Stubbornly independent back in 2013, but by 2018 the Slovenian delegation had been well and truly "captured" by Team Battistelli.
As mentioned in the last part, Vojko Toman was appointed as Director of the URSIL on an ad interim basis in September 2015. His appointment for a five year tenure was subsequently confirmed in September of the following year.
"Toman is something of a "dark horse". It is difficult to find much information about what he did before he was appointed as Director of the URSIL."All that is known for certain is that Toman obtained a doctorate from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana in 2013. The title of his dissertation was "Creating a vision and its impact on the success of Slovenian companies".
As Toman was settling down to his new job at the head of the URSIL, the controversy surrounding SAZAS continued to attract significant public attention in Slovenia.
In December 2015, it was reported by the state broadcaster RTV Slovenija, that SAZAS management was under investigation on suspicion of money laundering and abuse of office. According to the report, criminal investigators carried out house searches and seizures of evidence at six locations.
In the course of the following year, the SAZAS affair received regular coverage in the Slovenian media, in particular thanks to the efforts of journalist Anja HrešÃÂak who published a series of critical articles in Dnevnik throughout 2016.
"In the course of the following year, the SAZAS affair received regular coverage in the Slovenian media, in particular thanks to the efforts of journalist Anja HrešÃÂak who published a series of critical articles in Dnevnik throughout 2016."In an article published in November 2016, HrešÃÂak explained how SAZAS had - by its own admission - collected over €30 million in retransmission fees from cable TV operators. Instead of being distributed to the Slovenian directors and producers who were entitled to receive them, the bulk of these fees were transferred - apparently without any legal authority - to AGICOA in Switzerland. SAZAS itself pocketed around 10% of the amount involved in the form of €3 million attributed to "operating costs".
The article recalled how Jurij Žurej's earlier attempts to investigate these matters after he became head of the URSIL in 2010 had led to the premature termination of his appointment in April 2012.
When the new Director, Vojko Toman, was approached for comment, his response was the usual "three wise monkeys" guff:
"According to my information, there were no suspicions of irregularities," said Vojko Toman , director of the Intellectual Property Office (URSIL), which has supervisory authority - in this case over SAZAS.
[PDF]
[PDF] and the lawsuit [PDF] are available.
"This important media coverage prompted the centre-right opposition party SLS to question the incomprehensible lack of action on the part of the URSIL and its supervising minister Zdravko PoÃÂivalšek."More recently in April 2021, it was reported that SAZAS has been trying to cash in on the Covid pandemic by extorting fees for online concerts, thereby attempting to profiteer on the backs of already impoverished performers and organisers.
Meanwhile, over at the URSIL, the installation of Vojko Toman as Director seems to have ushered in a new era of "stability" at the national "IP" office but it hasn't necessarily been for the better.
One indication of the decline in standards during Toman's tenure is provided by the state of URSIL's official website. That website, which used to be well-maintained, seems to have become a bit run-down on his watch.
For example, the "History" page contains detailed information about events prior to 2015, including the appointments of previous Directors. However, there doesn't appear to have been any update since Toman's appointment as ad interim Director in September 2015. As a matter of fact, the subsequent confirmation of his appointment for a five-year tenure in 2016 doesn't even get a mention. Archive here. [PDF]
"One indication of the decline in standards during Toman's tenure is provided by the state of URSIL's official website. That website, which used to be well-maintained, seems to have become a bit run-down on his watch."In addition to this, the English language section of the website doesn't appear to have been updated during Toman's tenure. The last annual report posted there is the one for 2011 which was signed off by Luka Novak. It's necessary to go to the Slovenian section of the website to find a full listing of the annual reports.
Meanwhile, on the Administrative Council of the EPO, the Slovenian delegation under Toman appears to have been well and truly "captured" by Battistelli from 2015 onwards.
Any doubts that may have existed on that front were dispelled in May 2018 when Slovenia was chosen to host the EPO's 2018 PATLIB conference. (warning: epo.org link) Archive here. [PDF]
Toman was on the ground in Ljubljana to greet Battistelli and to "thank the EPO for organising the event in Slovenia".
Captured at last... Battistelli with Vojko Toman in Ljubljana in May 2018.
Battistelli posing for a photo-op with Vojko Toman and State Secretary Eva Ã
 travs Podlogar in Ljubljana in May 2018
"The EPO President also stressed the importance of a full completion of ratification of the UPC Agreement by Slovenia, not least because Ljubljana will host one of the seats of the new court's Mediation and Arbitration Centre."
"Battistelli used the occasion to pose for photo-ops with Toman and the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Eva Ã
 travs Podlogar."Žvokelj Jazbinšek was formerly a senior official of the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology. She doesn't appear to have much background in "IP" but she did hit the headlines in Slovenia back in 2017 when she became embroiled in a "conflict of interest" controversy. Archived translation here. [PDF]
At the time in question Žvokelj Jazbinšek headed the "Development Funds Service" at the Ministry of Economic Development. This was the government department responsible for the disbursement of EU development funds. At the same time, together with her husband Miha Jazbinšek, she was co-owner of a private company MK Projekt Ltd., which advised other companies on how to obtain these EU funds.
By a curious coincidence, MK Projekt Ltd. was awarded a lucrative contract by the Ministry of Economic Development for a project to carry out an evaluation on the use of EU funds in Slovenia.
Karin Žvokelj Jazbinšek and her husband Miha Jazbinšek became embroiled in a "conflict of interest" controversy over their jointly- owned consultancy company MK Projekt.
"Even if the UPC hasn't quite managed to open for business yet, it's nice to know what exactly Toman and his political masters in Ljubljana were promised by Battistelli in return for their support of his shenanigans at the EPO."Some time later in October 2019, Žvokelj Jazbinšek was appointed as deputy director of SPIRIT Slovenia, a government "business development agency" whose remit includes "Entrepreneurship, Internationalization, Foreign Investments and Technology".
This was the position that she held immediately prior to her current appointment as "acting director" of the URSIL.
The new head of the Slovenian delegation on the EPO's Administrative Council: Karin Žvokelj Jazbinšek.
Will she be an independent voice or turn out to be just another "captured delegate"?
"In the international arena, it remains to be seen what contribution - if any - the new head of the Slovenian delegation will be capable of making to the affairs of the EPO's Administrative Council."In particular, it will be interesting to see whether she will follow in the footsteps of her immediate predecessor Vojko Toman as a "captured" delegate or whether she will attempt to pursue a more independent line like Toman's predecessor Vesna Stanković JuriÃÂić.
That concludes our examination of the Slovenian delegation and how it ended up on the slippery slope to "capture" by Team Battistelli.
In the next part, we will look at the remaining "abstentionist" delegation from Italy. ⬆