Bonum Certa Men Certa

Truly Terrible 'Journalism' About António Campinos Boils Down to Lobbying and Agenda-Pushing

FTI Consulting, which lobbies for the fracking industry, may still be working for Battistelli

FTI Consulting for fracking



Summary: The expectedly shallow coverage of the appointment (succession) of Battistelli's French pick, which will likely change nothing of significance at the European Patent Office (EPO)

THE EPO will have a new President after 6 months in 2018. Does it mean much will change? We strongly doubt it. The EPO tweeted about it later on Thursday (yet again) and media coverage, as we noted on Thursday, had been appalling. We can't help but wonder where these millions of euros in PR budget end up landing.



"We can't help but wonder where these millions of euros in PR budget end up landing."Not too shockingly, yesterday the EPO made the news again in relation to a former Portuguese colony (Brazil). Most sites took no note of it; nor did they mention anything about Angola (it was in the meeting, not in the media).

At the core of this failure of the media is an echo chamber effect. No outsiders asked. No opinions from anyone other than the choir.

"They're no strangers and they can have a fluent chat in French (the mother of António Campinos is French, he was born in France and studied in France)."António Campinos was parachuted by Battistelli who had lobbied across Europe (mostly small nations) to shield 'Battistellism' at the EPO. Almost nobody bothered mentioning this.

Hours ago someone alerted us regarding this article, which is more of that echo chamber about António Campinos. This was soon cross-posted in other sites and it quotes people who are connected to small nations, including Željko Topić's:

Director General`s Office of the Croatian Intellectual Property Office:

“We welcome the election of Mr Campinos as the next president of the EPO in an open and transparent procedure. His outstanding experience and results in leading the intellectual property organisations will surely provide further ambitious and dynamic development of the EPO in line with the needs and expectations of patent system stakeholders.”


It's lots of these shallow quotes that we see everywhere. James Nurton (historically close to Battistelli) did the same thing and even US-based sites like Law 360 mentioned it (however shallowly). To quote: "Battistelli congratulated Campinos on his election by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation in a statement released Wednesday."

"Battistelli's apologist Joff Wild has already used (or exploited) the news about António Campinos to do some UPC advocacy (Wild was paid by the EPO's PR firm, FTI Consulting, for UPC promotion)."That's like one friend congratulating another. They're no strangers and they can have a fluent chat in French (the mother of António Campinos is French, he was born in France and studied in France).

Incidentally, the EPO mentioned less than a day ago that "San Marino, Monaco and Portugal help the Federated Register service to 21 countries..."

Monaco and Portugal. What an interesting new pair.

Anyway, the German media covered this too and there's more discussion about it here (in German) among EPO people. They're not exactly happy.

Battistelli's apologist Joff Wild has already used (or exploited) the news about António Campinos to do some UPC advocacy (Wild was paid by the EPO's PR firm for UPC promotion).

Here is the UPC part:

If that were not enough, there is also the small matter of the unitary patent regime to throw into the mix. Right now, we are in a holding pattern as we await promised UK ratification of the Unified Patent Court agreement and the resolution of a court case that is holding up Germany’s sign-off, but all things being equal by the time Campinos arrives in Munich both should be done and the UPC regime will either be up and running or on the verge of beginning. For the EPO that means the administration of a brand new right – the unitary patent – as well as handling all the complications that come with the UPC’s transitional provisions. There are bound to be major challenges, and the buck will stop at Campinos’s desk. All in all, then, there will be no gentle bedding-in process for the new president next year; he will have to hit the ground running.



Wild is far too optimistic about it. What he calls "promised UK ratification of the Unified Patent Court agreement" probably predates Jo Johnson and is now in serious jeopardy because of "hard Brexit" talks/prospects. Wild also trivialises a serious and potent constitutional challenge, referring to it as "court case that is holding up Germany’s sign-off" (as if it's inevitable). But anyway, what else can be expected from IAM? It's in bed with Battistelli.

"Wild also trivialises a serious and potent constitutional challenge, referring to it as "court case that is holding up Germany’s sign-off" (as if it's inevitable)."Another curious report turned up yesterday with the headline "SUEPO willing to work with new EPO president" (which overstates the reality).

"Some of them have been doing it all the time with the old ones nonetheless," one person remarked. Don't expect Campinos to be very different; he'll probably be like Kongstad, i.e. just keeping silent, complicit by apathy (to avoid confrontation/controversy). Campinos can be a 'cute' face for a French antipathy. SUEPO has no choice but to be diplomatic about it -- that is to say, assume or hope for best of intentions/good faith. To quote the article:

The source close to SUEPO explained that the union would “like to see the end of a system based on the total distrust of all staff, this by a handful of top managers brought by Battistelli”.

“The EPO cannot continue to function by violating fundamental rights of its staff and disrespecting the rule of law. Anxiety and insecurity do not enhance sustainable business models,” the source said.

“SUEPO is professional. SUEPO looks forward not backward and hopes for better days where intelligence prevails over emotions, where the EPO is re-established as a respected international institution delivering the best patents for the public.”

The source commented: “Now António Campinos is elected. For him and all stakeholders (staff and the organisation) one can only wish for a better future."


So please do notice that all the above is based on an anonymous "source close to SUEPO," not SUEPO itself. They ought to correct their headline. But they won't. Because patents-centric news sites (in this case, IP Pro Patents, which does marketing SPAM, as we shall show in the weekend) are not into journalism but into lobbying/agenda-pushing. Therein lies their business model. They'll say anything to make Campinos look like an heroic knight in shining armour poised to salvage the EPO's long-lost reputation.

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
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
 
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
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