05.21.17
Posted in Europe, Patents at 3:21 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Knocking down two essential pillars of a modern democracy
“Freedom of the Press,
if it means anything at all,
means the freedom
to criticize and oppose”
–George Orwell
Summary: A campaign of abuse (legal bullying) and gifting to the media, combined with a wide-ranging assault on critics who represent the interests of staff, have led WIPO and EPO down the route to totality
WIPO is a tool of mega-corporations which is neither international nor fair. Its attacks on media recently got the attention of some media that had hitherto more or less ignored WIPO scandals — in the same way that a lot of media still ignores many EPO scandals. It often seems that the media starts caring — at least a little — only when it too comes under attack (basically for doing its job).
The failure of ILO and the EPO (further to our previous post) is part of a broader problem which I first became familiar with half a decade ago. There is no access to justice. People at the UN told me so and shared documents to support these assertions. It has gotten so bad that they now bully the press with impunity (ILO could, in theory, attempt to bully bloggers) and citing all sorts of articles such as this, SUEPO took note of WIPO’s abuses (also UN), citing a several pages long PDF about the latest at WIPO. See the article “WIPO Boss Seeks to Silence Press Critics and Whistleblowers” — a report which starts with some background:
On January 25, 2017 the Staff Association of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) headquartered in Geneva, demonstrated to protest the recent actions of Francis Gurry, the agency’s Director General. Unhappy with the duly-elected Staff Association Council, Gurry organized his own elections and simply replaced the legitimate Staff Council with his preferred slate of officers.
Besides the obvious problem of management selecting candidates for Staff Association elections, there were apparently numerous irregularities manifest in this process, and the duly-elected Council of the Staff Association is pursuing legal remedies. These take time, however, and in the meantime, Gurry’s preferred slate has taken over the offices and functions of the legitimate officials.
The “problem of management selecting candidates for Staff Association elections,” as the above puts it, is already a reality at the EPO. There is veto power for management when it comes to staff representation and even the disciplinary committees are controlled and composed indirectly by Team Battistelli, assuring that justice will be just a mirage. At the EPO, the Central Staff Committee is going to change pretty soon and “most people are too frightened” to stand for election, an insider recently told us.
When the media loses its voice and staff too loses its voice we are left to deal with autocratic entities. When these are disconnected from national laws, i.e. enjoying immunity, what we have is a “toxic mix” or “dangerous cocktail”. That’s what Gurry and Battistelli both pursued separately and actually got at the end. Who will end this? Can ECHR put an end to that? █
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Posted in Europe, Patents at 2:45 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: The International Labour Organisation Administrative Tribunal (ILOAT) delivers not justice but merely the illusion of justice, probably in defiance of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
THE International Labour Organisation (ILO) has become somewhat of a sham. To many, ILO has become just about as destructive as the management of the EPO. It’s part of the same framework of hopelessness, discouragement, waste of time, and waste of money (legal fees). It is a very sad fact that the supposed safeguard of workers’ rights has inadvertently guarded the EPO‘s immunity rather than EPO staff. In fact, Dutch authorities, having been misled by EPO management, have come to believe that ILO is some sort of independent and effective arbiter, peripheral to Team Battistelli rather than almost submissive to it.
“…Dutch authorities, having been misled by EPO management, have come to believe that ILO is some sort of independent and effective arbiter, peripheral to Team Battistelli rather than almost submissive to it.”The latest two documents, shown above with redactions, are just some among many we have seen regarding a variety of cases involving different individuals. Many people are on the same boat. They cannot, based on the experience of others, believe that ILO tribunals can ever offer real reprieve. Even in the rare cases when they actually issue a ruling (not just the typical deferrals) and when the EPO loses the dispute, Battistelli more or less ignores or works around the ruling. Compliance is not an option. In other words, Battistelli not only snubs European governments but also international bodies that are supposed to govern/supervise/police him. It’s a problem that’s akin to the Administrative Council led by Battistelli’s ‘chinchilla’. It’s truly despicable.
Readers should expect us to examine these issues more closely in the coming months if not years. We also invite readers to send to us material related to their ILO cases. Our publications of material are consensual and are subjected to careful scrutiny.
The understand the importance of the above documents, consider what these demonstrate. 30 days only are given for the complainants to respond (the complainants is also slowed down by a chronic disease and is being overburdened by unreasonable demands, bombarded with piles of papers etc.) and the process is being delayed (+60 days, i.e. 90 days in total) for the EPO. This disproportionate and asymmetric legal spiel obviously is designed — willingly or not — to help the EPO ‘win’, even if by simply exhausting the other side (emotionally if not financially too).
“ILO is not doing its job properly and the Dutch government ought to know this. Its excuses are not valid and immunity needs to be removed.”No reaction by ILOAT, in spite of a chronic disease, says quite a lot. These are insensitive people who are either apathetic/uninterested in tackling EPO cases or simply want the EPO to ‘win’ all of these case. If they are incapable of dealing with EPO-induced workload, then they should not only state so publicly but also make a stronger statement, along with action, to that effect. They could, for example, herald the failure of their own system and pursue remediation at an international level. Instead, they carry on pretending that they can cope with this mess. They would rather mask/hide these failures to protect their own interests.
“My right to be heard and to respond is violated,” told us an involved person, hence “no fair trial under Art. 6 ECHR!”
This is a high priority matter. ILO is not doing its job properly and the Dutch government ought to know this. Its excuses are not valid and immunity needs to be removed. The abuses by the EPO’s management need to be studied by ECHR and people punished accordingly (although the concept of accountability barely exists in international contexts). █
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Posted in Europe, Patents at 1:18 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: The stupidest ceremony in Europe (turning serious science into something sketchy such as Eurovision) is disliked among EPO staff and is exploited by the person who destroys the EPO (Benoît Battistelli) to pretend all is fine and dandy, at huge expense to the Office (as extraordinary as about 5 million Euros for a ~2-hour show)
THE EPO is still wasting money on press releases that break patent neutrality and make the institution promotional (not objective) at the expense of stakeholders. We wrote about a dozen articles about this subject before. Looking at some of the very latest press releases, which continue to come (e.g. [1, 2]), we cannot help wondering how much money is spent on this. We know it’s millions, but this year we don’t have the invoices (at least not yet).
“The EPO has turned European media into ‘Turkish media’.”If anybody at the EPO knows that the EPO signed some kind of contract with Shepard Fox Communications (for PR), please get in touch. We could use a leak or at least some information which relates to this. As we noted here before, the PR expenditures of the EPO (to control the media) have gone well out of control. This might also impact coverage of EPO scandal (e.g. self-censorship, gags, retaliation against particular reporters). The EPO has turned European media into ‘Turkish media’. The USPTO has never done anything remotely like that; it didn’t even elevate one patent over another using so-called ‘awards’. Bluntly speaking, the patent offices around the world are rarely run by crooked people like Battistelli. As for Kongstad, we are told that he was ousted from DKPTO (told to step down, by his own government!) but could use material that helps verify that.
“Well, a lot of EPO insiders have great disdain for that silly charade, which is a waste of budget and is typically a photo-op opportunity for Battistelli — the man who abuses his own staff and destroys their employer, thus rendering them unemployed.”The above is intentionally distorted, for the purpose of source protection. “Here is [the] list of the nominees for the inventor award comedy,” told us a source. “I don’t [need to] tell you what it is all about,” the source continues, as “you know better than I do…”
Well, a lot of EPO insiders have great disdain for that silly charade, which is a waste of budget and is typically a photo-op opportunity for Battistelli — the man who abuses his own staff and destroys their employer, thus rendering them unemployed. EPO examiners aren’t gullible; they are very bright people — to the point where it’s unthinkable that they can be ruled by a clueless thug like Battistelli.
“It is time to inform the participants that [this] inventor award puff piece is rather a Battistelli horror show,” our source noted, worse “than the Cannes festival.”
“By exploiting EPO budget and possibly even misusing such budget, Battistelli tries to legitimise himself (and his reign of terror), e.g. by brushing shoulders with EU politicians and associating himself with scientists, including (as the above shows) people whose contribution is software patents that help patent trolls like MPEG-LA.”“Now the names of the nominees are public,” our source continued, “it is a great time to make them aware of the situation and the fact that Battistelli is misusing them for his own promotion. Imagine all the people… NOT attending the show.”
This observation is correct. By exploiting EPO budget and possibly even misusing such budget, Battistelli tries to legitimise himself (and his reign of terror), e.g. by brushing shoulders with EU politicians and associating himself with scientists, including (as the above shows) people whose contribution is software patents that help patent trolls like MPEG-LA. Remember that the EPO was never supposed to grant patents on software in the first place! Not only does it help patent trolls by doing so but it also grants awards to people who do this. █
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