01.01.18

^{Gemini version available ♊︎}

Not Everyone Would Run the European Patent Office Like Benoît Battistelli Does

Posted in Europe, Patents at 6:32 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Remaining live copy of the press release: Lionel Baranes appointed new Vice-President of the European Patent Office’s branch at The Hague

Summary: EPO open letter of resignation from Lionel Baranès is still being pursued by us; he rose to the top and resigned very quickly, apparently as he witnessed cultural problems

THE EPO scandals are not a new thing. There’s lots of them. The latest scandal is, as we pointed out last night, Patrick Corcoran’s end of contract, which wasn’t renewed (possibly/arguably defying ILO’s rulings). Today is Corcoran’s first day in DG1, but it’s not a working day.

“Today is Corcoran’s first day in DG1, but it’s not a working day.”“The IP World is no longer amused : last article on the EPO in 2017 is released on 31.12.2017,” said this comment, alluding to last night’s (or yesterday afternoon’s) post from a patent attorney. Another new comment said about the fate of Corcoran (which is uncertain and shrouded in secrecy):

Whilst independent confirmation of assertions might not always be possible, it is always a good idea to ask for it (‘cos if you don’t ask you don’t get).

At the end of the day, it does not matter whether it was the President or the AC that “spiked” the publication ordered by the Enlarged Board of Appeal. This is because the facts speak for themselves: the decision on Mr Corcoran’s case has not been published.

If this were not sufficient cause for concern on its own, your comments indicate that at least you believe that members of the Boards of Appeal are not truly independent, on the grounds that they are fearful of reaching decisions that will anger the President and/or the AC. If this is indeed the case, then the BVerfG may well be interested to look into this in connection with the EPO- and UPC-related cases.

In this respect, it would be very interesting indeed if a member of the Boards of Appeal were to provide testimony to the BVerfG on the issue of independence … especially if it supported your assertions. But how likely is that?

And perhaps a more pertinent question is why are the Members of the Boards of Appeal not banding together to take “joint” action on contentious matters? Whilst individuals may fear being persecuted, it would be impossible for the EPO management and/or the AC to take action if they would need to do so against every member of the Boards.

We are meanwhile digging in and exploring older EPO scandals. Some of these predate even Battistelli himself. Some are the subject of active research (for years). We are guessing that readers of ours know certain things but are afraid to share these things (for fear of retribution).

3 years ago we learned about the case of Mr. Baranès. We have attempted to contact him, to no avail (messages bounce back, maybe due to change of employment or even retirement). Here’s an E-mail we sent to his professional account:

Dear Lionel Baranes,

Do you have a copy of the EPO open letter of resignation? I have been researching the EPO for the past few years and published a lot about the scandals.

Best regards,

Roy

If someone out there has a copy of this letter, please consider sending it to us. It was an open letter.

One reader of ours described him as “shy or not quite in his place.”

“”Baranès doesn’t come from the exact same milieu as Battistelli.”
–Anonymous“My memories of Lionel Baranès are about as faint as his tenure was brief (2002-2004, IIRC),” told us another reader.

“He sure made a different impression than his wheeling and dealing predecessor,” we’re told, and “it looks like he’s running a specialised headhunting firm near Paris.”

It’s called Antal International and he is listed under Executive Recruitment.

If anyone out there has the Baranès open letter of resignation, or can try to look it up, we would really appreciate it. Sources tell us that it would be quite relevant to the current state of affairs.

“Baranès doesn’t come from the exact same milieu as Battistelli,” someone once explained to us. “He’s an “X”. That’s the French cypher to designate graduates of École Polytechnique, the elite engineering school associated with the military. Still a ticket to big jobs.” █

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