Bonum Certa Men Certa

European Patent Office: Administrative Council gives the President a bollocking

European Patent Office: Administrative Council gives the President a bollocking



The Administrative Council of the European Patent Office shows its displeasure with the President of the institution, but does not oblige him to reverse or review decisions.

Before the latest meeting of the Administrative Council (AC) of the European Patent Office (EPO), the AC's chairman Jesper Kongstad had expressed annoyance at€ the way EPO President Benoît Battistelli dealt with the staff. He demanded that the recent dismissals and disciplinary measures against leaders of the EPO union SUEPO€ be subjected to independent review.

Such interventions are now off the table, following the conclusion of the two-day meeting of the AC. While€ the Administrative Council makes clear that it does not endorse Battistelli's actions, it nevertheless does not intend to review his decisions. The AC asks the EPO President to ensure in future that his disciplinary measures are seen to be fair, and "to consider" submitting them to external assessors or mediation tribunals for review.

Battistelli to reach agreement with the unions

According to the AC resolution, the staff regulations should be amended, in particular concerning the internal Investigation Unit (IU). Battistelli based his controversial suspension of a patent judge and dismissal of union leaders on work carried out by the Investigation Unit, which had installed keyloggers in publicly-accessible computers at the EPO to track down a person allegedly defaming the Office.

Battistelli must also agree rules for cooperation with both EPO unions. At the beginning of March 2016, the President made a great song and dance of€ reaching such an agreement, while forgetting to mention that the union in question represented fewer than€ 100 of the more than 6000 EPO employees. SUEPO, with 3400 members, has so far refused to sign the document, which stipulates inter alia that the union must submit to the internal rules of the EPO - rules which can be unilaterally amended by the Office.

Criticism of efficiency measures and working conditions

A dispute has long been bubbling under at the EPO regarding Battistelli's drive for efficiency gains, and the related working conditions. Patent examiners are critical of the project, because quickly-granted patents may not have been examined thoroughly, and may therefore be vulnerable to legal challenge. Since 2012, the patent examiners have been resisting€ plans to pay bonuses out of the Office's revenue surplus€ on the grounds that this gives a false motivation for granting patents. The Office's surplus at that time was 89 Million Euros; this had almost doubled by 2015.

According€ to EPO rules, employees who are ill must be at their home address from 10am to 12am and 2pm to 4pm every day of their sickness leave. The EPO reserves the right to check on the employee by sending a doctor to visit. An employee who is summoned to a meeting with the internal Investigation Unit is permitted neither to remain silent nor to be accompanied by a legal representative.

The European Patent Office has 38 member countries, including non-EU members such as Turkey and Switzerland. As a supranational organisation, it is not bound by any national law. Its employees therefore do not have the option of taking the EPO to a tribunal in the country where they work, or in their country of origin. In the first instance they must rely on internal procedures, and their only route for filing a formal complaint is at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva. The procedure at the ILO can last up to ten years, and€ the ILO complained in 2015 that it has been flooded with EPO complaints.€ (ck)






Update (30/3/2016): another translation of this article was published by SUEPO later on [PDF].

Recent Techrights' Posts

Representing and Speaking for Animals
If I ever choose to take this matter to tribunal with animals-centric NGOs on my side, it'll get some press coverage for sure
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
How Not to Build Software
code forges that need a Web browser perhaps fill some 'niche' demand
GAFAM and "MATA"
The use of dark humour there hopefully helps illuminate what a lot of "modern" technology became like and how it interacts with human civilisation (to what ends and whose gain)
Flying in 2025
worse than ever before
The UEFI 9/11 - Part III - Chaos is Scheduled to Happen Second Thursday of September (No Matter What the Microsofters Tell You)
The clock is ticking
Downplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
 
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago
The Slopfarm WebProNews Has Turned Google News Into a Laughing Stock Full of Plagiarism by Slop
If Google News dies of neglect, that's one thing. It's starting to seem like active neglect by Google is a form of participation.
Do What is Moral, as What's Legal Isn't Always Moral
Do what's objectively moral, no matter the costs and the risks
Slopwatch: Google News Assisting Plagiarism and Anti-Linux FUD, Serial Slopper Rips Off Linux-Centric Journalists
This makes the Web a much worse place and lessens the incentive to do journalism
Links 30/08/2025: NVIDIA Fakes Results to Hide a Bubble Already in Implosion Phase, Data Breaches Galore, Important Win for Workers' Union in Canada
Links for the day
In Kazakhstan, Yandex Estimated to be 20 Times Bigger Than Microsoft
Bing is measured as down this month
Shutterstock Not Enough? The Register MS Uses Slop Images in Articles (Seemingly More and More Over Time)
Cost-saving trajectory amid office shutdown?
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Games, PostmarketOS, and Slop
Links for the day
Links 30/08/2025: Imgur Uproar and Many Ukraine Updates (Mediazona Reports Over 200,000 Russians Died for Putin)
Links for the day
Birds Are Not "Pests and Vermin", Privacy is Not a Crime, and GNU/Linux is Not 'Hacking Platform'
I could not help but think of Free software analogies
The Sites Should Be Very Fast Again
That issue is now resolved
Activists, Including Technical Activists, Need Not Pursue Affirmation
Techrights doesn't play or participate in a "popularity contest"
Government Sites Should Run Free Software
Not proprietary bloatware with buzzwords
LLM Slopfarms Take No Breaks
When people run sites by bots they don't need to worry about "breaks"
GNOME Having a Meltdown Again
Thanks and farewell to Steven Deobald
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Low Tech and Hunchbin 1.0.6
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 29, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 29, 2025
Financiers and Sponsors of the Slop Hype (Pyramid Scheme Waiting to End, Bubble That Will Inevitably Implode)
It's also burning the planet
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Google Helps Ponzi Schemes and Slopfarms in Google News
Slopfarms are a real pain
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Retiring at 62 and URL Filtering HTTP(S) Proxy on Qubes OS
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Lisa Cook Sues Convicted Felon and Backdoor Mandate in UK Resisted
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Arti 1.5.0, War on Public Health (CDC), and Slop 'Bros' Made to Pay for Their Mass Plagiarism
Links for the day
No, 4Chan is Not Fighting for You by Lawyering Up Against Ofcom (UK)
Don't mistake proto-fascists for people who "fight for you". They don't.
In Many Places in the World Vista 11 "Market Share" is Going Down, Not Up
In some countries Windows is already down to third place or lower
More Microsoft-Connected Layoffs, at Least Third Time This Month! (Also Another Death on Campus)
Microsoft as a "gaming" company is where studios, projects, games, and even developers come to die
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Slop Images in VentureBeat, Linux Foundation Spam Made With LLM Slop and Slop Images
The only relief or upside - if any exists - is that the pace of slop was down a bit this week
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 28, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 28, 2025
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Poems, Games, and Java 25 Performance
Links for the day