Bonum Certa Men Certa

Benoît Battistelli Should Have Received an Award for Corruption, But He Completely Controlled the Show in His Own Theatre

Battistelli has just 'pulled a Henry Kissinger'

Son of Campinos



Summary: Having abused/misused diplomatic immunity for about 8 years, Benoît Battistelli now passes this immunity to his old friend (António Campinos) and arranges to receive an award in France, for fighting what they call "piracy"

THE king of EPO corruption is about to officially -- at least on paper -- finish his term, but not before he gets some 'royal' treatments in the unfinished Dutch branch. It's pretty incredible what he got away with; like a true king, he's demonstrably above the law and he's never reluctant to break laws which he subjects others to. The USPTO, which is a federally-enshrined institution, operates differently, so staff does not enjoy the same sort of immunity (not even the chiefs).

"We wish to remind our readers that Battistelli's immunity expires in a few weeks with no imminent role (anywhere) to expand this thug's protection from the Rule of Law."Speaking of immunity, remember what happened at EU-IPO. Caricatures like the above were made about it last year (and circulated inside the EPO).

Currently, the EU-IPO is all about António Campinos, who starts his job at the EPO in about 3 weeks, taking over from another Frenchman whom he knew for many years. He made the EU-IPO 'study' all about himself this past week (we've seen him explicitly mentioned in about 50 articles; here's one in English) -- a very Battistelli-like style of personification and self promotion.

We wish to remind our readers that Battistelli's immunity expires in a few weeks with no imminent role (anywhere) to expand this thug's protection from the Rule of Law. As for Campinos, he has enjoyed diplomatic immunity for a number of years and 5 years inside the EPO's management team may mean that it will be impossible to sue him until 2023 (if not much later). Will he exploit such immunity the way Battistelli did? That remains to be seen. Can lawsuits be filed against monsters/mobsters like Battistelli for what he did whilst immune? We're not lawyers (none of us), so we're not sure about the scope and limits of diplomatic immunity; we urge EPO staff (past and present) to investigate this matter and consider action. Battistelli and his thugs were very eager to hire several law firms and legally bully me, knowing that they enjoyed disproportionate legal power because they're resistant to prosecution and probably to subpoenas too.

"Battistelli and his thugs were very eager to hire several law firms and legally bully me, knowing that they enjoyed disproportionate legal power because they're resistant to prosecution and probably to subpoenas too."Battistelli won't leave the Office without insulting everything and everyone associated with the Office. He already tarnishes any remnant of reputation, falsely believing that hiring not one but several PR agencies (external to the EPO itself) will help compensate for it. We've quietly and patiently observed puff pieces from "media partners" (as usual) and press releases over the past few days. We would rather not link to these but only point out that the EPO works again (just like last year) with Shepard Fox Communications. From one of the press releases (trying to appeal to the cause of feminism, emphasising an ethical aspect, at least a perceived one after that "diversity" ploy celebrated a day beforehand) we have extracted the role of Shepard Fox Communications, but from another press release we extract the following again:

UK media contact: Barbara Geier echolot pr Tel: 0044 (0)7983 242 195 barbara@bconnects.net


We have mentioned her before [1, 2]; they're literally writing some of the 'articles' (their name remains in the metadata).

Now, on to the event -- the one that the EPO wastes a fortune on (European Inventor Award). It's all about the 'king', who is presenting the show in his own theatre that he's responsible for! From the EPO's official account: "President Battistelli: “We are here to celebrate these inventors and I would like you to consider that all our nominees deserve our congratulations and out thanks” [...] We wouldn’t have been able to produce this shortlist of impressive nominees without our international jury, says President Battistelli. [...] President Battistelli officially opens the Ceremony: “I would like to offer you a very warm welcome to the European Inventor Award 2018”..."

So the star of the show is -- as usual -- the 'king' himself.

"...they're [PR firms] literally writing some of the 'articles' (their name remains in the metadata)."Here's what the EPO wrote at the end (warning: epo.org link), after about 60 (re/)tweets that day. Yes, this charade of Battistelli is all about Battistelli himself. He pays not a dime for it (not his own anyway) and gains financially from it, as do his colleagues in France. We prefer not to heckle scientists who were there, e.g. to accept prizes (they're not part of the abuse and some may not even be aware of how they're being used for a money-passing 'cover'). We prefer not to name them or give 'free' publicity to this terrible festival, which Battistelli celebrates for his own personal interests.

Call it laughable or call it outrageous, but crooked Battistelli is 'giving' a bogus award to himself on the same day that he loots the EPO (the 'crime'). We believe that crooks like him and Sarkozy would get away with murder, albeit what happens after he loses his immunity remains to be seen (Sarkozy got arrested some months ago, well after he was leader of France). The award of Battistelli was "presented to him in Paris," according to the EPO (warning: epo.org link). It looks like a prearranged and staged ceremony, wherein "Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group" (we never heard of it before!) was trying to frame a likely criminal as an anti-crime person. It's like that Nobel peace prize granted to Henry Kissinger. It took decades for the Nobel 'franchise' to recover from that (if it ever recovered at all). Battistelli is trying to legitimise himself while he's engaging in serious corruption in the theatre which he manages. Yes, published "7 June 2018" (same day as European Inventor Award) and also in France:

The Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group (GACG) today honoured EPO President Benoît Battistelli with a special award for his services to intellectual property. The 2018 prize in the individual achievement category was presented to him in Paris on the occasion of an Awards ceremony celebrating the World Anti-Counterfeiting Day- which recognises national and international efforts to curb counterfeiting and piracy.


"Marking their 20th year, the GACG Awards were held at the Museé de Contrefaçon, housed at the Headquarters of the Union des Fabricants (UNIFAB)," it says. So they didn't even exist until the late nineties and we never ever heard of them before. Sounds dodgy or what?

"Even the Oscars don't reach these levels of corruption," I told this person, who laughably enough wrote (to soon be retweeted by the EPO):

European Inventor Award 2018 - think the Oscars for Patents - EPO put on an incredible program. Block out your calendar for this in 2019. @aipla @EPOorg #inventoraward pic.twitter.com/OiK9TnSrAt


Oscars?!

Got to be joking! It's not even remotely comparable. The Oscars are watched by hundreds of millions worldwide. How many people tuned in for European Inventor Award? Several thousands on a live feed?

"...this scheme will soon be managed by a former banker, whose employer (the bank) is notorious for corruption. How's that for EPO hope or optimism?"What the European Inventor Awards are nowadays stigmatised for (past and present) is fraud, scams, and corruption. This is Battistelli's legacy. He kept placing them in France, in spite of the long tradition of hosting in the EU Presidency's nation, and he ended up landing the event in the theatre that he's managing.

Märpel has just brought up the word "corruption" in relation to the lack of accountability at the EPO. To quote:

After the last article, some people approached Märpel with questions. The word "corruption" was used.

Märpel would like to point out that she did not use that word.

Let us just say that there are many ways to win people to one's cause but that it is always much easier when they believe that your cause is also theirs. Mr. Petrović was always convinced that this cause was just.

[...]

Märpel believes that this is exactly what happened at the EPO. President Battistelli saw the opportunity to seize power and turned the organisation to a ghost of its former self: it does not fulfil its mission of examining patents any more, it is haemorrhaging staff, its financial assets have been seized by what could be a Ponzi scheme (over 2 billions Euros). All what was needed was complacency from the judiciary.


What Märpel refers to as "Ponzi scheme" was recently covered by Märpel. Well, this scheme will soon be managed by a former banker, whose employer (the bank) is notorious for corruption. How's that for EPO hope or optimism?

Recent Techrights' Posts

Censorship of Information Unflattering to IBM (or GAFAM)
Years ago we gave a platform to a censored Microsoft whistleblower
Silent Layoffs at Microsoft in 2026
Time will tell is there are investigative journalists out there who will quit parroting Microsoft (e.g. false layoff figures) and relying on LLMs controlled by Microsoft to spew out false "facts" for them
SLAPP Censorship - Part 91 Out of 200: Legal Aid in Support of Freedom of the Press and British Women (Attacked by Americans)
bolstered by prominent counsels
Codecs and Software Patents - Part XII - GNU's Web Site Will Soon Have Many Recent Talks by Chief GNUisance Richard Stallman (RMS)
GNU videos being transcoded or converted into AV1
The Fall of Slop (Even Microsoft Admits There's a Problem)
If Microsoft admits that slop is too expensive and is for "entertainment purposes" because it cannot be relied upon, why would anyone other than the pushers and profiteers still insist that slop bears potential?
 
Akira Urushibata on Misleading Numbers From Anthropic's Project Glasswing (False Marketing by FUD Tactics)
Posted yesterday and approved a short while ago
[Video] Richard Stallman's Rapperswil (Switzerland) Talk Online
accessible without proprietary software
Trusting Trust is an Old Issue, Predating Rust and LLM Slop by Over Half a Century
Microsoft Lunduke wants to make a case against Rust and slop (LLMs), but the issues he addresses aren't exactly new or unique
California Should Have Abandoned So-called 'Age‑Verification Laws', Not Make Exemptions (for Now)
This has nothing to do with 1) children 2) safety 3) safety of children
Links 29/05/2026: Cory Doctorow on Why the Internet Feels So Broken, American Pope on Defederation
Links for the day
Techrights Does Not Censor Information About IBM, It Platforms and Retains Suppressed Voices From Inside IBM
They don't like it when people criticise the management [...] panic attacks mentioned
Bob (Robert) Cringely Devoted Three Years of His Life Trying to Profit From LLM Slop and Now He Sounds Off, It's Just Not Working and It Can Crash the Economy Soon
"The labs raising money at valuations with too many zeros are happy"
Techrights After About 60,000 Articles in 20 Years
Sites fail if they don't offer anything new or if they wrongly believe that adopting slop to parrot other sites will give them exposure
Organised Plunder or Robbery: GAFAM and Hardware Companies Rely on Media Bribery to Perpetuate False Narratives and to "Drive Sales" (and Drive Prices Upwards)
The price-fixing seems plausible and, if so, we need to demand action
Linux Foundation Destroys the Identity and History of Linux
Groklaw's PJ was thorn on the side of LF sponsors
The Problem of Microsoft Crimes
Opposing crime isn't "hatred"
Red Hat Will Die Inside a Dying IBM
IBM isn't where Red Hat came to thrive but where it came to die
Very Large Strike at the European Patent Office Today, "Production" Sank a Huge Deal
At this pace, we might be looking at tens of thousands fewer European Patents being granted this year
Gemini Links 29/05/2026: Leadership and Religion, the Board Game (Second Edition)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 28, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, May 28, 2026
Links 28/05/2026: Pakistan and Afghanistan Are Still Fighting, Iranians Back Online
Links for the day
"LLMs Are Not Much More Than Plagiarism Engines"
the impact of LLMs on communities and software projects
Is Slop Profitable Yet? No.
Everything is a giant minus
Bob (Robert) Cringely Has Just Explained That After 3 Years of Hard Work It Became Apparent LLM Slop is Unfit for Purpose in Courts
Added moments ago to Daily Links
Links 28/05/2026: LibreSSL 4.3.2, "Jeff Bezos Is Afraid Of What Comes Next", Measles Making a Comeback
Links for the day
PCs That Are Made to 'Expire' and 'Secure' Boot Contributing to Planned Obsolescence
People who are responsible for this ought to be held accountable
Evil, Faceless Corporation: Google Steals Money From You If You Don't Purchase an Android Device for MFA
At this point, under the guise of "hey hi" (slop) Google is firing tens of thousands of workers
People Go Back to Basics, Abandon Microsoft's GitHub to Avoid Slop
The media didn't pay any attention to GitHub's de facto chief quitting Microsoft only a few months ago
SLAPP Censorship - Part 90 Out of 200: When Efforts to Silence His Spouse and Also the Wife of a Blogger in Another Continent Only Give More Exposure to Embarrassing Information
The Garrett trial ended in October 2025
IBM - Much Like the European Patent Office (EPO) - Gives the President (Head of Board and CEO) All the Money While Staff Drowns in High Inflation Rates
They're discussing the same sort of thing we often see mentioned in the EPO
"THE REGISTER EXPLAINER" as "Paid-for SPAM" at The Register MS With "AI" 40 Times in the Short Page
What will be left of The Register MS in a few years?
2025: EPO President Campinos Breaks the Cookie Jar, Steals Another Million Euros While His "Brother-in-Law" Does Cocaine at the Office and Staff Prepares Rolling, Indefinite Strikes
any additional month of Campinos in charge of the EPO is a liability not just to the EPO but the EU as well
Gemini Links 28/05/2026: Dumping Microsoft GitHub, Gopher Rabbit Hole
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 27, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Links 27/05/2026: TSMC Workers Next to Consider Strikes, Ceasefire Cracking
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 89 Out of 200: SRA Admits Malfunction, That's Why Transparency is Paramount
There have been more efforts than we can to count or can enumerate (probably over 100 such efforts) to gag us and to prevent us writing about what has happened
Our Free Software Activist in Connecticut (USA)
We'll soon revisit the latest round of legislation on "age" (surveillance, ID)
Links 27/05/2026: Living Without 'Smartphoones' and "Russia’s Biggest Attack on Ukraine in 18 Months"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/05/2026: The USA as an "Experiment" and Some Ubuntu Manuals
Links for the day
[Video] Full Video of Richard Stallman's Talk in Rome
It seems inevitable that the official GNU site will have it
Slop is a Passing Fad, It's About Faking Productivity (Plagiarism, Misinformation, and False Positives)
Slop is a bubble. Some people accept it later than others.
Anderon - Like Kyndryl - Could be Far Deeper in Debt Than Its Alleged Worth (Vapourware)
Time will tell, but it seems like a Federal-enabled (by the Federal Government) accounting scam, nothing more, nothing less
The Media That Keeps Covering "AI" Because the Pushers of It Pay for Spam
23 times in the page they mention "AI"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 26, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Codecs and Software Patents - Part XI - The Stance of RMS (Dr. Stallman) Reassured GNU Regarding AV1
cautioned against software patents since the early 90s if not earlier