05.05.17
Battistelli’s Protector, Jesper Kongstad, Resigns!
More power for Battistelli or simply less protectionism? Time will tell…
Summary: The Chairman of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation (also known as Battistelli’s ‘boss’) is about to leave, but the damage done to the entire Organisation is immense and perhaps irreversible
Now that the EPO is in disarray and the European Patent Convention (EPC) has been shred by Battistelli and a bunch of (mostly) French cronies of his, management too can see the writings on the wall. Some management-level staff is reported to have attended EPO protests, so there is realisation of the problem at higher/upper echelons, even the Board.
EPO[rganisation]: Headless
“Some management-level staff is reported to have attended EPO protests, so there is realisation of the problem at higher/upper echelons, even the Board.”Jesper Kongstad is no longer trusted even within the Council. Miscarriage of justice and all sorts of coverups can lead to that.
Battistelli has just lost his protector (who was willing to prolong the tyranny even further and hide the abuses). Well, technically he will stay around for a few more months, though no longer than Minnoye, who announced his premature retirement (before his term’s end) almost 8 months in advance. According to the DKPTO, Kongstad will leave the Danish patent office and the EPO’s Administrative Council in September. They have to elect a new chairman in the June meeting of the Administrative Council (only a month from now).
“Jesper Kongstad is no longer trusted even within the Council.”The announcement is in Danish, so we could use a translation from a native Danish speaker (or any information related to the reason of departure, e.g. whether he was pushed out like examiners who do their job properly). We doubt any reasons will be specified for departure and even if something is said about that, we doubt it can be wholeheartedly believed (taken at face value). People are rarely honest about why they leave, at least publicly (they try to make the employer look good or even lie to themselves about the reasons). It is worth noting that he is very far from retirement age and it’s not clear if the departure is for focus on the chinchillas career or perhaps realisation that the EPO is in chaos, partly due to Kongstad’s own complicity by inaction (or active protection of Battistelli).
EPO: A Golden Standard?!
“We doubt any reasons will be specified for departure and even if something is said about that, we doubt it can be wholeheartedly believed (taken at face value).”Is Jakob Pade Frederiksen, a Dane from Copenhagen, a stooge for Jesper Kongstad? He has just alluded to the EPO as “A golden standard” in his new headline at Managing IP, but the EPO is not a gold standard for anything. The EPO used to be very good, but stakeholders say that national patent offices like the one of Spain do a better job at a much lower cost. Gold standard? That’s the old EPO, not the rubberstamping machine which the EPO became due to Battistelli's policies.
“It is well known that the EPO generally applies a rather strict approach when examining whether or not amendments made after filing extend beyond the contents of the application as filed,” Frederiksen wrote. It was “well known” when? Years ago? Before the ‘demolition job’ of Battistelli? He’s still riding some of the momentum/inertia of the old EPO’s reputation — that which he is draining so quickly that EPO is now synonymous with abuse. When the subject of the EPO comes up in European or Dutch or Bavarian Parliament it’s almost always about scandals.
EPC: Caveat Emptor?
“When the subject of the EPO comes up in European or Dutch or Bavarian Parliament it’s almost always about scandals.”It was the job of Kongstad et al to protect the EPC and they failed. They all failed repeatedly and miserably.
Today, this new article came up, stating that:
The most popular way to file a European application is online, using the EPO Online Filing, provided free of charge.
The European Patent Office (EPO) acts as a Regional patent office which grants patents that take effect in some or all of the countries signatories to the Convention on the Grant of European Patents (EPC). Thus, the applicant may indicate in his / her application the countries where the applicant wants his / her patent to be protected. If the application complies with the requirements provided by the EPO, then the EPO grants the patent in respect of the states indicated in the said application.
Since the EPC is no longer honoured (under Battistelli), one has to wonder what future viability such patents would have. EPs as a whole have been thoroughly discredited by the rushed, reckless granting of many patents in recent years. The water has been muddied and Battistelli spat into the well. It’s hardly surprising that demand for EPs is now declining, in spite of the EU or EPO adding more member states and China having somewhat of a patent gold rush. █
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john said,
May 9, 2017 at 8:15 am
My contact in Denmark told me that the new government asked Jesper Kongstad to resign.