targeting Darrell Issa, i.e. the messenger. These are the expected personal attacks on him from Quinn (for ‘hypocrisy’), in the same way he attacked Mark Cuban (over Vringo investment), who’s trying to demolish software patents.
“The US patent system is now dominated more by parasites than by innovators.”“Finally we get the truth,” IAM wrote (Gene Quinn being praised by IAM says a lot about IAM). “According to reform proponents a patent troll is any entity that seeks to enforce a patent” (because patent maximalists, propagandists, and proponents of software patents have agenda, which includes top enforcers of software patents, namely patent trolls).
Soon to join the above was a Bristows [1, 2] employee (UPC and software patents booster) who wrote: The Subcommittee is Chaired by Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), who has been an outspoken advocate for the need for more patent reform in order to provide relief from those he believes are abusing the patent litigation system — those sometimes called patent trolls. Indeed, from the start of the Thursday’s hearing, the debate regarding patent infringement at the ITC was couched in the language of the patent troll debate. For example, during his opening statement Congressman Issa rather imperiously stated: “for purposes of my opening statement ‘plaintiff’ and ‘troll’ will be interchangeable.”
“There is an agenda to drive and combing/cherry-picking the words of this agenda’s antagonists is a commonly-used tool.”The strategy of nitpicking a brief statement (where brevity was achieved in the above-stated fashion) is rather common these days. There is an agenda to drive and combing/cherry-picking the words of this agenda’s antagonists is a commonly-used tool. I frequently saw it done online to incite against Techrights (misrepresentation of the site’s positions).
Incidentally, and not too surprisingly (it was inevitable), IAM ‘magazine’ joins the lobbyist David Kappos (funded by IBM, Microsoft, Apple etc.) in attacking challenges to software patents in the US. To quote an article from this weekend (insisting that “something needs to be done about [section] 101″:
Earlier this week former USPTO Director David Kappos doubled down on his long-time criticism of the recent case law and called for the abolition of 101. Speaking at the Federal Circuit Judicial Conference he reportedly compared the situations in the US with Europe and Asia. “It’s time to abolish Section 101 and the reason I say that is that Europe doesn’t have 101 and Asia doesn’t have 101 and they seem to be doing just fine in constraining patent eligible subject matter,” he commented.
Such is the uncertainty around 101 in both the high tech and biotech fields, thanks to the Supreme Court’s decisions in a series of cases including Alice Corp v CLS Bank and Mayo v Prometheus, that Kappos’s concerns are shared by many patent owners. His worries around 101 have evolved over recent years. On a panel at the AIPLA annual conference in 2014 he claimed that the case law had moved far beyond the original meaning of the statute. He strengthened his arguments in a speech he gave at the LeadershIP event in 2015 when he noted that despite the uncertainty, 101 reform did not feature in the debates around patent legislation.
IAM is a mouthpiece for patent lawyers, large corporations that rely on software patents, and basically those who are paying IAM. Megaphone for those interests is what IAM has become. It’s not a news site. It’s agenda dressed up as ‘news’. █
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Posted in America, Patents at 5:30 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Taking pride in the state which openly brags about being trolls-friendly
Summary: Michael Garofalo, who is attacking small companies using software patents that are likely worthless once actually subjected to expensive scrutiny (at the courts), is being defended by a firm which doesn’t seem to grasp the difference between the USPTO’s lenience and courts’ adherence to the Supreme Court’s decision on Alice
Austin Hansley, which is based near the capital of patent trolls, isn’t the sharpest pencil in the toolbox. We recently wrote about the Garfum case, where the plaintiff essentially lost after the EFF had stepped in, making ‘protection money’ harder to collect without a legal challenge.
The patent in question is a software patent — one that any court would likely invalidate because the USPTO isn’t doing its job (finding prior art, considering triviality and so on). But as long as the defendant (victim to be sued) is poor enough Michael Garofalo (of Garfum) probably hopes that money will be shelled out to avert legal expenses.
As one new report puts it:
A New Jersey man named Michael Garofalo had a patent he claimed covered online contests, and used it to demand money from other small businesses. But when the Electronic Frontier Foundation came to the defense of a photographer targeted by Garofalo last year, Garofalo quickly dropped his case. Last month, he and his lawyers were ordered to pay $29,000 in legal fees.
Now Garofalo, who owns the website Garfum.com, is asking for the fee smackdown to be reconsidered. His reasoning: since the US Patent and Trademark Office recently agreed to grant him another patent, nearly identical to the first, his case couldn’t possibly be considered “exceptional.”
“This new evidence shows that this case does not lack substantive strength,” writes Garfum.com’s lawyers, from the Texas-based Austin Hansley law firm. “Simply put, how could Plaintiff’s position lack substantive strength when the USPTO performed the same § 101 analysis as this Court and found nearly identical claims to recite patentable subject matter?”
But actually, contrary to what these aggressive lawyers claim, § 101 analysis at the court is a very different matter (unlike the 'analysis' at the USPTO), so both patents are likely to be bogus and invalid, once subjected to proper scrutiny by agents that don’t profit from granting rather than rejecting. One must begin to question whether Austin Hansley even groks § 101 at all. █
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Posted in Europe, Patents at 4:26 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: A new series which explores serious allegations against a Vice-President of the European Patent Office (EPO), Željko Topić
“Follow-up to [our] recent Croatian article” has been sent to us by a reader. Last week we published information about the latest status/situation with regards to criminal cases against EPO Vice-President Željko Topić, but not much is publicly known about matters pertaining to his background, such as suicide of a DZIV employee back in the Topić days, puttin’ [sic] aside the suicides at the EPO (allegedly a tenfold rise in suicides) since Topić came to the EPO or since a short time beforehand.
Topić has many enemies in Croatia. Many of these are his victims and they are eager to tell us more about him (including his attacks on the local media).
The reader in question has decided to send us “an English translation of the text which was attached to the recent Dnevno article.” This article about Topić was also published here in German, not just in English. “This is an anonymous letter of complaint about Mr. Topić,” we got told, “which was sent in January 2012 to the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sport. That is the Ministry which was responsible for the oversight of the SIPO.” (the Croatian one, not the Chinese one)
Here is the text of the letter in English:
[Note.: Date stamp in top left corner]
REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
533 – MINISTRY OF SCIENCE,
EDUCATION AND SPORT
Received: 20.1.2012 11:13:24
Classification no.
652-01/12-
01/00019
Department 08
File no.
2199-11-12-0001
Enclosures
Valuation
0
[Barcode]
d3005590
Ministry of Science, Education and Sport
For the personal attention of the Minister:
Prof. Dr. sc. Željko Jovanović
Donje svetice 38
10000 Zagreb
Dear Minister,
in the hope that it may serve as a useful item of information for establishing the facts relating to an offence and for determining the appropriate legal sanctions and actions to prevent unwelcome aberrations in society as well as contributing to the public disclosure of this case, we submit to you the most essential information and facts.
AN UNUSUAL CASE OF A CRIMINAL ACT
Ever since his migration from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Croatia in the late 1990s Mr. Željko Topić, Director of the State Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Croatia, has fraudulently misrepresented himself. In this way he has succeeded in occupying attractive positions in the Republic of Croatia. He even signs official documents as “Mr. sc.” [Translator’s note. : Magister scientiae, Master of Science *] and claims salary supplements despite the fact that he has never acquired the qualification of a Master of Science.
It is generally known that the attainment of a particular educational qualification – andthis also applies to the Master of Science – must and can be proven through the submission of relevant documents and evidence on every occasion when this information is considered to be of significance.
The acquisition of the academic degree of Master of Science can only be established by the possession and presentation of the legally prescribed diploma concerning the awarding of the Master’s degree. This document is issued by the appropriate Faculty at which the degree has been obtained.
The diploma is awarded in an official and solemn manner with all the necessary and required information and signatures of the authorized officials of the Faculty, with many invited guests, who are likewise witnesses to the event. All relevant information is entered into an appropriate register.
Moreover, the person in question should be in possession of at least one copy of the Master’s thesis, a document of which said person has drafted several versions and defended in front of an officially designated examination commission. In addition, it is mandatory to file at least one copy of the thesis with the Faculty.
A document relating to the assignment of the subject for the Master’s thesis and containing information about the supervisor / mentor and further details should also be available at the relevant Faculty. Of particular importance are the minutes of the examination with details of the date of the defence of the thesis, the composition of the examination commission, the questions asked and all other prescribed details. All documents and information should be indicated in the study transcript of each person who has obtained a master’s degree at the Faculty of Economics in Banja Luka, and likewise in the archive of this Faculty or elsewhere in the archives of the Republika Srpska.
However, Željko Topić can produce neither a diploma with a Master’s degree acquired at the Faculty of Economics in Banja Luka, nor any of the other aforementioned documents or evidence. This means that he has no diploma. He also
has no copy of his thesis, no evidence of the appointment of the examination commission, no minutes of the examination, no witnesses. He has nothing in to show except a single letter of confirmation.
It is astonishing that in the course of the past 20 years, since his migration from Banja Luka to Zagreb, where he worked in the former Committee for Science, Technology and Informatics, and its subsequent successor, the Ministry of Science of the Republic of Croatia, Željko Topić – who has been the head of the State Intellectual Property Office since 2004 – has managed to only submit a letter of confirmation which has served him as proof of having obtained a Master’s degree. This was issued on 08.12.1989 and on the basis of this he has not only advanced himself under false pretences but has signed all documents in an unjustified manner with [the title] “Mr. sc.”. In addition, he receives a salary supplement for a level of education which he does not have.
This is an elementary case of fraudulent misrepresentation [Translator’s note: alternatively “impersonation”] and unauthorized signing with [a title] “Mr. sc.” to which he has no legitimate claim, since he only obtained the second level of education [Translator’s Note: this seem to refer to a primary degree] at the Faculty of Economics in Banja Luka. This is the same Faculty which many of us have also attended, most of whom have no more claim to a Master’s degree than he has.
Whether you care to believe it or not, one single puny letter of confirmation concerning the acquisition of the degree “Mr. sc.” sufficed for Mr. Topić during all the time since the late 1980s, following his migration to Zagreb and his employment, not just anywhere, but at the then State Committee for Science, Technology and Informatics. This document was signed by three professors who taught at the Faculty of Economics in Banja Luka at the time. Of the three, only Professor Slobodan Đorđić remained in employment there by the early 1990s while Professor Boris Tihi moved to Sarajevo where he was the Dean of the Faculty of Economics for a time. Professor Ejub Mujezinović moved to the USA at that time.
It is an incredible and astonishing fact that for more than 20 years no one in the Republic of Croatia seems to have wanted to see the authentic statutorily prescribed documents and certificates of Mr. Topić that serve as proof of an acquired “Mr. sc.” degree. The main issue here is the Master’s degree certificate. To check this is the
responsibility and duty of the official authorities and of particular individuals in relation to hiring and the assignment to specific duties. Such checking is relatively simple and straightforward to perform. It is, however, obvious that this has not been done in accordance with the applicable regulations. This is the case concerning his initial employment in Croatia with the State Committee for Education, Technology and Informatics as well as his transfer to the Ministry of Science, but also for subsequent transfers to other positions such as those at the State Intellectual Property Office. It also applies to the procedure by which he was appointed as the Director of that Office for two terms.
A further detail which appears equally inexplicable is that under mysterious circumstances Mr. Topić succeeded in keeping the factual situation surrounding his master’s degree secret even during a campaign that was launched in the early 2000s under the government of [Prime Minister Ivica] Račan in which the documents that served as evidence of the educational qualifications claimed by all civil servants were supposed to have been collected and verified.
With regard to the collection of the necessary facts and evidence perhaps it is also worth pointing out that Banja Luka is not located at the opposite end of the world and that it would have been possible to perform an inspection of the relevant documents in cooperation with the administrative organs of the Faculty of Economics there. Moreover, it would also not have been impossible to establish contact with the academic supervisor or the members of the Examination Board who were mentioned in the relevant documentation. The same also applies to the three professors who signed the letter of confirmation in order to obtain a response detailing the circumstances under which this confirmation was issued. Maybe it is in fact a simple forgery or the aforementioned persons were pursuing a particular interest by issuing a letter of confirmation concerning a master’s degree. The competent investigative bodies in Banja Luka should also take account of this in order to obtain an answer to the questions concerning the interests involved and the circumstances under which the letter of confirmation was issued and signed.
Our decision to write to you has been inspired by the fact that the latest elections have led to a new government structure in Croatia. Thus an era has at last irrevocably dawned in our homeland in which loyalty, endeavor, courage to tackle the exposure, unmasking, breaking up and sanctioning of all kinds of felonies and other misdemeanors, such as corruption, abuse of office and various manifold violations of the law will no longer be called into question.
Now there is the possibility that this case will be investigated and brought to closure. It is possible for a new start, in which documents, such as for example the proof of a claimed level of education are actually checked in practice in a consistent manner with respect to their authenticity and legality. In this way legal sanctions could be initiated – without exception and in all cases where forgeries are detected.
The citizens of the Republic of Croatia, amongst whose number are former students of the Economics Faculty in Banja Luka, wish to express their gratitude in advance,
Zagreb, January 2012
* Translator’s Note: “Mr. sc.” = Master of Science.
In former Socialist Republic of Jugoslavia and prior to the introduction of the Bologna Process in Croatia, this level of education could be acquired through a postgraduate study, which normally lasted two years following a primary degree. So it is not identical to the German Master’s degree but is a higher position and somewhere between a “diploma” (primary degree) and a doctorate / Ph.D.
“Around this time,” our reader continued, “or shortly afterwards, the then Minister Jovanovic attempted to launch a series of investigations into the affairs of the SIPO. An initial report was issued by the Ministry on 16th March 2012.”
We fortunately have a copy of this report (in Croatian). We first outline its context in German (English text later):
Auszug aus einem Bericht des Ministeriums für Wissenschaft, Bildung und Sport (zuständig für das Staatliche Amt für Geistiges Eigentum).
Datum: 16 März 2012.
Haftungsausschluss:
Es folgt eine Übersetzung aus dem kroatischen – ohne Gewähr.
II. Amtliche Stellungnahme bezüglich des erreichten akademischen Bildungsgrades eines Magisters der Wissenschaften durch den Amtsleiter des DZIV, Željko Topić
Nach einer Einsichtnahme in die Dokumentation wird festgestellt, dass Mr. sc. Željko Topić gemäß folgenden Beschlüssen der Regierung der Republik Kroatien zum Amtsleiter des Staatlichen Amts für intellektuelles Eigentum [kroat. DZIV / Državni institut za intelektualno vlasništvo] ernannt wurde: Vom 5. Mai 2004, KLASSE 080-02/04-01/281, REG. NR. 50304/2-04-02 (Amtsblatt, Nr. 59/04) vom 19. März 2008, KLASSE: 080-02/08-01/171, REG. NR. 50304/2-08-01 (Amtsblatt, Nr. 35/08), vom 3. September 2009, KLASSE 080-02/09-01/240, REG. Nr. 503/2-09-01 (Amtsblatt, Nr. 108/09) und vom 26. Januar 2012, KLASSE: 080-02/12-01/107, REG. NR. 5030115/1-12-01 (Amtsblatt, Nr. 16/12).
Bezüglich der Bestellung von Željko Topić zum Amtsleiter des DZIV und einer eventuellen Anfechtung seiner Bestellung zum Amtsleiter des DZIV, wurde in einer zuvor empfangenen Dokumentation festgestellt, dass die ehemalige Mitarbeiterin des DZIV, Vesna Stilin, dessen Bestellung mit einer Klage beim Verwaltungsgericht der Republik Kroatien angefochten hat. Am 24. September 2008 hat das Verwaltungsgericht der Republik Kroatien den Beschluss gefasst, dass die Klage mit der Begründung abgewiesen wird, dass keine Klage zulässig sei. Gegen diesen Beschluss des Verwaltungsgerichts der Republik Kroatien hat Vesna Stilin eine Verfassungsklage beim Verfassungsgericht der Republik Kroatien eingereicht. Am 3. Februar 2011 hat das Verfassungsgericht mit seinem Beschluss Nr. RH-U-III-5023/2008 die Klage von Vesna Stilin mit der Begründung abgelehnt, dass keine Voraussetzung für den Beschluss über eine verfassungsrechtliche Art der Sache gegeben sei. Das Gericht hat beschlossen, dass sich die in der Verwaltungsklage bereits vorgebrachten, anfechtbaren Gründe mit einer Wiederholung dieser Gründe, die bereits in der Klage vor dem Verwaltungsgericht vorgebracht wurden, erschöpft haben. Somit wurde beschlossen, dass es sich im konkreten Fall nicht um eine Durchsetzung von Grundrechten der Klägerin handelt und dass daher keine verfassungsrechtliche Art der Sache besteht, über die das Verfassungsgericht entscheiden könne.
Das Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Bildung und Sport hat am 20. Januar 2012 eine anonyme Beschwerde erhalten, in der aufgeführt ist, dass sich der Amtsleiter des DZIV, Mr. sc. Željko Topić, mit falschen Angaben vorstellt, bezüglich der Tatsache, dass er keinen Magister der Wissenschaften* erworben hat. Im Hinblick auf die erwähnte Tatsache hat sich Mr. sc. Željko Topić in einem Schreiben dazu geäußert, das dem Ministerium am 2. Februar 2012 zugestellt wurde, ebenso hat er in einem Gespräch mit dem Ausschuss bei Durchführung einer Verwaltungskontrolle dazu Stellung genommen. Željko Topić führt dabei an, dass er bis 1988 eine Ausbildung in Banja Luka durchlaufen hat. An der Wirtschaftsfakultät in Banja Luka wurde er 1977 immatrikuliert und hat dort 1981 einen Diplomabschluss erworben. An dieser Fakultät hat er ein anschließend postgraduales Studium abgeschlossen und mit der Verteidigung seiner Magisterarbeit am 8. Dezember 1989 den akademischen Grad eines Magisters der Wissenschaften erworben. Er erklärt, dass das Studium an der Wirtschaftfakultät in Banja Luka, unter Beteiligung damals eminenter Professoren von vielen Universitäten des ehemaligen Staates [Anm.: Jugoslawien] organisiert war. Sein Mentor war Prof. Boris Tihi, der [Anm.: heute] ordentlicher Professor und Dekan der Wirtschaftfakultät in Sarajewo ist. Nach seinen [Anm.: Topićs] Ausführungen musste er nach Bestehen aller Prüfungen und der Ausarbeitung seiner
Magisterarbeit längere Zeit auf die Vereinbarung eines Verteidigungstermins warten und siedelte während dieser Zeit nach Zagreb über. Topić führt weiter aus, dass er dort eine Anstellung im staatlichen Selbstverwaltungskollegium für Wissenschaften [Anm.: kroat. SIZ / Samoupravni institut za znanost] (dem späteren Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Technologie der Republik Kroatien) fand und zwar mit seinem Diplom als Wirtschaftswissenschaftler (und nicht als Magister der Wissenschaften). Seine Magisterarbeit verteidigte er schließlich am 8. Dezember 1989, aufgrund dessen wurde ihm am 11. Dezember 1989 eine Bestätigung ausgegeben, die vom Dekan der Wirtschaftsfakultät in Banja Luka, Prof. Dr. Sc. Šefkija Berberović, unterzeichnet war. Damals wurde ihm als erstem Absolventen dieses Studiengangs gesagt, dass er noch abwarten müsse, bis weitere Kandidaten ihren Magisterabschluss erwerben, erst anschließend würde man Diplome drucken und eine Promotionsfeier [Anm.: eine an Hochschulen übliche Abschlussfeier für die Absolventen eines Jahrgangs] organisieren. Nach Angaben von Herrn Topić kam es jedoch bis Kriegsausbruch nicht mehr dazu und er kehrte sieben Jahre nicht mehr nach Banja Luka zurück. Zwischenzeitlich wurden die Diplome ausgegeben, allerdings von Seiten und mit den Symbolen des neu gegründeten Staates Republika Srpska [Anm.: heute ein Teilstaat von Bosnien-Herzegowina].
Mit der Einsicht in die Bestätigung vom 11. Dezember 1989 ist ersichtlich, dass Željko Topić, Sohn des Vladimir, geboren am 5. August 1959 in Banja Luka, Gemeinde Banja Luka, am 8. Dezember 1989 seine Magisterarbeit verteidigt und damit die Voraussetzung für den Erwerb des akademischen Bildungsgrades eines Magisters der Wirtschaftswissenschaften aus dem Bereich „Entwicklung und Förderung des Exports im Rahmen der Kollektivarbeit“ erlangt hat.
Mit Einsicht in das Diplom aus dem Jahr 2001 (ein genaues Datum ist darin nicht aufgeführt) wird ersichtlich, dass dieses ebenfalls von der Universität in Banja Luka, Wirtschaftfakultät Banja Luka, ausgegeben wurde. Im Diplom ist vermerkt, dass Herr Željko Topić, geboren am 5. August 1959 in Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnien-Herzegowina, 1985 in das erste Studienjahr des Magisterstudiums an der Wirtschaftsfakultät in Banja Luka eingeschrieben wurde und am 8. Dezember 1989 seine Magisterarbeit unter dem Titel „Position und Rolle einer Marketinguntersuchung im Herbeiführungsprozess von Investitionsentscheidungen“ verteidigt hat. Auf Grundlage dessen wird ihm das erwähnte Abschlussdiplom über den erworbenen (wissenschaftlichen) Bildungsgrad eines Magisters der Wirtschaftwissenschaften ausgegeben, mit der fortlaufenden Evidenznummer 21 für ausgegebene Diplomurkunden.
* Anm.: Der kroatische Magister der Wissenschaften ist nicht dem deutschen Bildungsgrad eines Magisters (= Diplom, 1. Bildungsgrad an der Universität) gleichzusetzen; der Magister gilt als 2. Bildungsgrad (und ist etwa zwischen Diplom und Doktortitel einzuorden), der Magister wird durch ein postgraduales Aufbaustudium erworben. Diese Angaben beziehen sich vor die Zeit des Bologna-Prozesses
VI. FAZIT:
Im Zusammenhang mit dem erworbenen Bildungsgrad des Amtsleiters des Staatlichen Instituts für intellektuelles Eigentum [kroat. DZIV] möchten wir erwähnen, dass aus dem Diplom der Universität in Banja Luka, Wirtschaftsfakultät Banja Luka, hervorgeht, dass Željko Topić den akademischen Grad eines Magisters der Wissenschaften erworben hat. Ein Diplom ist eine amtliche Urkunde, die von einer Hochschule ausgegeben wird und als Nachweis dient, dass der Student ein bestimmtes Studium beendet und damit das Recht auf einen akademischen Titel oder Bildungsgrad erworben hat. Da dem Ministerium allerdings nur eine Kopie des Diploms zugestellt wurde und unter Berücksichtigung dessen, dass kein Datum der Diplomaushändigung vermerkt ist, wird das Ministerium von der Wirtschaftsfakultät in Banja Luka die Übermittlung der Dokumentation sowie eine Erklärung über den Erwerb des akademischen Grades eines Magisters der Wissenschaften von Željko Topić auf dem Amtsweg anfordern.
Bezüglich des Betrages in Höhe von 1.033.182,20 Kuna, den das DZIV für intellektuelle und persönliche Dienstleistungen ausgezahlt hat, wurde bei einer Prüfung festgestellt, dass sich diese Summe zum Teil auf die Auszahlung von Vergütungen für die Teilnahme an der Durchführung von Fachprüfungen für bevollmächtigte Vertreter auf dem Gebiet des industriellen Eigentums bezieht. Diese Vergütung wurde aufgrund eines Beschlusses des Amtsleiter des DZIV, Željko Topić, (Klasse: 400-01/06-010/002, Reg.-Nr. 559-02/1-07-02) vom 9. März 2007 ausgezahlt. Die gesamte Vergütung in Höhe von 4.000,00 Kuna, die von einem Kandidaten eingezahlt wurde, deckte den Nettobetrag der Vergütungssumme, die dem Vorsitzenden, den Mitgliedern sowie dem Sekretär der Kommission ausgezahlt wurde. Im Gegensatz dazu wurden allerdings die Abgaben »aus« und »auf« die Bemessungsgrundlage, wie z.B. Steuern und Kommunalabgaben direkt zu Lasten der Haushaltsgelder gezahlt. Das Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Bildung und Sport ist der Ansicht, dass der gesamte Bruttobetrag der Vergütungen, die dem Vorsitzenden, dessen Stellvertreter, den Mitgliedern, deren Stellvertretern sowie dem Sekretär der Kommission ausgezahlt werden, nicht den Betrag überschreiten dürfen, den ein Kandidat einzahlt.
Zudem hat sich der aufgeführte Betrag zum Teil auf die Begleichung von Werk- und Autorenverträgen bezogen, die mit Mitarbeitern des DZIV für die Anfertigung von Dokumenten, Artikeln und Präsentationen zu Themen aus dem Kompetenzbereich des DZIV abgeschlossen worden waren. Das Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Bildung und Sport vertritt die Ansicht, dass die erwähnten Auszahlungen an die Mitarbeiter des DZIV infolge von Werkverträgen nicht im Einklang mit den Vorschriften stehen, die die Arbeitsverhältnisse regeln – da hier Tätigkeiten vereinbart wurden, die sich größtenteils unmittelbar mit der Verrichtung der Aufgaben der entsprechenden Arbeitsplätze, den Anweisungen des Arbeitgebers, in dessen Namen und auf dessen Rechnung, decken. Ein Teil des Betrages bezieht sich dabei auf die Begleichung von Autorenverträgen, die mit Mitarbeitern des DZIV für die Übersetzung von Gesetzestextes im Bereich Urheberrechte abgeschlossen wurden. Das Ministerium vertritt die Ansicht, dass, falls es sich um die Übersetzung von Vorschriften handelt, die für das DZIV von Belange sind, davon ausgegangen werden kann, das dies die Mitarbeiter des DZIV auch im Rahmen ihres Aufgabenbereichs erledigen können.
Bezüglich der vereinbarten Werkverträge sollte unterstrichen werden, dass das Arbeitsverhältnis zwischen Arbeitgeber und Arbeitnehmer aufgrund der im Arbeitsgesetz verankerten Bestimmungen geregelt ist. Wenn eine Person in den Geschäftsräumen und mit den Arbeitsmitteln eines Arbeitgebers tätig ist, nach dessen Anweisungen und Beauftragungen handelt, wenn der Arbeitgeber gegenüber dritten Personen für die Ergebnisse der Arbeit dieser Person haftet, falls diese Person die entsprechende Arbeit im Rahmen der Arbeitszeit durchführt – wie die übrigen Beschäftigten dieses Arbeitgebers –, handelt es sich um ein Arbeitsverhältnis. Ein Werkvertrag, mit allen Merkmalen des Schuldrechts, könnte nur für die Durchführung einer einmaligen Tätigkeit abgeschlossen werden, für die nicht die Arbeitszeit maßgeblich ist, sondern die Erbringung einer bestimmten Leistung innerhalb einer festgelegten Frist und für ein vereinbartes Honorar. Aufgrund dieser Tatsachen wird das Ministerium die Durchführung einer Prüfung von Seiten des Staatlichen Inspektorates, konkret: der Arbeitsinspektion*, veranlassen. Bezüglich der Anschaffung und Nutzung von Dienstwagen wird bestätigt, dass die DZIV für die Anschaffung der umstrittenen Automobile das Einverständnis der kroatischen Regierung hatte, auf dessen Grundlage die Verträge für das operative Leasing abgeschlossen wurden. Das Ministerium kann im Hinblick darauf keine Unrechtmäßigkeiten feststellen.
Aus der Antwort des Finanzministeriums vom 25. Februar 2008 auf das Protokoll über die Durchführung der Budgetüberwachung wird ersichtlich, dass das Finanzministerium bestimmte Erklärungen des DZIV als Antwort auf festgestellte Unrechtmäßigkeiten nicht akzeptiert hat. Hierbei muss berücksichtigt werden, dass im Zeitraum 1. März 2008 bis 22. Dezember 2011 das Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Unternehmertum für das DZIV zuständig war. Das Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Bildung und Sport hatte in diesem Zeitraum keinen Einblick in die Geschäftsaktivitäten des DZIV. Aufgrund der aufgeführten Tatsachen wird dieses Ministerium in Einklang mit den Bestimmungen aus Artikel 115 und 116 des Haushaltsgesetzes (Amtsblatt Nr. 87/08) vom Finanzministerium allerdings die Durchführung einer Budgetüberprüfung aus Gründen der Gesetzmäßigkeit, Zweckmäßigkeit und Rechtzeitigkeit der Nutzung von Mitteln aus dem Budget für den genannten Zeitraum verlangen.
Der Minister
[handschriftliche Unterschrift sowie Rundstempel, beides unleserlich]
Dr. sc. Željko Jovanović
Zuzustellen an:
1. Anschrift
2. Ablage, hier.
* Anm.: Arbeitsinspektion, in Deutschland: Gewerbeaufsicht
“Unfortunately,” our reader said, “no complete English translation of this document is available.” There is “a translation of one short passage from the concluding section.” Here is what we have so far:
VI. CONCLUSION
With respect to the acquired level of education of the Director of the State Intellectual Property Office [Croatian: DZIV] we would like to mention that from the diploma of the University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Economics Banja Luka, it appears that Željko Topic has earned the degree of Master of Science.
A diploma is an official document that is issued by a university and which serves as proof that the student has completed a particular course of study and has thus acquired the right to an academic title or educational degree. Since, however, the Ministry has only been provided with a copy of the diploma and taking into account the fact that the date of the award of the diploma is not recorded, the Ministry will request from the Economic Faculty in Banja Luka through official channels the transmission of the documentation and a declaration concerning the acquisition of the degree of Master of Science by Željko Topic.
Herein (below) is the original in the form of images. A full English translation both of the German text and the Croatian text might be handy as otherwise it’s accessible to limited audience only. █
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