Bonum Certa Men Certa

The European Patent Office: From Patent Maximalism to Corruption and Gerrymandering

29M



YouTube version

Summary: The European Patent Office (EPO) has managed to become not just detached from the need for patent quality; nowadays it is totally detached from the law itself, having repeatedly broken laws and faced no consequences for breaking these laws

THE EPO is a deeply corrupt and profoundly abusive institution. Just ask the people who actually work there. Assuming they can speak privately (i.e. no fear of retaliation), they will say so.



"Software is software even if it runs on a 'medical' device (basically a computer mounted onto something)."Longtime readers are well aware that our original (and sole) concern about the EPO was patenting of software. Earlier this year we wrote about "SaMD" as a new sneaky term for software patents -- a subject Judge Corcoran had indirectly dealt with before Battistelli attacked and defamed him. 'Dressing up' software patents as "medical device" isn't a novel trick; we saw that in the US and what's new really is the buzzword, "SaMD". Patent maximalists from Finnegan are again promoting this buzzword (acronym for compacted euphemisms). As Patent Docs has just put it, "Cory C. Bell, Elizabeth D. Ferrill, and Susan Y. Tull of Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner will guide counsel for companies in the medical device industry on protecting software as a medical device (SaMD), and discuss the new FDA rules regulating SaMD and how to leverage IP law to protect SaMD."

This is not OK. Software is software even if it runs on a 'medical' device (basically a computer mounted onto something).

The EPO's silent departure from patent scope does not seem to bother patent law firms. Why should they complain? More patents mean more business (applications and lawsuits). Under "Who's Who Legal," some time yesterday Jakob Pade Frederiksen (Inspicos) published "‘Early Certainty’ In Inter-Partes Oppositions Before The European Patent Office," in which he overlooked ramifications for patent quality at the EPO or maybe he really just doesn't care (they bill for bad patents/lawsuits too).

Even the UPC was mentioned in there and here's part of this self-promotional puff piece of his:

Within the framework of the EPO’s so-called Early Certainty initiative, a number of procedural and organisational measures have been launched that will drive parties in opposition proceedings into skipping former habits and developing new ones. Additionally, in consequence of a proposed revision to the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (RPBA), which may possibly be adopted in 2018, patentees and opponents alike are well advised to reconsider strategies for first-instance proceedings, as these will be – to a larger extent than before – defining the legal and factual framework of second-instance appeal proceedings.

While these initiatives of the EPO management and the Boards of Appeal will without doubt lead to decisions being reached swiftly, a risk exists that final decisions might be rendered on an insufficient basis, as EPO opposition proceedings are becoming even more frontloaded than hitherto.


The Early Certainty initiative is a terrible thing; it encourages making decisions in a rush, based on little or no information that was thoroughly investigated. It leads to mistakes, such as the granting of patents and then awards to literal frauds (such as Theranos).

Speaking of Theranos, mind the latest Inventor Award puff piece published a couple of days ago in the afternoon. As usual, it is all about Battistelli. We would not be surprised if it was composed (ghostwritten) by his PR agency, as usual. He's using the event to effectively loot patent applicants and he paints himself as some kind of scientist:

"By combining their respective skills as a physicist and systems engineer, Banine and Loopstra have significantly contributed to develop a technology for industrial use that will help manufacture the next generations of microchips,” said Benoît Battistelli, president of EPO.


Battistelli has no science degree, yet he's being painted (by his face-saving PR apparatus) as some kind of genius. His ingenuinty seems to revolve around tyranny, corruption, and gerrymandering/vote-buying.

As mentioned last week in Twitter, Battistelli seems to be doing a potential vote-buying tour in cyprus right now (Cyprus has a vote which is equal to that of Germany in terms of weight). Here's the EPO's latest puff piece (warning: epo.org link) which is -- you've guessed it -- all about Battistelli:

Ahead of the conference EPO President Benoît Battistelli met with the Cypriot Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism Yiorgos Lakkotrypis with a view to strengthen the use of the patent system in Cyprus. Topics included recent developments in intellectual property, such as the role of patent protection in supporting innovation, but also in technology trade and in attracting foreign direct investment.


Battistelli is leaving next month, but the legacy he leaves in the EPO is so toxic that it not only embarrasses France but Europe as a whole. Did he pay enough politicians and establish enough political connections to assure he doesn't end up like Nicolas Sarkozy when his immunity expires? Time will tell.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Disinformation and Marketing Spam From and For OIN (GAFAM's and IBM's Weapon Against Free Software Activists and Reformists Against Software Patents)
All in all, this anniversary is just a PR stunt with revisionism
Google Spreading Misinformation and Lies
Google is in the propaganda business
New Video Report About Microsoft Cancelling Multi-Billion Dollar Projects
direct link to the video
Microsoft is Already Laying Off Lots of Contractors
cost-cutting at Microsoft takes a new "edge"
 
Links 29/04/2025: Microsoft Infosys Layoffs, 'Popcorn Lung' With Vapers, Hong Kong Banning Possession of e-cigarettes in Public
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/04/2025: Hey-Hi (AI) Isn't Your Friend/Lover, Mastodon is a Mess, and Mandelbrot Programming
Links for the day
Just Sending More and More Threats Does Not Change the Fact We Got Abused for Many Years and Women Got Strangled
Wanting a "gag order" - or sometimes injunctions - by sending many threats
Links 29/04/2025: Water Scarcity, LLM Slop Backfiring Again in Legal Documents
Links for the day
statCounter: GNU/Linux Adoption Surging in Switzerland, Windows at All-time Low
What happened?
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: Free Speech and Perfectionism in Design
Links for the day
What Fake News Looks Like (IBM)
IBM told a lie. The media then just blindly repeated this lie.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, April 28, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, April 28, 2025
China is Already Culling GAFAM (Not Just Microsoft Windows)
OS monoculture or "OS hegemony" may be coming to an end
The "Telephone Operating System in the Vatican" is 95 Years Old, Vatican Moved to GNU/Linux
Maybe Microsoft is down to zero already
If Tesla Shares (and Alleged Value) Fell 55% (From $489 to $222) in a Few Months Maybe It's Not Worth Anything At All (It's Just Gambling)
Tesla swasticars have turned from a "status symbol" into a "public embarrassment" and cause for casual humiliation
Coming Soon: Microsoft Fake Results, Mass Layoffs, and Silence About All the People Microsoft Pressured to "Quit" (So That They Don't Get Counted as Layoffs)
there will be more mass layoffs
Chromebooks' Adoption in Sweden No Longer Depends on Schools
School breaks are when classrooms are shut
No, IBM is Not Investing $150 Billion in the US and It Doesn't Even Have That Kind of Money
Here we go again... media as a vehicle of lobbying and misinformation
Leak: The EPO's General Consultative Committee (GCC) Does Not Consult Staff on Crucial Matters and Bypasses the Administrative Council (AC) to Do Illegal Things
violations against the EPO's very staff
New Leaks Coming Soon, We Maintain 100% Record of Successful Resistance to Censorship
We won't be told what we can and cannot say (especially when it's true)
Central African Republic (CAR): Vista 11 is Only ~0.2% Market Share
99.8% to go!
BSD and GNU/Linux Replaced Microsoft in Secure Servers, All Microsoft Has Left is LLM Slop for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD)
the FUD machine never rests
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: A Simple Task Tracking and Auto-Prioritization Tool and Other Programs
Links for the day
Links 28/04/2025: Canada's Election, Pakistan-India Conflict
Links for the day
Speed of GNU/Linux
The media seldom speaks of the dangers of "proprietary software"
Glue Inside Your Pizza (or Why People Will Get Fed Up With Slop)
People are given "answers" from non-intelligence word dumpsters
Proprietary Windows Versus "Linux" News (Trying to Keep People on Windows, Never Exploring GNU/Linux)
Good editors know better how to recognise threats and not give them lip service
Ensuring That Every Computer User Anywhere in the World Can Take Control of All His or Her Computers
We must fight the people who attack general-purpose computing, in particular those who push this agenda very aggressively inside Linux
Links 28/04/2025: Cyberattacks Happening, Chatbots Disappointing, and "Free Speech Under Fire"
Links for the day
Phone Adoption Very Low in Vatican, Windows Usage Fell Nonetheless
Even in places where people still use desktops/laptops most of the time (and have access to these) Windows is gradually losing ground
GNU/Linux 9% in Cuba, Vista 11 Waning, Android Dominant
Microsoft has pretty much lost Cuba
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: Autism and Structural Navigation
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 27, 2025
What Happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Elections: The Purge, the Cover-up, and the Witch-hunts
OSI has gone "full Microsoft"
In 24 Countries Observed by statCounter Vista 11 is Still Less Than a Quarter of Windows Users Despite All Other Versions Being 'Expired'
They ought to move to GNU/Linux
Links 27/04/2025: Pope Goodbyes, "Politics of Fear", Slop Redux and More Google Shutdowns (Google Debt Had Grown This Year)
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Serenity Dialectics, Hockey Jersey Ethics, and More
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Death of Nest Thermostats, Death of Metaverse
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Projects Workflow and Discovering Technology
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, April 26, 2025