Bonum Certa Men Certa

Virtual Injustice -- Part 5: Benoît's “Friends” in Budapest

Previously in the series:

  1. Virtual Injustice -- Part 1: António's Increasingly Wonky Legal Fudge Factory
  2. Virtual Injustice -- Part 2: The ViCo Oral Proceedings of 28 May 2021
  3. Virtual Injustice -- Part 3: All the President's Men…
  4. Virtual Injustice -- Part 4: Mihály Ficsor, the EPO's Hungarian “Fixer”


Ficsor (left) and Bendzsel (right)
The Hungarian delegates, Ficsor (left) and Bendzsel (right), were important players on the Administrative Council during the Battistelli-Kongstad era.



Summary: "Battistelli went to considerable lengths to secure the support of the Hungarian delegation."

Due to Hungary's prominent role within the Viségrad Group, the director of the Hugarian IPO, Miklós Bendzsel, and his deputy Ficsor became significant players on the EPO's Administrative Council during the Battistelli-Kongstad era.



As a matter of fact, Battistelli went to considerable lengths to secure the support of the Hungarian delegation.

Shortly after he had announced that he was in the running for the position of EPO President, Battistelli popped up in Budapest in August 2009 to lobby the Hungarians for their support.

Battistelli lobbying the Hungarians in Budapest
Left: Battistelli lobbying the Hungarians in Budapest in August 2009. Right: Battistelli at the European Inventor Award in Budapest in 2011.



HIPO 2009 extract
From HIPO (2009 extract) [PDF]



Following the success of his campaign to take over at the helm of the EPO, Battistelli rewarded his "friends" in Budapest for their support by choosing the Danubian metropolis as the location for the European Inventor of the Year Award boondoggle in 2011.

"Following the success of his campaign to take over at the helm of the EPO, Battistelli rewarded his "friends" in Budapest for their support by choosing the Danubian metropolis as the location for the European Inventor of the Year Award boondoggle in 2011."Bendzsel was also selected as the deputy chairman of the Administrative Council, probably because he could be counted on to follow without question the course set by Kongstad and his puppet-master Battistelli.

As we mentioned in the last part the Hungarians for their part helped to legitimate Batistelli's Croatian Bulldog, Željko Topić, by presenting him with the Jedlik Ányos Award in 2012, shortly before he took up his position as EPO Vice-President.

In order to secure the long-term loyalty of his Magyar vassals, Battistelli promised them that Budapest would become the home of a dedicated training centre for the newly appointed judges of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) which - at that time - was predicted to start operating in 2015.

House of the Hungarian Culture Foundation undergoing renovation in 2013
House of the Hungarian Culture Foundation undergoing renovation in 2013.



The House of the Hungarian Culture Foundation in the historic Castle Quarter of Buda was earmarked as the location for the training centre and an extensive renovation took place during 2013 and the beginning of 2014.

House of the Hungarian Culture Foundation after renovation
House of the Hungarian Culture Foundation after renovation.



Finally in March 2014 (warning: epo.org link), the great and good of the European IP world assembled in Budapest to celebrate the official opening of the UPC judges' training centre.

Speakers at the official opening of the UPC judges' training centre in Budapest (March 2014).
Speakers at the official opening of the UPC judges' training centre in Budapest (March 2014).



The speakers at the opening ceremony included Battistelli, Campinos - who at that time was head of the OHIM/EUIPO which deals with trademarks not patents! - and the head of the HIPO, Bendzsel.

Bendzsel's deputy, Ficsor, was also in attendance as a guest of honour as we shall see in the next part.

UPC Délibáb: the lavishly renovated training centre hasn't managed to open for business as planned
UPC Délibáb: the lavishly renovated training centre hasn't managed to open for business as planned.



In the end the dream of playing a central role in the UPC project - which Battistelli had sold to his Hungarian allies in order to secure their support for his "reign of terror" at the EPO - turned out to be an unfortunate case of "délibáb".

"Délibáb" is a Hungarian word denoting a natural phenomenon that can be observed on the Puszta or Great Hungarian Plain in the summertime. It is a type of heat-induced mirage or "fata morgana" caused by a temperature inversion in the atmosphere - an optical illusion produced by the conjunction of the sun, the sky, and the flat landscape. The word is used by Hungarians in a metaphorical sense to refer to wishful thinking or pipe-dreams.

"The UK Brexit referendum in June 2016 and the German constitutional challenge by Ingve Stjerna in 2017, led to the UPC being put on the back-boiler and created serious doubts about the viability of the project."And so it came to pass that despite all the official pomp and circumstance in March 2014, the lavishly renovated training centre in the historical centre of Budapest never actually commenced operation as planned.

The UK Brexit referendum in June 2016 and the German constitutional challenge by Ingve Stjerna in 2017, led to the UPC being put on the back-boiler and created serious doubts about the viability of the project.

To cap it all, there was also a constitutional challenge to the UPC in Hungary itself. This resulted in a ruling of the Hungarian Supreme Court in June 2018, according to which Hungary could not ratify the treaty.

"Due to the ongoing legal uncertainty surrounding the project, the UPC now seems to have been mothballed for the foreseeable future - if not permanently canned."Finally in March 2020 the German Federal Constitutional Court upheld Stjerna's challenge to the UPC. This placed the ball back in the court of the Federal Parliament as far as Germany was concerned.

Instead of subjecting the UPC project to proper legislative scrutiny, the Federal Parliament of Germany opted for another precipitous rubber-stamping procedure.

This second attempt at UPC ratification by Germany is the subject of renewed constitutional challenges which are pending before the Federal Constitutional Court.

"In the upcoming parts we will look at Ficsor's close connections to Campinos and examine what he did after he left the HIPO in 2016 and how he ended up at the EPO in 2020."Due to the ongoing legal uncertainty surrounding the project, the UPC now seems to have been mothballed for the foreseeable future - if not permanently canned.

Any plans that Ficsor may have had for a cushy little pre- or post-retirement sinecure at the lavishly renovated judges' training centre in Budapest are unlikely to come to fruition.

In the upcoming parts we will look at Ficsor's close connections to Campinos and examine what he did after he left the HIPO in 2016 and how he ended up at the EPO in 2020.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Paris 'Love Nest' & Debian Outreachy: from Lycée Lakanal to ENS Cachan, Cr@ns, nepotism
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Richard Stallman to Give Public Talk in 3 Hours, Then in the Technical University of Munich (Germany) Next Week
Richard Stallman at TUM on 21.10.2025 18:00, MW2001
Leaks and Whistleblowers: Our Plan for Today
Society simply cannot advance when too many people self-censor
The Same People Who Attacked Richard Stallman (RMS) Are Attacking Daniel Pocock to Discourage People From Listening to His Information
Pocock is being demonised for the same reasons and by the same people who attack RMS
We Are Safe in a Modern "Tech" Society, Right?
People are safer if they control their own computing
The Way Things Are Going, They May Soon Stop Saying "Web Address" and Instead Say "Chrome Address"
The Web isn't built or based around open Web standards anymore. It's centered around user-agent.
Microsoft as a Golden Cage
"I was laid off by Microsoft and can't find a job. I'm weeks away from giving up my apartment and moving across the country to live with family."
Weekend Discussion About How IBM's Bluewashing of Red Hat Will Cause "Enshittification" for Users
"I worked at a software company that was acquired by IBM so I knew it was game over for RedHat the day they were acquired"
Brett Wilson LLP Getting Sued by Its Very Own Clients, a Legal Story That Has Made the Mainstream News (Law360)
Law360 or Law.com are about as mainstream as one can get in that "sector" (litigation 'industry')
 
Investigative Journalism Protects Society From Corruption, Crimes Against Women, Assaults on Civil Society
"what is the point of men doing military practice to defend a system that is so rotten?"
Swiss pimp usurping reputation of legendary Tissot boss Francois Thiébaud from France (BaselWorld, SWATCH Group SA)
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Arnaud Parreaux lost case defending rogue employer
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Mathieu Elias Parreaux declared bankrupt in Switzerland
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Breakdown of the Rule of Law and Patent Law in the European Union (EU)
The EPO cannot recruit suitably qualified patent examiners this way, let alone retain them
Gemini Links 13/10/2025: Good Films, Wizard of Earthsea, Upgrading the Steam Controller's Stick
Links for the day
It's Not Justice When One Side Denies the Other Side the Ability to Even Speak
At this stage, Brett Wilson LLP is in my humble opinion acting in contempt of the Court
Links 13/10/2025: Australian Catholic University Uses Slop to Libel Students, Canada Threatens to Kill Beluga Whales
Links for the day
How Not to Silence Tux Machines (It'll Only Backfire, Badly)
defending Microsoft while attacking this site
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT and Google News
It seems abundantly clear that Google News and Google in general participates in the slop epidemic
Vincent Danjean (not INTERPOL), Claire Bardel & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Christmas lynchings: Martin Krafft (madduck), Penny Leach (mjollnir) & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 13/10/2025: Birthdays and "Committee Unable to Contact Nobel Prize Winner"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 12, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 12, 2025
Your Typical Anti-Richard Stallman (RMS) Cancellist
"About the RMS cancellation"
Richard Stallman (RMS) Has Announced His Talk in Rome Less Than 20 Hours in Advance (and on a Sunday)
Why did he wait until the night before?
GNU Tools Cauldron Event in Portugal: Videos Now Available via Invidious
Go have a look
Slopwatch: GNU/Linux Sites That Became Slopfarms and Spamfarms
The Web is a mess and "Linux" or "Ubuntu" sites became part of the problem
Richard Stallman's Talk 25 Hours Away, Aula Magna Palazzo del Rettorato (CU001), Sapienza Università di Roma (Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5)
The talk is 25 hours away and we see some QR code for it
Gemini Links 12/10/2025: Watches, the Depression of 2026, Gamboling with Odds
Links for the day
Links 12/10/2025: 'False' DMCA Claims and Slop Facing Perils Again (the Hype Wears Off)
Links for the day
Microsoft Has Just Lost Privacy Case in Austria and Its Latest Moves Make a Complete Ban Seem Imperative
Microsoft is not a software company, it's a spying agency that uses software to collect data
The Register MS: Microsoft is the Security Expert, Not the Prime Culprit, So Buy More Microsoft
This front page feature is devoid of any actual substance, it's just Microsoft copypasta
Stefano Zacchiroli (Zack) & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Lucas Nussbaum & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 12/10/2025: "Palm Computering", Further Exploration of Slide Rules, and Key Takeaways from The Well-Grounded Rubyist
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 11, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 11, 2025
Tomorrow: Founder of the Free Software Foundation and of GNU/Linux, Richard Stallman, Speaks in Roma (Rome), Italy at 4PM
GNU/Linux is more important than ever in this dystopian world
Microsoft and Apple Are Rare Topics in Geminispace
in Geminispace it's rather safe to assume everyone is into BSD, GNU/Linux, and sometimes retro
Qualcomm and Manchester United Appear to Have Dumped Microsoft (Qualcomm Now Invests More in Linux, Apparently)
It's a relief to no longer see Microsoft logos and brands on a local football club's gear (I'm not a Manchester United fan, but not a foe either)
As Guest of Honour in Rome, Founder of the Free Software Foundation to Speak ("Distinguished Lecture") After Introduction by Leonardo Querzoni
Happy hacking...
All Things Open is Proprietary
The OSI has become a front group of proprietary software openwashers, led and sponsored by proprietary giants
When Microsoft Lays Off Lots of Workers They Say It "Invests in AI" (a Lie), Now It's "Reshuffles" or "Microsoft Tightens"
Microsoft "news" by bots
"I saw Richard Stallman give a talk in the mid 80s, which began my fear and loathing of software patents" and "Richard Stallman was always right."
"By betraying the legacy of our ancestors, we’ve set ourselves on a path toward self-destruction — moral, intellectual, economic, and ultimately biological."
There Were Several Waves of Microsoft Shanghai Layoffs in 2025, Western Media Continues to Turn a Blind Eye to Chinese Layoffs of an Epic Scale
Sometimes select Taiwanese news sites (published in English) or automated translations are all we have
Brett Wilson LLP Spreads Trumpism to the United Kingdom, Looking to Profit From 'Legal Colonialism' (Overriding Sovereignty)
There's growing recognition of this conundrum worldwide
The Demise of Shopping in Person
In a world like this, how valued is the customer?
This Past Friday, "Nearly 700 People Came to Listen to RMS!" (Richard Stallman)
"Nearly 700 people came to listen to RMS!"
Distinguished Lecture by Richard Stallman This Coming Monday in Rome
After "Free software, Crucial for Freedom in a Digital World"
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT Churning Out Plagiarism and the Slopfarm LinuxSecurity Turns to Pseudonyms
Our hunch is, UbuntuPIT will sooner or later realise that this toxic approach is just harming UbuntuPIT and tainting the reputation of past articles
The Lawsuit by Clients of Brett Wilson LLP Against Brett Wilson LLP is Officially On, It is Progressing, The 'Experts' Pick Outside Law Firms (RPC and Mills & Reeve) to Spare Them From Litigants in Person
So it is probably quite potent
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: Nyctography, Gerrymandering, and Lurking
Links for the day
The 'Culture Wars' in Free Software Have Gone Out of Control
Social control media amplifies such utterly infantile discourse
Teaser: To Compensate for the Fact Our Clients Are Terrible Human Beings Who Strangle Women (While on Microsoft's Payroll) and We Get Paid by Mystery Parties We Bombard You and Your Wife With Almost 10 Kilograms of Legal Papers
If you can't win an argument, then drown the other side with papers?
Links 11/10/2025: World Mental Health Day 2025, Another European Legal Defeat for Microsoft 360
Links for the day
MIT Technology Review is Part-Time SPAMfarm of Billionaires and Mega-Corporations
Does MIT operate its own "b2b" SPAMfarm?
Open Source Initiative Executive Director Leaves, Replacement Sought by Monopolists, Not the Community or OSI Members
Serves to show who runs this show...
Links 11/10/2025: China-US Tensions Grow Again, "Hey Hi" More Widely Recognised as Bubble Made of Capital That Doesn't Exist
Links for the day
Now Confirmed in Western Media: Microsoft Azure Layoffs This Month
Affirmed by more sources moments ago
Peter O'Callaghan QC represented grandparents, Westernport Hotel, at Liquor Royal Commission
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Either The Register MS Divests From FOSS Coverage or Liam Proven is on Long Holiday
Publishers perish when their audience loses trust in them
Microsoft Cancelling Another Datacentre is a Sign of Financial Trouble and Lack of Growth
The debt continues to grow
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: An Evening at the Fair and Fast Fourier Friday
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 10, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 10, 2025