Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO 'Reform' Seems to Strive for Echo Chamber Mentality, Elimination of Unions, Crackdown on Experienced (Well-Paid) Employees, and Departure From Patent Quality

Decline in quality of patents requires decline in quality (and salary) of examiners and judges, too

Sale



Summary: The latest observations, based on information from various sources, regarding the working conditions and strategy of the European Patent Office

THE EPO is in shambles, but the management continues to pretend that everything is rosy. In fact, continuing a trend of greenwashing (and patenting of plants) the EPO now brags about this event report (warning: epo.org link) -- something about "climate change mitigation" and reputation laundering of the EPO's French Chief Economist Yann Ménière, whom we wrote about before (also recall the former Chief Economist's negative take on the EPO's current policies). This "yes men" phenomenon at Battistelli's French-centric EPO has shut the door on dissent, scepticism, and plurality of views. Now it's eliminating many members of staff too. Those who haven't left yet (e.g. early retirement) seem to be on limited time, or on a short lifeline. They are expected to produce more than they feasibly can (while providing a decent service), they are expected to not fall ill (they cannot afford loss of days), and there are other unreasonable demands that drive them away if not to illness, then to incapacity or even suicide. Battistelli is working people to death, sometimes literally. Labour rights receive nothing but scorn from Team Battistelli and new hires may struggle to join the union (SUEPO) because of Battistelli's (and Bergot's) shameless attacks on people wishing to sign up and those enlisting them.



"Those who haven't left yet (e.g. early retirement) seem to be on limited time, or on a short lifeline."Hiring of low-paid interns instead of full-time staff at the EPO is something that the EPO continues advertising this month (almost every day now). There are variations therein and the 'job' openings (scare quotes because these are internships, not commitments) range from external boards to internal patent assessment. Are these internships or internments? To many people the EPO feels like a prison, only a little less tolerable and inviting (but with a higher salary to almost compensate for that daily ordeal).

"Universities, research centres and technology transfer officers should have a look at this," the EPO wrote on a separate occasion a few days ago. I responded with: "Do they know that as guests they'll be spied on with hidden cameras and keyloggers?"

The EPO is apparently having some other guests these days; one of them, Bastian Best, habitually visits the EPO and is proud of it (he knows about the surveillance). He wrote ahead of the latest EPO event about software patents: "Looking forward to terrific speeches on #industry40, #IoT and #softwarepatents!"

"Under Battistelli, anything goes. "Production" is measured in cancerous terms. Quality is merely a nuisance. Good examiners are a nuisance. Prior art searches are a nuisance (as they lower grant rates)."It seems as though even insiders -- people who actually examine patents -- noticed that they are granting software patents. Some tell us about it, though it's clearly against the instructions from the European Parliament. Pressure from the top compels them to do this. Any "methods for playing games are not patentable in Europe," Benjamin Henrion wrote in response to this tweet seeking to associate games with patents ("Throwback Thursday patent – Monopoly game invented by C B Darrow in 1935.")

Under Battistelli, anything goes. "Production" is measured in cancerous terms. Quality is merely a nuisance. Good examiners are a nuisance. Prior art searches are a nuisance (as they lower grant rates). In fact, judging by this new comment, there's a plan for getting rid of people by means of a crooked justice system and some believe that the disgusting yellow union of Battistelli will help:



Having read that monsieur le President wishes to amend the ServReg once again, I wonder whether he has consulted the FFPE-EPO as per their beloved Memorandum of Understanding....

This all being so short term, I suppose not. Has FFPE said anything yet?

Will they draw conclusions from this, or will they once again underline how important it is to sit at a table?


To quote the above: "Has FFPE said anything yet?"

No, they are about as non-existent or secretive as Battistelli himself. Their Web site is still a fossil, too. They're like Battistelli moles, so the less they say, the better. Whenever they speak out we receive a leak and it makes FFPE-EPO look even worse.

On the prospects of FFPE-EPO being used as a weapon by Battistelli (against SUEPO) this one person wrote: "They are probably licking their lips at the prospect of being appointed by the President to the committees where they can sit in judgment on the appeals of their SUEPO colleagues..."

With a yellow FFPE-affiliated union inside the EPO it's important to be selective and careful who to trust and speak to. Snitches and other forms of betrayal seem to have become a dirt-digging mechanism, preceding some disciplinary procedures. In the Stasi days one might have labeled the likes of FFPE-EPO "informants".

If the above comments have substance to them, it would be classic yellow union move -- fighting the unions off against one another while management supports/arms/protects only one side (the small one) to suppress the real union.

"EPO has become an experiment for wanna be fascists," said this additional comment. "Examiners were worthy of high salaries to prevent/ avoid corruption from applicants (patents are after all serious business). Now they are being bought off by threats and Battistelli bonusses."

Punishing many people collectively and reducing their salaries based on docility is another tool of an oppressor. Interns aside, read the following comment:



And where do you think the volunteers from staff members for this may come? I suspect even if not consulted, there may be a retrospective approval once they can get a bit more power. And more of a chance of a bonus?

Speaking of which, BB had announced his intention to give a'collective bonus' for 2016 - but only to about 70% of staff. Particularly to those who 'contributed significantly to the success of major office wide projects'. Mmm.


Battistelli is playing a toxic (to the reputation of the EPO) game with budget and money that's not even his (applicants pay to maintain their EPs). He is said to have repeatedly incentivised (bribed) for votes, he definitely paid for media bias, etc. Corruption is quickly becoming synonymous with the EPO and those who will suffer most are EPO workers unless their contact only lasts a few months (like interns').

Welcome to a brave new EPO. Maybe it should be renamed SEPO ("S" for "Sordid") to better resemble the name "SIPO" (in China and in Croatia). After all, SIPO seems to have become Battistelli's role model for labour/human rights and patent quality.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Pushers of systemd Rewrite History (Richard Stallman Said UNIX "Was Portable and Seemed Fairly Clean")
Unlike systemd
Trajectory of The Register: From News Site/s Into "B2B"... and Into Microsoft Salespeople
Something isn't right at The Register
 
Links 27/07/2025: Political Affairs, Data Breaches, Attacks on Freedom of the Press
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: Hot in Japan and Terminal Escape Codes
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs Coming, Science and Hardware News
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: FSF Hackathon and "Hulk Hogan Was a Very Bad Man"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: DAW Mixer Chains and Simple Software
Links for the day
The Register MS is Inventing or Giving Air Time to New Conspiracy Theories so as to Distort the Narrative As High-Profile Agencies Fall Prey to Microsoft Holes
But the problem is holes, i.e. Microsoft making bad products; the problem is Microsoft
When You Tell You It's Free, Does That Mean No Charges (If So, Who's Paying and Why)?
there's "no free lunch"
Most Editors at The Register Are American, Including the Editor in Chief, a Decade-Long Microsoft Stenographer (Writing Prose to Sell Microsoft)
It's not easy to tell where the site is based (we tried) because it's hiding behind ClownFlare and CrimeFlare hasn't been well lately
"New Techrights" Soon Turns 2 (A Few Days Before the FSF Turns 40)
We have a lot more to say about LLM bots
When Silence Says So Much
Garrett, a 'secure' boot pusher, will need to defend himself in the UK High Court
The Register in Trouble
There is not much that can be done at this point
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 26, 2025
Misinformation in Social Control Media
Social control media passes around all sorts of tropes
Slopwatch: Fake Linux 'Articles' and Slopfarms With "Linux" in Their Names/Domains
throwing bots at "Linux" to make some fake articles
Links 26/07/2025: Amazon Shutdown in China, Russian Economy Slows
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: History of Time (1988) and Gemini Games
Links for the day
Links 26/07/2025: 50 Percent Tariffs in Amazon, Dying Intel Offloads Network and Edge Group (NEX)
Links for the day
Doing My Share to Tackle Online Slop and SPAM
Trying my best to 'fix' the Web
Blaming Programming Languages for Users' and Developers' Bad Practices
That's like blaming cars for drivers who crash into things
Slopwatch: Fakes, FUD, Duplicates, and Charlatans Galore
The Web as we once know it is collapsing. Some opportunists try to replace it with low-quality slop.
The Register UK Seems to Have Become American and Management is Changing (Microsofter as Editor in Chief)
The Register 'UK' is now controlled by the Directions on Microsoft guy
Many People Still Read Techrights Because It Says the Truth, Produces Evidence, and Does Not Self-Censor
Unlike so many other sites
The Register is Desperate for Money, According to The Register
I decided to check how they're doing as a business
Microsoft Finally Finds a Use Case for Slop?
Create low-quality chaff to shift the media's attention?
Microsoft Windows Lost 400 Million Users in a Few Years, Why Does The Register Double Down on Windows With New US Editor?
days ago they hired a new US editor
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 25, 2025
For Libel Reform One Must First Bring (or Raise) Awareness to the Issues and Their Magnitude
I myself know, from personal experience
Links 26/07/2025: Rationed Meals in the US and TikTok Repels Investments (Too Toxic)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: "Bloody Google" and New People in Geminispace
Links for the day
Response to Solderpunk (Father of Gemini Protocol) About the Gemini Community
Solderpunk responds to non-sequitur
HTML and the Web Used to be Something a Child Could Learn, "Modern" Web is a Puzzle of Frameworks, Bloat, and Worse
When the Web was more like Gemini Protocol
New US Editor in The Register is 84% Microsoft/Windows Booster
It'll be worrying if it carries on like this
Links 25/07/2025: Slop Blunders and China Has Code of Conduct for Lawmakers in HK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Some Books and Babies and Capital
Links for the day
Links 25/07/2025: NOAA Cuts Endanger Lives, "Europe's Self Inflicted Cloud Crisis"
Links for the day
They Try to Lecture Us on Ethics
They even removed "master" from Microsoft GitHub
The Future of the Web is One Rendering Engine or 'Flavours' of Chrome
The future of the Web does not look bright at all
Best Sites Are Not Optimised for Any Browser, They Work Equally Well With All of Them
Red Hat (IBM) is making rubbish sites
YouTube is a Spamfarm, Slopfarm, and Clickfarm (a Lot of Numbers There Are Fake)
Those who don't fake look unpopular and unimportant
We Don't Do JavaScript and Pages Are Small
Thankfully Gemini Protocol has nothing like JavaScript
'Tech' is Not Technology
Some people use terms like 'Old Tech'
IBM's Debt Rose by Almost 10 Billion Dollars in the Past 6 Months Alone
The "hey hi" circus is coming to an end
Yes, Master
Gaslighting by actual racists
Microsoft Bribes and Buys Politicians to Tell Europe What to Do About Free Software (Which It's Attacking)
Microsoft: we speak for the thing that we are attacking! Follow the money...
Making Backups Quickly and Reliably
Backups are imperative, more so in an age of uncertainty, unpredictable weather, and worsening standards (quality of products going down while prices go up)
Techrights Investigation: Estimating the Point in Time LinuxIac Turned Into LLM Slop (Part of the Time)
Bobby Borisov got lazy
10th Month, Ten Weeks From Now, at Ten AM
In Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 24, 2025
A Nadella Memo Distracts From Microsoft's Cheapening Of the Workforce
Right now the "MSM" (mainstream media) is flooded/overwhelmed by garbage pieces that relay lies for Nadella
Vanishing Faces of GNU/Linux
Free software projects do not depend on any one person or company to still exist
Microsoft Says It Lost 400 Million Windows Users, Now It's Waiting for GNU/Linux to Stop Booting on 'Old' PCs
When it comes to Windows, Microsoft is fully aware of the issue and statements it made earlier this summer suggest it lost 400 million Windows users
Slopwatch: LinuxTechLab, linuxsecurity.com, LinuxIac, and More
Also: The Register's Microsoft agenda (new editor)
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Gemtext Aware Titan Editor and Gemini Protocol Comeback
Links for the day