Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO and the Art of Distraction, Disinformation

Photo ops distract from the big story of the day (the protest)

Monaco and EPO



Summary: A look at poor coverage (if any coverage) of the EPO protest that took place yesterday

THE previous post attempted to make a permanent visual record of yesterday's EPO protest, which a high proportion of EPO staff attended in the cold weather. To EPO management, however, the day marked another 'milestone' (if holding a piece of paper counts for that).



As usual, the EPO 'forgot' to mention yesterday's much bigger news (they even found time to promote trade deals on the face of it*). It said nothing about the massive staff protest and instead 'manufactured' some news that it even posted under the "news" section (warning: epo.org links can be tracked). As we've repeatedly noted here before, Benoît Battistelli seems to be able to agree only with tiny countries and/or corrupt countries these days. When did we last see Benoît Battistelli posing with a reputable political leader of a large state? Think about it. The EPO's PR team is still living in an intoxicating fantasy world where staff on strike or in protest is not newsworthy but a Battistelli photo op (as above) is major news. It's not a major country (a tiny tax haven) and patent searches are not a big deal. It's almost like the whole 'report' was staged to distract.

Speaking of a fantasy world, check out this terrible new article from Dutch media. As Petra Kramer put it, "it's a watered down, untruthful story. It claims that Van Dam made EPO negotiate with FNV."

"I translated and commented on the sorry piece of yellow journalism," she added and later she said "I do believe they need a burn. They claim to by Rijswijk, for Rijswijk but they're clearly biased against SUEPO."

Here is the story in English, with corrections by Petra Kramer (PK):

European Patent Office workers take action against director



On Square 1813 in The Hague, employees of the European Patent Office in Rijswijk campaigned against their director Benoît Battistelli. The man allegedly causes a bad atmosphere within the company.

In a previous protest two employees were fired ["not true, the protest was a response to dismissals, not the cause of it" -PK]. It didn't stop some colleagues ["some colleagues means over 400 of them" -PK) to keep protesting against the "tyrant," as the director of the EPA is called internally. According to trade union FNV there is a culture of fear within the company. Even though the director denies this. Martijn van Dam State, the Secretary of Economic Affairs in April ensured that the leadership of the EPO is to engage in talks with the FNV. ["Bullshit, FNV stands up in solidarity with SUEPO, FNV has no direct relation with EPO and Martijn van Dam did not convince Batistelli to recognize SUEPO as a union, SUEPO fought hard for that" -PK] Those talks were difficult.

Currently the EPA one is engaged in a reorganization and expansion/renovation of the entire building.



Who benefits from such an inaccurate story?

Speaking of inaccuracies, IP Kat comments are full of them this week. In an effort to filter out the noise (to retrieve information) and reading of responses to such noise we found not much of the information we looked for, as it's also off topic. The EPO's President "BB rather prefers to continue to use the Inquisition!" one person wrote. Here is that comment:

In the AC the British and Danish, Chairman and delegates may propose, and this based on their state religions, to house the Investigation Unit in a chapel with some confession boxes where they can hear the SR’s confessions and offer in silence forgiveness. BB rather prefers to continue to use the Inquisition! ...the accused in the Inquisition was never allowed to see the face of his accuser, or of the witnesses against him, but every method is taken by threats and tortures, to oblige him to accuse himself, and by that means corroborate their evidence.


"In some complex fields, mine included, we now have less than 2 days per product," another person noted, reinforcing what we already know about quality issues at the EPO under Battistelli. ______ * Found via EPO recommendation in Twitter was this article about "trade liberalisation," which has a section on "Using patents to measure innovation and country exposure". What next from the EPO? TPP and CETA advocacy? In addition to UPC?

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Cindy Cohn Leaving the Electronic Frontier Foundation While Its Co-founder John Gilmore, Whom She Apparently Helped Oust, Will Celebrate 40 Years of the Free Software Foundation, Inc.
EFF has been busy hoarding GAFAM money, whereas the latter is where all the real activism is done
"Google is Googlebombing KDE's Project Banana"
So is Google googlebombing KDE's Project Banana? You decide.
Some Very Large IRC Networks Are Growing
IRC will turn 38 next year
What Ruben Amorim and Stefano Maffulli Have in Common
Censors Wikipedia and Social Control Media
Microsoft Won't Cooperate in Trying to Tackle EPO Corruption (Microsoft Profits From This Corruption)
Use something like BigBlueButton, Jami, Ring, and Jitsi instead
We Are Sad to Hear the Story of Jonathan Riddell, Champion of KDE and GNU/Linux on Desktops/Laptops
I have enormous respect for Jonathan and everything he has done
 
"Governments, local authorities, schools and hospitals can lead by example by procuring only Free Software"
Crossposted from Tux Machines
The Reach of Techrights Has Broadened
We nowadays cover a broader range of issues
Complicating Things for No Actual Benefit, Just Added Risk and More Difficulties Adding GNU/Linux and BSDs
Watch what it's like for people who wish to use BSDs
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 15, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 15, 2025
Links 16/09/2025: Autumn Party, RPG Planet, and Optical ROOPHLOCH
Links for the day
Geminispace Growing at Pace of Over 10% Per Year
Contrary to what some pessimists try to claim
Linux Mint Forums Today: Disable 'Secure Boot', It Doesn't Improve Security, It's Just a Microsoft Obstacle to GNU/Linux Users
They also mention MOK
Solved Less Than an Hour Ago: Trying to Escape Windows, 'Secure Boot' Gets in the Way
'Secure Boot' wasn't meant to even exist in the first place
Stefano Maffulli, Executive Director of the Open Source Initiative, Resigns or Gets Removed (We'll Continue Covering OSI Scandals)
A dozen mentions of "AI", not much about "Open Source"
Andy Has Just Nailed It (Regarding Complexity and Failure, a la UEFI)
The users no longer own or control what they buy
Compatibility Support Module (CSM) Versus GNU/Linux Simplicity
what Andy recently called "solutionism"
Links 15/09/2025: "Postal Traffic to US Down by Over 80%" and 'Smart' Spinozacampus Laundry Room Goes AWOL
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/09/2025: Dungeon Hustle and Deleting Oneself From the Net
Links for the day
Breach of EPO's Duty of Care or Cigna Reimbursement Issues
This is the sort of thing that motivated Luigi Mangione to assassinate a CEO
Ask Ubuntu About "Secure Boot" Violation and Laptops That Don't Boot GNU/Linux
Does anyone still believe that "Secure Boot" has anything at all to do with security?
Talking About the Problem vs Talking to the Problem
Wanting an audience is never a good excuse for compromising one's values and principles
Focusing on Patents
The reason we cover the EPO so much is that it's close to home
"Secure Boot Violation": The 'Joys' of Fake Security Gone Wrong
Not everyone reboots every day
Links 15/09/2025: Russia Invades Romanian Airspace, Penske Media Sues Google Over LLM Slop
Links for the day
Links 15/09/2025: Bitcoin ATMs Scam and "Conservative Cryptography" (Backdoors Fantasies)
Links for the day
EPO Imitates Microsoft: "Three Days or More Per Week" Inside the Office to Get a Desk to Work on; "the Office Breaches Its Promise Towards Staff and Acts in Breach of Its Duty of Care"
The EPO serves no actual function in Europe
Links 15/09/2025: Political Affairs, Censorship, and Copyrights
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/09/2025: Music Genres, Invisible Networks, and Akademy 2025
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 14, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 14, 2025
Satya's Plan B: Try to Hide the Massive Extent/Scale/Scope of Microsoft Layoffs
fewer people buy Microsoft
Red Hat News About De Facto Mass Layoffs (Bluewashing) Gone From Reddit (Censored by Gatekeepers), Still Online in The Register
With RTOs, PIPs, relocation etc. expect IBM to "shed off" many Red Hatters
UEFI "Secure Boot Doesn’t Play Nice at the Moment"
UEFI "Secure Boot" does not improve security. It's an artificial obstacle in service of monopoly.
Gemini Links 14/09/2025: ROOPHLOCH, Music, and Reddit
Links for the day
If You Want to "make your 'Windows PC' lean, mean, and fast" You Will Install GNU/Linux or Some BSD
That kind of article says a lot about IDG
Slopwatch: Google News Infested With Slop (About Half of the Results for "Linux" Today)
This is the sort of junk one finds when looking for "Linux" in Google News these days
Links 14/09/2025: Ricky Hatton Dies and McDonald's Declares War on Tipping Culture
Links for the day
Links 14/09/2025: Disasters for CEOs Obsessed With Slop and Slop Companies School Like Fish
Links for the day
"Bad Shim Signature" (Microsoft 'Secure' Boot)
"Fresh install not booting"
What Microsoft Garrett and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
Similar tactics, different "wings"
Links 14/09/2025: US "Economy Sagging", "Michigan Economy Wobbles From Tariffs"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/09/2025: Minimalist Snippet Manager and Omarchy Linux
Links for the day
The Face of the Digital Far Right: Microsoft Lunduke
Microsoft Lunduke is an online extremist that belongs to and panders to the far right
20 Years Later and Academia Isn't the Same
"I never dreamed of being a professor"
'Cancel Culture' by the Right: Microsoft Lunduke Contacts People's Employers Trying to Get Them Fired
Microsoft Lunduke panders to extremists online
"Bad Shim Signature"; So 'Secure' That It Overrides Users' Preferences and Turns Itself Back on (Coercive Measure)
This was a few hours ago
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 13, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 13, 2025