02.01.17
Gemini version available ♊︎EPO Stakeholders Want Battistelli and His Goons Ousted, They Can Accomplish This by Working Together (Like a Union)
Just like the staff survey showed, not a single person is of the opinion that the current President does a good job
Source: King Battistelli tries again to break Euro Patent Office union, 31st of January, 2017. Kieren McCarthy.
Summary: The EPO crisis and the impact it has on the whole European industry does not escape the attention of various firms that protect their own (and clients’) interests
THE EPO is anything but a happy home. But there is even growing unrest outside the EPO. Attorneys and their clients, for example, are complaining. It’s not some sole/individual’s dissent; it is also not a “vocal minority” but a mass movement. Battistelli cannot deny this anymore. As we noted the other day, a Juve survey served to confirm this yet again. Below are some of the findings, which were originally published in German.
“It’s not some sole/individual’s dissent; it is also not a “vocal minority” but a mass movement.”After the initial (paywalled) article had become available some people passed around paper copies and then came this followup article. SUEPO said about the seminal piece: “Summary only, press article requires registration and payment. Those of us who are interested in ordering the article, the edition number is 02/2017.”
“Here is a summary of some of the key findings of the JUVE web article,” one reader told us, breaking it down as follows:
About 170 heads of patent departments of German industrial groups and SME’s, and international technological giants participated in the survey concerning the European Patent system.
UPC
While about 70 % of the survey participants deplore the delay caused by the Brexit, one quarter (25 %) consider the UPC detrimental to the European Patent system.
Boards of Appeal reform
Less than one third of the participants believe that the reform of last year will lead to more independence of the Boards, while more than 80 % want a complete independence.
Patent quality
More than 90 % of the survey participants consider the EPO important for their patent strategy, but less than 50 % of them are happy with the current quality of the patent granting process, and about 50 % of them see a quality problem with BoA decisions.
The president
None of the participants was of the opinion that the current president does a good job (0 % confidence rating). Merely one out of 25 considers his ‘efficiency strategy’ useful. More than 50 % said that Benoît Battistelli should resign.
“96% said that Battistelli should not interfere with Boards of Appeal matters,” told us another reason, or at least “should not interfere any more. Many gave, as an example, the case of the suspended DG3 member as an example of the President transgressing his competencies.”
“It’s a large study or a broad survey, which shows extremely unsupportive views on Battistelli.”More bits of information can be retrieved from the latest article from The Register (screenshot above). A day ago this mainstream British news site wrote about this, and it helped give the gist (succinct/concise) of these findings.
From the article of Juve: “”The situation is alarming, the working conditions are shameful for a European authority”. The head of a pharma giant makes no bones about it.”
Remember that this cannot be dismissed as a “propaganda mill” or partisan nonsense (like IAM with its notorious, EPO-’approved’ surveys), as it’s somewhat of a comprehensive if not near-exhaustive census (at least among respondents). It’s a large study or a broad survey, which shows extremely unsupportive views on Battistelli. To quote: “At the end of November 2016 JUVE surveyed the heads of 168 selected international technology firms. This included German industrial companies as well as medium-sized enterprises and international technology giants, such as from the Silicon Valley. The firms represent all important branches of technology and file at the European Patent Office.”
“If EPO stakeholders (applicants, attorneys etc.) want anything to remain of the EPO and their EPs to be worth anything, they should kick out Battistelli.”If Battistelli does not step down, the Chinchilla will need to fire him. Failing to do so means that loyalty to Battistelli is more important to the Chinchilla than the EPO itself, which is a form of betrayal (considering this role of his), thereby disqualifying him too. When departments fail to supervise one another all we’re left with is a cult or a monarchy, not a professional institution.
To quote more from the article (translated): “The continuing conflict between President Battistelli’s management and some of the staff, in particular the main trade union SUEPO, alarms industry representatives. 79.2% of those asked are disturbed by it. They consider Battistelli to be mainly responsible. An overwhelming 96 percent think that the EPO President should be less confrontational with the unions. Only 4 percent of those asked think that it is necessary.”
Here is another gem: “Industry representatives find that an efficiency strategy, as well a demotivated work force, is responsible for the lack of quality”.
If EPO stakeholders (applicants, attorneys etc.) want anything to remain of the EPO and their EPs to be worth anything, they should kick out Battistelli. These stakeholders need to organise and get rid of this tyrant (Battistelli and the “swamp” he brought with him to the EPO). We believe that stakeholders should work together now, for their common interests. They’re the main source (lion’s share) of income of the EPO and if they demand the resignation of Battistelli and his swamp, then it will need to actually happen. █
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