Bonum Certa Men Certa

Guest Post: Responding to Your Recent Posting “The European Patent Office Will Never Hold Its Destroyers Accountable”

Reader's response to this post

EPO FIFA-approved graphic



Summary: In France, where Battistelli does not enjoy diplomatic immunity, he can be held accountable like his "padrone" recently was

It should be obvious to all and sundry by now that people who expect the EPO Administrative Council to hold Battistelli to account are barking up the wrong tree. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that it really is possible to get away with serious abuses as long as the perpetrator is protected by diplomatic immunity. In this case Battistelli enjoys diplomatic immunity as President of the EPO and he also seems to be protected by a supine Administrative Council which shows no interest in calling him to account.



"In this case Battistelli enjoys diplomatic immunity as President of the EPO and he also seems to be protected by a supine Administrative Council which shows no interest in calling him to account."But what people who complain about Battistelli seem to forget is that he also wears other hats and operates in other contexts where he does not enjoy immunity. To be more precise: he is the deputy mayor in charge of culture in his home town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

He was appointed to this position in October 2017 after the last local elections when he succeeded Arnaud Péricard. Péricard's was "promoted" to the position of mayor after the death of Emmanuel Lamy in May 2017. Until October 2017 Battistelli was the municipal councillor in charge of theatre. In this position he was mainly responsible for the municipal theatre which is known as the Théâtre Alexandre Dumas.

"Until October 2017 Battistelli was the municipal councillor in charge of theatre. In this position he was mainly responsible for the municipal theatre which is known as the Théâtre Alexandre Dumas."The Théâtre Alexandre Dumas (TAD) is named after the famous French writer, some of whose most illustrious works, such as "The Three Musketeers", were written in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. It is a municipal institution which is directly under the management of the municipal council. Both the deputy mayor for culture and the the town councillor in charge of theatre sit on its board of directors.

The TAD can also be rented as a location for events such as cocktails, seminars, congresses, projections and suchlike.

By an interesting coincidence the Théâtre Alexandre Dumas will serve as the venue for the European Inventor Award ceremony on 7 June 2018. (warning: epo.org link)

Paris theatre



The decision to host the event in Saint-Germain-en-Laye seems to be good news for the town and will undoubtedly result in an influx of funds to the local coffers. This means that it's unlikely that anybody on the municipal council will ask too many questions or dare to upset the apple-cart.

Even before this latest twist the European Inventor Award has been shrouded in opacity because the European Patent Convention does contain any mandate for the EPO to sponsor such an extravanganza.

"Even before this latest twist the European Inventor Award has been shrouded in opacity because the European Patent Convention does contain any mandate for the EPO to sponsor such an extravanganza."The event was initially established in 2006 under Alain Pompidou and the first ceremony was hosted in Brussels with the co-sponsorship of the European Commission.

In the beginning it seems to have been run as a joint venture between the EPO and the European Commission and for a number of years the venue chosen was in the state holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

From 2013 onwards this changed without any explanation being given and since then it has never been clear on what criteria the host state for the event is chosen.

But the choice of venue for 2018 takes the biscuit:

Not only is the event being held in France for the second time in the space of four years but it is taking place in the home town of the President of the EPO where he is an elected member of the local municipal council and deputy mayor!

"Not only is the event being held in France for the second time in the space of four years but it is taking place in the home town of the President of the EPO where he is an elected member of the local municipal council and deputy mayor!"Neither the Official Journal of the EPO (warning: epo.org link) nor the minutes of the municipal council of Saint-Germain-en-Laye appear to contain any records which would explain how the decisions to host the event in Saint-Germain-en-Laye and to use the Théâtre Alexandre Dumas for this purpose were taken or who was responsible for these decisions.

In other words no publicly accessible record can be found to clarify whether the selection of Saint-Germain-en-Laye as the host town was made by the EPO President acting on his own initiative or whether the Administrative Council had any involvement in the matter (even if this was only to rubber-stamp the President's preference). It's also not clear what role Battistelli played in the selection of the TAD as the venue for the event but given that he is on its board of directors it would be reasonable to assume that he must have been involved in some capacity.

Even FIFA seems to be a paragon of transparency compared to this!

Battistelli job



Some observers who have looked into the affair have raised the question as to whether or not the choice of venue might involve a conflict of interest on the part of the individual who wears both the hat of the EPO President in Munich and the "chapeau" of the deputy mayor in charge of culture on the municipal council of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

"Some observers who have looked into the affair have raised the question as to whether or not the choice of venue might involve a conflict of interest on the part of the individual who wears both the hat of the EPO President in Munich and the "chapeau" of the deputy mayor in charge of culture on the municipal council of Saint-Germain-en-Laye."Recent developments in the case of Sarkozy have shown that France has extensive anti-corruption legislation which among other things penalises improper giving and receiving of benefits, "influence peddling" and misdirection of public funds.

Given the failure of the EPO Administrative Council to call Mr. Battistelli to account as EPO President it seems legitimate to pose the question as to whether the French public prosecutor might not be the appropriate authority to scrutinize his activities as deputy mayor in charge of culture in Saint-Germain-en-Laye where he is subject to French law and does not enjoy immunity.

Attachments: Extracts from the "Journal Saint-Germain-en-Laye" [1, 2] showing Battistelli's activities on the town council.

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has Un-cancelled the Best People, Just in Time for the Big 4-0
Mr. Oliva should have been there all along (since 2019)
Most "Modern" Technology Makes You Slower and Dumber
Because proprietary software makes you worse off
"What Comes After Free Software?" Wrongly Insinuates We've Reached the Goal (Prison is Not the Goal)
The oil tycoons use similar tactics against environmentalists, giving them fake "wins"
Making More Work Space
I learned the hard way that less is more in circumstances where more means distraction
MAHA is a Lie, Public Officials Never Valued Citizens' Health (They Still Value Private Businesses, Their Sponsors)
Reject demagogues
New Techrights Turns 2
Today starts the third year of the SSG-based Techrights
What Scares Them the Most is Independent News Sites That They Cannot Control and Censor
Wikileaks was a good example of this
If You Don't Control Your Online Platform, Then Someone Else is Controlling You
be (or become) independent
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Has a Policy on Racism and Sexism
In then future we'll show the misogyny and racial slurs
Links 22/09/2025: Murdochs Might Join Fentanylware (TikTok) 'Investors' (Masters), United Kingdom Recognises Palestinian Statehood
Links for the day
 
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part II - UK SLAPPs for Americans, SLAPPs for Profit
Brett Wilson LLP has a track record of this kind
Mayday: Optus emergency calling crisis
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 23/09/2025: Massive Data Breach, Slop Versus Productivity, and Vista 11 Update Breaks Things Again
Links for the day
Code of Censorship
Extortion is peace
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has a New Press Kit for the Weekend After Next Weekend (40th Anniversary)
miles better than social [sic] media [sic] quips, moderated by narcissists and oil tycoons.
Microsoft Had Two Waves of Mass Layoffs This Month (That We Know of) and It'll Get Worse for Microsoft Soon
Will the axe fall again by month's end?
Gemini Links 23/09/2025: Happy Equinox, Photronic Arts, and Perception Cognition
Links for the day
Lessons We've Learned After 17 Years of American Hosting
GAFAM is "all-in" with the "Trump agenda"
Back to Normal Now, We Plan to Do More In-Depth Series (or Multi-part Stories)
Articles (or series thereof) that contain philosophy are important to us
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 22, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 22, 2025
Microsoft Media is Panicking Amid Mass Layoffs Every Month, H-1B Fees, and "Seattle’s Tech Scene in Trouble"
In "late stage Microsoft", copyleft becomes proprietary
The Next Wave of IBM/Red Hat Layoffs Being Discussed Already
Red Hat is sort of disappearing the way Tivoli did
Oracle Started This Year With Slop. Then It Stopped.
Passing fads are like this
Distros That Run on PCs Made 20 Years Ago and Don't Use Systemd
Betas for now
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part I - Abusing British Women on Behalf of American Men Who Abuse American Women
Transparency is important to us, so we've decided to make this series
Slopwatch: Google News and the Evident Slopfarm Infestation
This is what people get about Linux when they query Google for Linux
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Esperanto Music History and Apps For Android
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: More American 'Censorship' (Retaliation for Journalism), Cheeto "Might Be Losing His Race Against Time"
Links for the day
The Blob Slop
Give me more words, give me some text
The 50-Pound Note Experiment and the "War on Cash"
Britain is actually seeing a rebound in cash payments, and it's not a temporary phenomenon
Slopwatch: Blaming the Victims for Microsoft's Failures and Plagiarising Phoronix
That's what Google has been reduced to: slop and slopfarms
Links 22/09/2025: Breaches, Windows TCO, and Arrests
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Rabbit Hole and DeGoogling Fairphone
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: Russian War Planes Invade NATO Airspace While Dihydroxyacetone Man Escalates Attack on Free Speech Because of Critics
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 21, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 21, 2025
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025