Bonum Certa Men Certa

German Broadcaster on European Patent Office (EPO) Preferential Treatment for Microsoft and Others

EPO headquarters



Summary: The EPO's discriminatory practice when it comes to patent examination -- a practice that began after Microsoft had pressured the EPO -- is now mainstream news in Germany

SEVERAL days ago, the Bavarian Munich-based public-service radio and television broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk (established in 1924), which boasts a circulation of very many people, covered and commented on one of the latest among many EPO scandals. It's so close to the EPO's headquarters that management of the EPO cannot simply ignore this, or hope that the bad publicity will go away.



English and French translations of the article from Bayerischer Rundfunk have been published by SUEPO and we have made a copy in case the EPO's management attempts takedown (with legal threats), as it has done so before to SUEPO. Takedown efforts tend to have the inverse/opposite effect, as the Streisand Effect serves to remind us all.

Here is the English translation of the report [PDF]:

European Patent Office: Preferential treatment for Microsoft, Canon & Co.



Microsoft and nine other major clients are said to be in line for a “better service” as part of a pilot project at the European Patent Office, according to an internal memo leaked by the "Techrights" blog.

By: Roland Münzel

Status: 13.10.2015

Among the big names who can expect preferential treatment from the European Patent Office (EPO) are BASF, Bayer, Canon, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Microsoft, Philips, Qualcomm and Siemens. Whether Huawei and Samsung will join them is still undecided.

Preferential treatment for big businesses



The planned special treatment for the companies named was leaked from an internal EPO memo dating from February 2015, which the Techrights blog has now posted on the Net. According to this, the Patent Office is aiming to run a pilot project from April 2016 initially with ten major clients for a year, providing them with an improved "Esprit de Service", so as to strengthen the bonds with them.

Chosen because of close contacts



The leaked document indicates that the reason behind this is that the companies listed were among the biggest applicants for patents in 2013. The range extends from 600 applications from Microsoft to 2,833 from Samsung. The selection was apparently based on the “strength of the existing contacts”, which should make rapid implementation of the pilot project easier. More companies could then reap the benefits of the project in the second half of 2016.

Patent applications put on hold for extended periods



The memo implies that the EPO department involved with information and communications technologies is behind the project. Microsoft have apparently lodged complaints there about 450 patent applications which it seems have not been dealt with for a considerable period of time. Canon are also said to have referred to applications which have been “blatantly delayed”.

"Techrights" publishes an internal EPO-Memo [techrights.org]


SUEPO says that "JUVE reports on the decision of the Administrative Council (AC) to refer the disciplinary case of the suspended member of the Boards of Appeal (BoA) to the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA). The AC did not follow the proposal of Mr Battistelli, which was in flagrant breach of Art. 23(1) EPC, to fire the suspended member.

"The social conflict has escalated further with the investigation in relation to a complaint filed with the Investigative Unit (IU) by Elodie Bergot, Principal Director Human Resources, against staff representatives and accusing Elizabeth Hardon, Munich Chair of SUEPO and the Local Staff Committee."

The EPO's ringleader, Mr. Battistelli, wanted to break the law again. But this time he failed. It doesn't mean that he has quit trying; right now he and his goons are attacking this suspended member of the Boards of Appeal with gross character assassination, having done similar things to damage the dignity and reputation of Elizabeth Hardon, who has served the Office for nearly 30 years. In the process of this bullying they also seriously harmed her health, based on a letter she sent. Battistelli and his ilk should be held legally accountable for this.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Bankruptcy
"Microsoft unit in Russia to file for bankruptcy, database shows"
Techrights Does Not Compete With LLM Slop, It Exposes the Bastards, Plagiarists and Scammers Who Do That
People like Scam Altman, still facing a lawsuit from his own sister for sexual abuse against her
 
Links 01/06/2025: Windows TCO, Openwashing, "It's FOSS" Still Promoting Microsoft
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/06/2025: Simplification and Networks Everywhere
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 31, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, May 31, 2025
Google Bribes EFF. EFF Promotes LLM Slop as 'Fair Use'. To GAFAM It's a Low-Cost Lobby Hedge.
So the bribes pay off ("slush fund") and the word spreads
Slopwatch: Fake Text and Images, Financial Bubbles, and Scams in "Intelligent" Clothing
Sometimes what they mean by "AI" is just cheap labour somewhere else, as we discussed in IRC a few hours ago
Why Microsoft is Collapsing (Similar to What's Happening at IBM), As Insiders See It
IBM seems like one heck of a mess
Reliable Computing Means Free (Libre) Computing
Sites that want to promote security ought to deal with the biggest issues
Links 31/05/2025: US Court Orders Sides With RFE/RL, War Updates From Ukraine
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/05/2025: ARM Server and power_supply Subsystem
Links for the day
Links 31/05/2025: Slop Stigmatised as Disinformation, Catalyst/Driver of "Death of Communication"
Links for the day
Common Sense 101: Do Not Write Blog Posts Saying You Want to Murder Colleagues (or Yourself)
Only crazy people would think stabbings are a joke
Links 31/05/2025: Microsoft-Connected Builder.ai is a Fraud and US is Purging Students Based on Race/Nationality
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/05/2025: Limmat, Doomscrollers, and Arguments Parsing
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 30, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, May 30, 2025
The "AI" (Slop) Bubble Already Popped, But It's Not an Overnight Collapse
where Microsoft put its money
No More Steven Astorino at IBM, Chatter About Weekly/Nonstop Layoffs at IBM
What happened? Good luck guessing.
Looking at Corruption in Europe, Going Beyond the EPO
Expect a new series to kick off very soon
Slopwatch: Security SPAM and LLM Slop for SEO and FUD Purposes, Perpetually Tarnishing the Perception of Linux and (Open)SSH Security
A lot of this Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD) comes from Microsoft and its LLMs
Links 30/05/2025: Google's LLM Slop Pushers Are Killing Journalism and Shira Perlmutter Fails to Stop Bribed Regime From Legalising Plagiarism (in "AI" Clothing)
Links for the day
Links 30/05/2025: Offline Arts and "Threshold of Patience"
Links for the day
Signing Off Serious Lies With a Statement of Truth is No Joking Matter
It's not hard to see what's happening here
Links 30/05/2025: LLM Slop Already Ingests and Vomits Its Own Garbage, Facebook Exec Admits Copyrights a Concern Too
Links for the day
Mass Layoffs at Microsoft Result in More Whistleblowers From Microsoft
Microsoft's predatory pricing is further
Slopwatch: Planet Ubuntu Became LLM Slop and Some People Fail to See the Immorality of Plagiarism
it lessens the incentive for people to publish real articles
EPO Poll: 68% Dissatisfied With Quality of Slop (Wrongly Framed as "AI") for Patent Classification
Slop does not work, it's just falsely advertised with extra hype (funded by slop pushers that sponsor the major media)
Big Crowds Gather to Learn About Software Freedom From the Man Who Started GNU/Linux in 1983
"It was a great success"
Microsoft Layoffs Again in Bay Area
Microsoft relies on people's false belief that being "in LinkedIn" will get you a job; well, seems like even working inside LinkedIn really sucks and you lose the job
Gemini Links 30/05/2025: Fighting Against the Bad News, and Slop is Dehumanisation Disguised as "Intelligence"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 29, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, May 29, 2025