10.28.17

Gemini version available ♊︎

French Politician Claudine Lepage Confronts the EPO Again, Mentions the Hague Court

Posted in Europe, Patents at 8:09 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Claudine LepageSummary: The European Patent Office (EPO) comes under renewed pressure from Claudine Lepage, who is about the same age as Battistelli but isn’t tolerating him, saying that he directly impacts the reputation of France in international institutions

BEING from the Socialist Party, Claudine Lepage is a political opponent of Battistell (who is still a politician inside the EPO — something which he isn’t supposed to be). The selection of the next President of the EPO too is the outcome of political lobbying. And yes, the next President is French (that’s 3 out of 4 in a row).

Lepage isn’t new to the situation. She wrote/spoke about it several times since last year and just before the weekend she did it again, but it’s in French:

J’avais interrogé, par une question écrite, le ministre de l’économie et des finances sur la politique sociale menée à l’office européen des brevets.

La réponse que je viens de recevoir de Bruno Lemaire est, étant donné les enjeux et le contexte social qui règne à l’OEB, plus que décevante.

This automated translation isn’t all that bad, but we cannot trust it and won’t comment on any automated translation (only a boor like Battistell would rely on things like these for legal matters, maybe because “quality” is a concept he is unable to grasp). If someone can translate for us the full text, we will greatly appreciate it. Here is the automated translation:

I had questioned, by a written question, the Minister of Economy and Finance on social policy at the European Patent Office.

The answer I just received from Bruno Lemaire is, given the stakes and the social context prevailing at the EPO, more than disappointing .

To follow closely with other parliamentarians the situation at the EPO I want to respond to some of the arguments given by the minister.

The EPO has never been in deficit and is still self-financing and the organization’s transformation plan initiated in 2013 was therefore not an obligation.

As for the social dialogue evoked by the minister, all the observers know that it is reduced to the minimum and that on the contrary the social malaise is permanently installed within this international organization.

I therefore call on the French Government to be fully aware of the situation at the EPO and to make every effort to put an end to this social conflict which, in addition to seriously undermining the image of France, is endangering the health of the staff .

Read below the minister’s answer and my question:

Response of the Minister of Economy and Finance:

The European Patent Office (EPO), established by the European Patent Convention of 5 October 1973, is an intergovernmental organization that has been operational since 1977 and employs nearly 7000 agents from 30 different States. In order to ensure the long-term financial viability of the EPO, an organizational transformation plan was initiated and in 2013 the Administrative Council amended the EPO’s Staff Regulations throughout the framework. social security (pensions, remuneration, social benefits, right to strike), in consultation with staff representatives. These reforms helped to redress the Office’s financial situation in a few years, despite specific organizational constraints inherent to the EPO’s international organization status and a fragmented culture of establishment, with five locations in four different countries. However, they have generated social conflicts, accentuated by the specific jurisdictional status of international organizations. Following proceedings before the local courts, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands annulled the judgment of the Court of Appeal of The Hague on 20 January 2017 and upheld the jurisdictional immunity of the EPO. Aware of these difficulties, France consistently supports, within the EPO’s Board of Directors, initiatives aimed at improving the situation and social dialogue within the organization, such as launching the audit. in 2016, or the resolution passed in March 2016, inviting the President of the EPO to submit to the Administrative Council a draft revision of the Staff Regulations providing for revised and amended disciplinary procedures and guidelines for investigations . The Board of Directors of 28 and 29 June 2017 has thus included in the Staff Regulations new safeguards to ensure the independence and impartiality of the procedures (investigations, disciplinary matters, internal appeals) as well as the rights of the defense ( right to silence or to be assisted by a lawyer).

Question from Claudine Lepage:

Claudine Lepage draws the attention of the Minister of the Economy and Finance to the situation at the European Patent Office (EPO). This intergovernmental organization and its 7 000 highly qualified staff recruited from the 38 Member States certainly contribute greatly to innovation, competitiveness and economic growth in Europe.
However, for several years, the authoritarian and arbitrary social policy of this office poses great difficulties, in particular as regards the respect of the fundamental rights of the person and the violation of the social right. It should be noted that four suicides in thirty-two months are to be deplored among the staff.
In addition, in February 2015, the Hague Court of Appeal, seized by staff representatives, condemned the social policy pursued by the EPO as unfair to fundamental rights.
However, its French president refuses to take note of this decision, on the pretext that the office enjoys a system of immunity.
This management, highly questionable, directly impacting the reputation of France in international institutions, she wants to know if arrangements will be made to remedy this situation that has lasted too long and threatens the future of the institution at the moment when, after thirty years of negotiation, an agreement has been reached on the unitary European patent, which the EPO will be responsible for issuing.

We don’t expect French media to write about it. There’s not much interest in scrutiny of the EPO among rich media owners. Maybe they have their own EPs to worry about. Don’t expect blogs like IP Kat to ever write about EPO scandals, either. The site is not only quiet on these matters; it actively deleted comments of those who mention such matters. Some EPO folks have, in fact, declared that they’re blocking IP Kat for it, not just ignoring it. Yesterday the blog published its weekly roundup (“if you missed the IPKat last week!”). Not a word about the biggest thing in IP Kat this past week, namely censorship of EPO news and comments.

“I remain disappointed,” one person wrote, that this blog “has all but given up reporting on the EPO [...] I don’t know the reason…”

Here is the full comment:

I remain disappointed that ipKat, which used to offer reasonable and regular opinion and reporting on the situation at the EPO, has all but given up reporting on the EPO other than to provide bare factual statements. There are now more reports on copyright decisions issued by Italian courts than there are on the EPO. Obviously I don’t know the reason for this change in editorial policy. I just find it disappointing.

I also echo the statement of BenQ, it is simply not true to say that the majority of the comments on Merpel’s post were libellous. The relevant comments remain on the internet for anybody who is interested in checking them and making up their own mind.

There are a few more comments there (if not rude comments about gender) insinuating that indeed “Merpel” isn’t the same author who used to write about the EPO. We think so too. Quite a few authors (people we heard from) have left the blog as they were not happy to see where it was going.

Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Reddit
  • email

Decor ᶃ Gemini Space

Below is a Web proxy. We recommend getting a Gemini client/browser.

Black/white/grey bullet button This post is also available in Gemini over at this address (requires a Gemini client/browser to open).

Decor ✐ Cross-references

Black/white/grey bullet button Pages that cross-reference this one, if any exist, are listed below or will be listed below over time.

Decor ▢ Respond and Discuss

Black/white/grey bullet button If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

DecorWhat Else is New


  1. 3.5 Years Later Gemini Protocol and Geminispace Are Still 100% Community-Controlled

    Community-centric alternatives to the World Wide Web have gained traction; one of them, Gemini Protocol, continues to grow in 2023 and we're pleased to report progress and expansion



  2. Windows Falls to 16% Market Share in India (It was 97% in 2009), Microsoft Layoffs Reach India Too

    This month’s picture from the world’s most populous nation does not look good for Microsoft (it looks good for GNU/Linux); anonymous rumour mills online say that Microsoft isn’t moving to India but is actually firing staff based in India, so it’s a case of shrinking, not offshoring. When even low-paid (much lower salaries) staff is discarded it means things are very gloomy.



  3. Links 22/03/2023: GNOME 44 “Kuala Lumpur”

    Links for the day



  4. Microsoft Has Also Infiltrated the OSI's Board of Directors After Rigged Elections

    Weeks ago we warned that this would happen and for the third or fourth time in 2 years the OSI’s election process broke down; today the Open Source Initiative (OSI) writes: “The polls just closed, the results are in. Congratulations to the returning directors Aeva Black…” (Microsoft employee)



  5. Links 22/03/2023: Official Thunderbird Podcast Starts

    Links for the day



  6. IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 21, 2023

    IRC logs for Tuesday, March 21, 2023



  7. Many More Microsoft Layoffs Later Today

    Yesterday we shared rumours about Microsoft layoffs being planned for later today (there were 3 waves of layoffs so far this year). There are several more people here who say the same. How much noise will Microsoft make in the “media” in order to distract? Will the chaffbot "ChatGPT" help create enough chaff?



  8. Links 21/03/2023: JDK 20 and GNOME 43.5

    Links for the day



  9. Germany's Lobbyists-Infested Government Sponsors the War on Ukraine via the European Patent Office (EPO)

    The chief UPC ‘judge’ is basically seeking to break the law (and violate constitutions, conventions etc.) to start a kangaroo court while dodging real courts, just like Vladimir Putin does



  10. [Meme] The Meme That Team UPC (the Collusion to Break the European Laws, for Profit) Threats to Sue Us For

    António Campinos and Team UPC are intimidating people who simply point out that the Unified Patent Court (UPC) is illegal and Klaus Grabinksi, shown above, strives to head a de facto kangaroo court in violation of constitutions and conventions (the UK does not and cannot ratify; Ireland hasn’t even held a referendum on the matter)



  11. Microsoft is Sacking People Every Month This Year, Even Managers (While Sponsored Media Produces Endless Chatbot Chaff)

    Lots of Microsoft layoffs lately and so-called ‘journalists’ aren’t reporting these; they’re too busy running sponsored puff pieces for Microsoft, usually fluff along the “hey hi” (AI) theme



  12. 3 Months Late Sirius 'Open Source' Finally Deletes Us From the Fraudulent 'Meet the Team' Page (But Still Lists Many People Who Left Years Ago!)

    Amid fraud investigations the management of Sirius ‘Open Source’ finally removed our names from its “Meet the Team” page (months late); but it left in the page about half a dozen people who left the company years ago, so it’s just lying to its clients about the current situation



  13. Amid Fraud at Sirius 'Open Source' CEO Deletes His Recent (This Month) Past With the Company

    Not only did the Sirius ‘Open Source’ CEO purge all mentions of Sirius from his Microsoft LinkedIn account; he’s racing against the clock as crimes quickly become a legal liability



  14. Web Survey Shows Microsoft Falling Below 15% Market Share in Africa, Only One Minuscule African Nation Has Windows Majority

    A Web survey that measured Microsoft Windows at 97% in Africa (back in 2010) says that Windows has become rather small and insignificant; the Microsoft-sponsored mainstream media seems to be ignoring this completely, quite likely by intention...



  15. Rumours of More Microsoft Layoffs Tomorrow (Including Managers!), Probably Azure Again (Many Azure Layoffs Every Year Since 2020)

    Amazon is laying off AWS staff and Microsoft has been laying off Azure staff for 3 years already, including this year, so it seems like the “clown computing” bubble is finally bursting



  16. [Meme] EPO's Management Brainstorm

    The story behind a misleading slogan told above



  17. The Photo Ops Festival of the Funky President António Campinos and Revolt From the Patent Examiners Whom He Perpetually Oppresses

    European Patents are being granted for no reason other than application and renewal fees, awarding European monopolies to companies that aren't even European (only about a third are actually European); staff of the EPO is fed up as it regards or views all this as an extreme departure from the EPO's mission (and it's also outright illegal)



  18. Links 21/03/2023: Trisquel GNU/Linux 11.0 LTS

    Links for the day



  19. Back Doors Proponent Microsoft Infiltrates Panels That Write the Security Regulations, Press Fails to Point Out the Obvious

    Cult tactics and classic entryism serve Microsoft again, stacking the panels and basically writing policy (CISA). As an associate explained it, citing this new example, Stanford “neglects to point out the obvious fact that Microsoft is writing its own regulations.”



  20. IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 20, 2023

    IRC logs for Monday, March 20, 2023



  21. Links 20/03/2023: Curl 8.0.0/1 and CloudStack 4.18.0.0 LTS

    Links for the day



  22. Standard Life (Phoenix Group Holdings): Three Weeks to Merely Start Investigating Pension Fraud (and Only After Repeated Reminders From the Fraud's Victims)

    As the phonecall above hopefully shows (or further elucidates), Standard Life leaves customers in a Kafkaesque situation, bouncing them from one person to another person without actually progressing on a fraud investigation



  23. Standard Life Paper Mills in Edinburgh

    Standard Life is issuing official-looking financial papers for companies that then use that paperwork to embezzle staff



  24. Pension Fraud Investigation Not a High Priority in Standard Life (Phoenix Group Holdings)

    The 'Open Source' company where I worked for nearly 12 years embezzled its staff; despite knowing that employees were subjected to fraud in Standard Life's name, it doesn't seem like Standard Life has bothered to investigate (it has been a fortnight already; no progress is reported by management at Standard Life)



  25. Links 20/03/2023: Tails 5.11 and EasyOS 5.1.1

    Links for the day



  26. Links 20/03/2023: Amazon Linux 2023 and Linux Kernel 6.3 RC3

    Links for the day



  27. IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 19, 2023

    IRC logs for Sunday, March 19, 2023



  28. An Update on Sirius 'Open Source' Pensiongate: It's Looking Worse Than Ever

    It's starting to look more and more like pension providers in the UK, including some very major and large ones, are aiding criminals who steal money from their workers under the guise of "pensions"



  29. Services and Users TRApped in Telescreen-Running Apps

    TRApp, term that lends its name to this article, is short for "Telescreen-Running App". It sounds just like "trap". Any similarity is not purely coincidental.



  30. Links 19/03/2023: Release of Libreboot 20230319 and NATO Expanding

    Links for the day


RSS 64x64RSS Feed: subscribe to the RSS feed for regular updates

Home iconSite Wiki: You can improve this site by helping the extension of the site's content

Home iconSite Home: Background about the site and some key features in the front page

Chat iconIRC Channel: Come and chat with us in real time

Recent Posts