Bonum Certa Men Certa

Ignore the Bristows UPC Echo Chamber, the UPC is Not Happening

Bristows LLP and EPO



Summary: Response to some of the latest UPC promotion, courtesy of some of the usual suspects, who stand to benefit financially if the UPC ever becomes a reality

THE MANY articles we have written about the UPC predate it even being called "UPC". We're no beginners and not mere speculators about it. I have personally written about it for many years. I have read thousands of articles about it, including quite a few papers. Over the past fortnight we have posted a 7-part series about the bizarre (totally nonsensical!) developments in the UK, namely:





"I have personally written about it for many years. I have read thousands of articles about it, including quite a few papers."The last couple of parts are very long. They are also the most important parts because they explain why the UPC cannot practically happen. Yesterday we added to all the above. UPC reassurances in the UK are believed -- at least by some -- to be a ploy or decoy, as we noted the other day, citing a valuable blog post almost nobody had noticed. After we mentioned this (just a couple of hours later) it quickly grew popular in social media sites (culminating yesterday afternoon) and then IAM too -- in spite of being a UPC and Battistelli pusher -- spotted this. A short while later it wrote: "Interesting & not beyond bounds of possibility: UK's UPC ratification announcement a ploy not a commitment ..."

Dr. Luke McDonagh, who didn't buy the latest nonsense from Lucy and May (we quoted him a lot in the 7-part series), wrote: "PM May's view 'We're not leaving only to return to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice' won't be true for a long time, if ever https://twitter.com/IndyPolitics/status/806814104870682624 …"

Later in the day Annsley Merelle Ward from Bristows, who habitually promotes the UPC at IP Kat (unrestrained optimism and misrepresentation irrespective of what's common sense), asked in her headline: "Will UK industry suffer from Government's 'ratify now, repent at leisure' UPC stance?"

"UPC reassurances in the UK are believed -- at least by some -- to be a ploy or decoy, as we noted the other day, citing a valuable blog post almost nobody had noticed."No, because it won't even ratify. Extremely unlikely. Forget about it.

"The AmeriKat agrees," she wrote about herself. "Given that the purpose of the UPC is to "enhance legal certainty" in the enforcement of patents (see Recital 5 of the UPCA), it would seem perverse that the UK's ratification of the UPC would result in increased uncertainty for industry post-Brexit in patent law."

But therein lies not the main issue. There are much more pressing issues that prevent the UPC from ever coming into force here. An associate of ours spoke to UKIP about it and it's possible that a petition too will be set up soon. The UPC is not going ANYWHERE. We wish to remind readers that this whole "unitary patent" charade (latest name among many) has been going on for many years and the EPO along with Team UPC (of which Bristows is a key part) lied repeatedly or was being internationally overoptimistic. They want their opposition to give us and descend to defeatism. They want politicians to believe that it's inevitable and thus they must participate. Truly malicious tactics...

"IP Federation is not "represent[ing] the views of UK industry in IP matters," as we already noted here twice before."Speaking of Bristows, a key participant of the UPC echo chamber that lobbies our government, watch this tweet linking to its blog that says: "Following the announcement of the UK’s intention to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement, the IP Federation (which represents the views of UK industry in IP matters) has published its response here. IP Federation recognises the potential benefits of the unitary patent and UPC system for industry and also of London hosting part of the Court’s central division. However, it also recognises that there is uncertainty over what will happen upon Brexit, because membership of the EU may (on one view) be essential to UPC membership, and because of the absence of any exit provisions in the UPCA. It therefore calls upon the UK and other contracting states “to work together urgently to enable the UK to stay in the system after Brexit and to prepare transitional provisions in case this is not possible”."

Bristows, you are drunk. IP Federation is not "represent[ing] the views of UK industry in IP matters," as we already noted here twice before [1, 2]. Calling IP Federation anything in relation to "UK industry" is like calling the MPAA representative of actors and RIAA and representative of musicians (rather than mere middlemen who exploit them).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Daniel Pocock as Independent Candidate, Now in The London Standard
"Daniel Pocock is an independent candidate."
Andy Burnham as National Leader Would be Excellent for Techrights
Burnham has envisioned a British "centre of power" (or gravity) that moves northwards, isn't concentrated in the southeast anymore
In Defence of Courts' Privacy Policies
If you want friends, go offline. Meet real people and share real experiences.
Why I Quit Academic Career (or Academia) Nearly 15 Years Ago
I am told by people who stayed that it has only gotten worse
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part XV - Nazi-Like Thinking at the European Patent Office (EPO) Not a Thing of the Past
antisemitism inside the EPO
Daniel Pocock Running for Office Again, Clacton-on-Sea By-election
By-election - code name "Pocock-on-Sea"
 
In Free Software, Nobody Gets Fired
Way to own one's code and project
PIP-Styled Mass Layoffs Allegedly Coming to Microsoft by 12 August 2026
Microsoft has been doing "silent layoffs" (PIPs and more) for quite some time
Daniel Pocock's Candidacy (Election of Member of Parliament) Mentioned in BBC and Over a Dozen News Sites Since Yesterday
Funnily enough, albeit not surprisingly, the same people who attack Pocock also attack us
Links 18/07/2026: Spotify Uses Slop Song Descriptions, "San Francisco Demands Removal of Nudify Apps"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 17, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, July 17, 2026
Gemini Links 18/07/2026: A Manifesto by The Dissident, Shokz Headphones, and Gemini Tinylog Reader (GTL)
Links for the day
IBM Already Tentatively Down for Next Week (Monday) After Its Worst-Ever Week
What a week for IBM!
Links 17/07/2026: Protests Erupt Throughout Ukraine and Anthropic Caught Secretly Spying on Users
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/07/2026: "Silence Doesn't Mean Abandoned", Revisiting PalmOS in 2026
Links for the day
Farage Out, Daniel Pocock in?
Can Pocock beat his previous voting record?
Layoffs at Microsoft Are Massive, Go Under the Radar for the Most Part
Microsoft is in a really bad shape
One Heck of a Week for IBM, the 'Grandpa' of 'High-Tech', International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) Under Investigation by Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC
If IBM gets busted or might be busted, will the CEO jump, get pushed, or be arrested?
“Why Open Source Misses the Point of Free Software”
As Dr. Richard Stallman once put it
GNU/Linux Grows at the Expense of Microsoft Windows in Croatia, Now Close to 8%
Croatia has been mentioned a lot lately in relation to EPO "lobbying" (vote-rigging)
27-Year IBM Veteran on IBM: "Worse than the Titanic and Perhaps Just Like Madoff, Enron, etc."
several comments we saw today envisioned the CEO of IBM in an orange suit (in US prison)
ServiceNow/ServiceLine and Slop at the EPO is Becoming a Health Risk to Staff
PD44 has historically been the oppressor at the EPO
IBM Can Burn Pensioners to Appease Wall Street and Protect the Billionaire CEO With His Humongous Bonuses
Its stock it set to open 2.82% in the red
IBM SHAREHOLDER INVESTIGATION: Potential Securities Claims Involving International Business Machines (IBM)
there's a risk of criminal action against executives
Tux Machines Moving Onwards and Upwards
"...tasks expand to fill the time available"
The Register MS is Publishing Spam for Gartner Group to Spread Hype About "AI", Mentioned 30 Times in the Paid (Fake) Article
One sure thing is, the so-called 'tech media' is profoundly compromised by American corporations
"Market Share" of GNU/Linux Nearly Trebled in Cambodia This Month
GNU/Linux is still measured at 8% by statCounter
GitHub is Dying (Traffic Down Despite Bots and Slop), Microsoft Will Eventually Cull it - Just Like XBox - to Limit the Losses
Do not stay on GitHub (Microsoft) under the false assumption that it is "free hosting" or will always be around
Teaser: Daniel Pocock is About to Go Mainstream Again
Stay tuned, Pocock has something in store
Microsoft Has Just Been Sued Over Layoffs
If the rumours are true, there is yet another wave of layoffs at Microsoft
Richard Stallman Always Cautioned, Upfront, That His Political Views Were Wholly Separate From His Scientific Work or GNU
Notice that he already spoke a lot about politics
Links 17/07/2026: Microsoft is Cutting OneDrive Coverage, Larry Ellison Sued by Paramount Investor
Links for the day
Nichirei and Asahi Beer Need to Take Cyberattacks as Hint of Opportunity to Move to Free Software
Windows TCO
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 16, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, July 16, 2026
Gemini Links 17/07/2026: Sunlight in the Clouds, Techno-Therapy, and Sloppifying Original Text
Links for the day
Links 16/07/2026: Slop Recognised as a Waste of Energy, Hong Kong Cracking Down on Dissent/Opposition Some More
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Approaching 5% "Market Share" in Oceania, Almost Trebling in 12 Months
It is difficult to ignore the gains made by GNU/Linux this month
Microsoft Whistleblowers Explain How Brutal the Latest Cull is (Layoffs in Seconds-Long Calls, Mass Elimination of Whole Studios and High-Level Officials)
we see anonymous leakers or whistleblowers in the media today
Gemini Links 16/07/2026: esp32-gemserv, Slop-Contaminated Free Software, and Moving Systems
Links for the day
Last Summer Microsoft Mass Layoffs Came in Two Large Waves, Rumours Say Next Week Another Large Wave is Coming
If many more Microsoft layoffs are formally admitted next week we will not be surprised
Tomorrow is Another Strike Day at Europe's Second-Largest Institution, the Media is Still Deliberately Ignoring It
Fridays are now recommended “anchor days" for EPO strikes
Public Interest News Foundation Shows News Drought or News Deserts in the United Kingdom
Public Interest News Foundation shows that we should be deeply concerned
Illusions of Choice
Choices can be differently bad or equally bad
Windows Down to 10% in India
Windows is a "burning platform"
One Year Has Passed
Our aim is to repair an injured system wherein "abuse of process" can be turned into a weapon, leveraged even by foreigners who are funded by affluent third parties
Techrights is Annoying People Who Work for (and Serve) People Who Annoy (and Abuse) Society
Working against us (instead of with us) has historically been a bad strategy
No Skinnerboxes, No Slop, No False Idols or Corporate Prophets
Torvalds does not understand the everyday struggles of tech workers and tech users because he is a millionaire
IBM's Next Stop: $199 (Market Cap Already Under 2.5 Times IBM's Debt)
Don't rush to call us "sensationalist" over it
Links 16/07/2026: Solar Greenwashing by Energy-Wasting GAFAM and Growing Concerns About Harm by Social Control Media
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/07/2026: Photography, Agility, and "Today I have Truly Become a Linux User."
Links for the day
Rebellion Brewing at Microsoft
As always, we welcome Microsoft whistleblowers
Technology Against Human Nature
Losing a sense of what it means to be alive
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 15, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 15, 2026