06.30.16
Shadows of Alleged Criminality Over the European Patent Office (EPO)
Summary: Cases against Željko Topić, a Vice-President at the European Patent Office, are moving forward in Croatia, where he still faces many criminal charges
Updates from Croatia occasionally reach us from various sources. The Vice-President that Battistelli uses for intimidation of staff is still facing many criminal charges and also civil lawsuits in Croatia — a fact that apparently is unspeakable. To inform delegates regarding such matters is not OK; when a woman from Croatia wrote to Croatian politicians about it she got sued for defamation but won the case repeatedly, lending legitimacy to her claims and leaving the accuser rather bashful.
What triggered many of today’s abuses against staff representatives at the EPO is this story (directly and indirectly), so it cannot be ignored. Željko Topić should be discussed widely at all levels of the EPO. As usual, as the EPO lies both to staff and to journalists, lies about Željko Topić come from EPO management, i.e. Team Battistelli. They have zero credibility on the subject. Rather than get rid of this liability Battistelli is believed to be trying to keep it around even longer.
“Delegates would have their own careers jeopardised if the EPO became virtually synonymous with “organised crime” and its Vice-President sent to prison.”Justice in Croatia may be notoriously slow (and favourable to the party with deeper pockets), but sooner or later the public will find out what happened and be sufficiently equipped to examine/judge the evidence. Topić refuses to attend trials (same arrogance demonstrated by Battistelli and Willy Minnoye who snub high courts in The Hague), but proceedings become publicly accessible. As an update about the civil lawsuit reported on Techrights, consider information we have received from Croatia. The lawsuit “which is being conducted by SIPO employees in relation to allegedly abusive behaviour by the management in 2007,” a source told us, is still ongoing and important news is just a fortnight away. “According to a reliable source a further court hearing took place on the 16th of June,” we learned. “The last court hearing is scheduled for the 13th of July and after that it is expected that the court will deliver its verdict.”
We shall keep readers updated on the matter. Delegates too deserve to know the background of Željko Topić (most of them probably know something about it, but not the very latest developments). Delegates would have their own careers jeopardised if the EPO became virtually synonymous with “organised crime” and its Vice-President sent to prison. █
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