Bonum Certa Men Certa

Battistelli to Leave the European Patent Office Without the Unitary Patent He Repeatedly Promised in Vain Over the Years

Benoît Battistelli has accomplished nothing but rapid destruction of the world's leading patent office

Battistelli and Putin-Medvedev double act
Will Battistelli try to emulate the Putin-Medvedev double act?



Summary: Report about the expected departure of Benoît Battistelli, based on an Administrative Council document, seems to suggest that it's really going to happen

THINGS are going to change at the EPO. Jesper Kongstad is leaving in a few months, Minnoye is leaving right about this time, and Battistelli has at most one year left. We have been hearing rumours and speculations about him attempting to prolong his regime (or appointing some crony of his), but we are no longer quite so convinced.



“Candidates must have an above-average capacity to establish and promote a social dialogue,” says the job description for Battistelli's successor. It says quite a lot, does it not? The autocrat was utterly incapable of anything like this. He probably won't stick around to even face the music from the courts, having probably violated the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

SUEPO has just updated its site for the first time in quite a while. It published a translation of this report from last week, as we had hoped (even a translation in French). Here is what it says:

European Patent Office: Successor sought for embattled boss Battistelli



06.06.2017

16:47 hours Stefan Krempl

The European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich.

(Picture: dpa, Frank Leonhardt)

The Administrative Council of the European Patent Office has taken the first steps towards replacing Benoît Battistelli as President of the Office when his contract expires at the end of June 2018. During his time in power social unrest has been grievous – and still is.

The days and hours for Benoît Battistelli to occupy the top job at the European Patent Office (EPO) may well be numbered. The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organization, which monitors the activities of the Munich-based authority started preparations on Friday aimed at replacing the bitterly embattled President when his contract expires on 30 June 2018, and finding a new incumbent for the powerful position. There have been repeated arguments in the past, ranging from getting the Frenchman out of office ahead of time to extending his contract at least for a transitional period in the light of the crisis situation in the Office.

According to an Administrative Council document posted on heise online, the search for a successor is supposed to begin officially on 3 July, after the next meeting of the Council at The Hague at the end of June, and reference to the position becoming vacant will be published on the EPO Website. Applications can then be made until 14 September, before Battistelli’s successor can be chosen. The job description will stipulate, among other things, that: “Candidates must have an above-average capacity to establish and promote a social dialogue.” At the moment, the Office is in an uproar. The dispute over the efficiency line adopted by the Frenchman, who has been nicknamed the “Sun King” escalated at the end of 2015, after he suspended the top leadership of the institution’s international staff union (SUEPO), and made loud accusations of “Mafia-like” structures and “institutional violence”. Since then the feud has been getting steadily worse, with the staff repeatedly going on strike. The next phase is planned for the coming meeting of the Administrative Council, following the most recent warning from the central staff council that Battistelli is aiming to make things tougher yet with regard to the already strict options for disciplinary measures. In parallel with this, it seems apparent that the top job at the Danish Patent Office is also up for replacement. This has up to now been held by Jesper Kongstad, who heads up the European Patent Organization, but who also wants to step down from the Administrative Council. The Dane is regarded as a supporter of the Battistelli line, so the watcher can hardly afford to fall out with the EPO boss. (axk)


Has it happened too late? Was too much damage done already? The lax/lenient examination (perhaps with foresight of UPC as arbiter) may lead to a lot of layoffs and the reputation of the EPO is harmed to the point where the number of applications is declining and talented staff is leaving.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Comparing U.E.F.I. to B.I.O.S. (Bloat and Insecurity to K.I.S.S.)
By Sami Tikkanen
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
 
People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
And recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 18, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 18, 2024
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
Links for the day
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 17, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Links 17/03/2024: Microsoft Windows Shoves Ads Into Third-Party Software, More Countries Explore TikTok Ban
Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 16, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, March 16, 2024
Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
Suffice to say, we're not meaning to imply Taliban is "good"
Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day