Bonum Certa Men Certa

Translation of Latest Rant From French MP Philip Cordery About Benoît Battistelli's Abuses at the EPO

The likes of Laurent Prunier may still have someone to turn to

Philip Cordery



Summary: Philip Cordery crosses horns with Benoît Battistelli, who has become a source of embarrassment for France with his autocratic tendencies and misguided policies that rapidly ruin the European Patent Office (EPO)

AS we noted here last week and the week before that, a French politician had intervened and supported EPO protesters. He is not Pierre-Yves Le Borgn’, the politician who represents or is responsible for French staff working abroad (usually in Europe/EU, not overseas) but another one, whom we also wrote about in the past [1, 2]. He wrote about the subject earlier this month.



Earlier today on we asked if someone can translate from French (to English) for Techrights to publish. Petra Kramer is a Dutch speaker who understands EPO terminology, so she provided the following imperfect translation:

On October 13, I was backed some 600 employees of the European Patent Office (EPO) marching peacefully through the streets of The Hague to express dissatisfaction with the authoritarian and arbitrary management of the organization.

Unhealthy production pressure, drastic limitation of the right to strike, varied threats of sanctions, Trade union representatives of staff laid off. This is the daily life in this international organization that has been abusively hiding for 3 years behind the functional immunity to violate with impunity basic and fundamental principles of labor law.

The EPO, like many other international organizations, enjoys immunity from jurisdiction and execution that no law or decision can be imposed, in order to guard against any national interference, this part the performance of his duties (i.e. Batistelli's mission to impose patent maximalism and increasing of production thereby lowering patent quality, PK) . Immunity as the main official, the French President Benoît Battistelli brandished as a defense. However, as I have said and repeated many times: "Immunity should not mean impunity."

I prefer to speak of the EPO which is at the heart of this mission, that is to say, a great organization of which all employees are devoted to the service of industry and innovation in Europe for almost 40 years, including the seriousness of their work is a measure of competence in the highly demanding business of intellectual property rights. Unfortunately, the social pressure coupled with the brutal imposition of ever higher productivity of recent years finally rub off on the quality of the work, the risk ultimately seriously affects the trust of users.

In this poisonous atmosphere and anxiety, I went several times to The Hague to support staff there. I stood face to face with many staff members who informed me all about what happens behind the beautiful facade of this organization. I interacted tirelessly for 3 years with the French authorities to alert them of the industrial, social, and moral implications.

The latest developments are both disturbing and unacceptable. In January, three staff representatives were dismissed or degraded in Munich. Today is the turn of those from The Hague to be under threat. It may be a coincidence. This hunt on representatives of all members of staff of the majority union is unworthy of an organization in a democratic country.

The governance [or mismanagement, PK] of the management team is not only a pain for staff and limiting the effectiveness of the EPO, it has also has become long overdue to intervene for the image of France in Europe and the world. Enough is enough. Battistelli has to go.

NB. I was forced to blur the photo to protect employees who have had the courage to come to the event.


This is similar to what he also posted in Facebook (and we quoted here before). Kramer asked how to reform the Office [1, 2], but this is a question best addressed at actual EPO staff, not clueless management that forms Battistelli's circle. My personal view is that i) patent scope must be tightened, ii) appeal boards strengthened/broadened (to help with (i)), iii) the Administrative Council needs to be flushed (particularly at the top) to ensure it's not in the pocket of the Office, iv) the whole of Team Battistelli needs to be dismissed and v) the Office should seek to recruit lost staff and attract new talent while making their unions stronger and recognising that the Office should be staff-driven, not Battistelli-driven. All of these changes would bring the EPO closer in line with the law, with the EPC, and with human dignity.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Comparing U.E.F.I. to B.I.O.S. (Bloat and Insecurity to K.I.S.S.)
By Sami Tikkanen
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
 
People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
And recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 18, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 18, 2024
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
Links for the day
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 17, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Links 17/03/2024: Microsoft Windows Shoves Ads Into Third-Party Software, More Countries Explore TikTok Ban
Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 16, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, March 16, 2024
Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
Suffice to say, we're not meaning to imply Taliban is "good"
Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day