European Patent Office (EPO) Series: Battistelli's "Baltic Crusader"
Previous Parts:
Part 12
António Costa greets the EPO's Chief Patent Research and Policy
Officer Gilles Requena.
In the last part we identified the three members of the entourage which accompanied EPO President António Campinos to his meeting with António Costa in Brussels on 3rd February 2026.
In this part we will take a look at the first member of the entourage, namely Gilles Requena whose name will be familiar to readers of Techrights.
Requena started off as a humble gofer for the notorious Benoît Battistelli at the French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). He then followed his master to the EPO in Munich soon after Battistelli had taken up his position as EPO President in July 2010.
In Munich Requena served his time as Battistelli's chef de cabinet. After Battistelli's departure in June 2018 Requena was appointed "Chief International and Legal Officer" in the EPO's Legal Department headed by Christoph Ernst, known to be a former close ally of Battistelli on the EPO's Administrative Council.
Requena's current job description is "Chief Patent Research and
Policy Officer" and he also serves as a member of the EPO's
Management Advisory Committee.
Requena's current job description is "Chief Patent Research and Policy Officer" and he continues to serve as a member of the EPO's Management Advisory Committee (MAC) as he has done since the days of Battistelli.
Campinos and Requena go back a long way. They both participated in Battistelli's "Baltic Crusade" back in 2010. This was a "mission" to secure the votes of the Baltic states for Battistelli with the assistance of the notoriously corrupt head of the Finnish Patent Office, Martti Enäjärvi.
In January 2010 Requena participated in a mission to secure the
votes of the Baltic states for Battistelli.
The 2010 Annual Report of the Estonian Patent Office documents Requena's presence at a meeting which took place in Tallinn in January 2010 and in which Campinos also participated:
"Several members of the EPO Administrative Council paid a visit to the Estonian Patent Office: Benoît Battistelli, Gilles Requena, António Campinos, João Negrão and Martti Enäjärvi. The development trends of both EPO and OHIM were discussed with them."
It's fairly clear that this "select committee" which turned up in Estonia in the early days of 2010 was a pro-Battistelli delegation – led by Battistelli himself – and that its primary mission was to canvass support for his election as the next President of the EPO. As far as can be determined, Enäjärvi's role at the meeting was to act as the intermediary or "facilitator" who would open doors for Battistelli in Estonia, as a bridgehead to the other Baltic States.
Although we are not privy to what was discussed behind closed doors on that occasion, those involved appear to have obtained the outcome that they desired. Battistelli was elected as EPO President in March 2010 with the support of the Baltic delegates and during his term of office he was consistently supported by the Baltic States who never once wavered in their loyalty to him.
The presence of António Campinos – at that time director of the Portuguese INPI – together with his deputy, João Negrão, makes it likely that there was a further agenda being pursued at the 2010 meeting in Tallinn – namely to canvass support for Campinos in the upcoming succession race at the EU trademark agency Alicante (now called EUIPO, but known as OHIM back in those days).
That more or less concludes our look at Gilles Requena, Battistelli's erstwhile "Baltic Crusader" and the loyal servant of his successor Campinos. But before finishing up it seems worth recalling in passing that when Requena joined Battistelli at the EPO he was accompanied by his spouse, the notorious Élodie Bergot.
After Battistelli's departure in June 2018, Bergot continued to
enjoy the protection of his successor António Campinos. Her current
job title is "Principal Director of Welfare and
Remuneration".
Bergot joined the EPO in a relatively junior position at staff grade A3 but before long she was promoted to an A6 position as Principal Director of Human Resources. The promotion procedure was conducted by none other than Battistelli's Croatian bulldog, Željko Topić. Bergot's reign of terror and harassment of staff representatives during the Battistelli era is well documented.
After Battistelli's departure from the EPO in June 2018, Bergot continued to enjoy the protection of his successor António Campinos.
Her current job title at the EPO is "Principal Director of Welfare and Remuneration". In this capacity she has been responsible for drawing up the EPO's controversial "Salary Adjustment Procedure" – perhaps more accurately termed "Salary Erosion Procedure" – which is currently causing significant social unrest and industrial action at the EPO.
In the next part we will take a look at the second member of the entourage which accompanied EPO President António Campinos to his meeting with António Costa in Brussels on 3rd February 2026, namely Patrice Pellegrino who is the head of the EPO's Liaison Office in Brussels. █