Bonum Certa Men Certa

In the EPO Under António Campinos and His Predecessor Battistelli Patents Can Almost be Presumed “Invalid” (in Courts)

The EPO's new "away" uniform?

EPO white flag
EPO logo with white background (whitewashing)



Summary: By lowering patent quality for the sake of faked 'growth' (in patent awards, not innovation) the patent offices merely harm the perception of patents as valid until/unless proven otherwise

THE EPO and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) both have a patent quality problem. The new USPTO Director seems not to care if SCOTUS narrowed patent scope (recall Iancu's speech at an IPO event). Neither does the ITC, unlike the Federal Circuit, which typically affirms Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) inter partes reviews (IPRs), citing 35 U.S.C. €§ 101. As for the EPO, it regularly promotes software patents in Europe, more so under António Campinos. They use all sorts of buzzwords and three-letter acronyms (sometimes two- and four-letter acronyms), but the net effect is the same. Abstract patents, which national courts would likely reject, get granted.



What good are patents if or when there's no legal certainty associated with them? It almost defeats the very essence and purpose of patents.

Professor Dennis Crouch has just taken note of this utterly ridiculous patent which looks like something a child would draw on a chalkboard. The USPTO would become a laughing stock for patents like these. As Crouch put it: "Morgan Irons patented “Ecological System Model” is pretty cool — although deceptively simple. U.S. patent No. 9,970,208 — focusing on space agriculture."

Crouch has also just noted a decline in the number of patents granted in the US (as projected earlier this year). The overall number is still far too high and many of these are bunk, bogus, worthless as courts would reject them anyway. "We’ve reached the end of FY2018," Crouch wrote. "During the year, the USPTO has issued just over 300,000 patents. This is a small drop from FY2017, but the second highest year on record."

Professor James Bessen has meanwhile noted (on Twitter) a new article titled "China Claims More Patents Than Any Country—Most Are Worthless". This doesn't surprise us at all as we have been saying this repeatedly for years. The trouble is, Europe and the US go down the same path now; desperate to 'catch up' with China, they too try to lower patent quality and grant a lot of dubious patents.

World Intellectual Property Review has just written about the EPO using China as somewhat of role model for patents (even though Chinese patents are regarded as somewhat of a joke). "EPO and CNIPA sign bilateral co-operation agreement," IPPro Patents said in its headline.

IP Watch, which stopped covering EPO scandals (and its chief took selfies with Campinos, which may or may not say something), wrote some time yesterday about Korea's patent office (KIPO) using buzzwords to help applicants bypass their own restrictions on software patenting. They even use the EPO's favourite buzzword/term, "4IR". To quote this new interview: "To this end, KIPO will strive to secure strong, high-quality patents to have competitiveness in key technical fields of the 4IR such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT)."

"They even use the EPO's favourite buzzword/term, "4IR"."So does KIPO too lower patent quality, in the name of facilitating/respecting buzzwords? The trouble is, affirmation rates in courts are rather low, which means that a lot of awarded patents can now be presumed invalid. So what good are these really? A paid press release (blocked in EU due to GDPR) was released this week and it's titled "TFF Pharmaceuticals Receives Notice of Intention to Grant European Patent for Its Thin Film Freezing Process, Providing IP Protection in Europe until 2028" (but is it valid?)

In the US, even patent maximalists are currently sceptical of the situation. They don't believe that being more lenient in granting is the 'solution' but making the courts more lenient should the goal (i.e. lowering the patent bar). As one patent maximalist put it: "Likely example of what Iancu's standard will stop: PTO INVENTING NEW categories of judicial exceptions: "claims are directed to the abstract idea of "using categories to organize, store and transmit information" https://e-foia.uspto.gov/Foia/RetrievePdf?system=BPAI&flNm=fd2018001127-09-13-2018-1 …"

That would not, in any way whatsoever, change how courts view these patents. Director Iancu is like a 'mole' of lawyers (like himself); he or his firm had worked for Trump before he became Director and IPPro Patents belatedly covered his speech as follows: "The US must stop commingling the categories of invention with the conditions of patentability, according to US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) director, Andrei Iancu." [via]

But again, that would not change what courts decide. "Iancu says guidance is needed on patentable subject matter eligibility to get out of a “rut”, particularly on the how Section 101 is different from Sections 102, 103 and 112," Michael Loney wrote. Maybe what's needed is higher patent bar, even if that means far fewer patents being granted. As Benjamin Henrion put it: "Iancu could have just copy/pasted the European Patent Convention art52, but he just wanted software patents back, and abolish Alice for its clients..."

Well, Iancu does not obey courts; like the President who appointed him, he just overrides the courts. He thinks he's a lawmaker or something.

"Really," said one reasonable observer, "it's Iancu who needs to get on the same page as the courts -- particularly the Supreme Court, which does get the final say in these matters until and unless Congress acts. Iancu doesn't get to make the rules; that's just how it goes."

She was citing/quoting the maximalists as saying: "So its nice that Iancu is working on 101, but the courts also need to get on the same page. Whats the point of the PTO fixing their 101 issues only to have the courts kill patents on the same 101 issues a few years later when the patents are enforced?"

This maximalist later clarified to her: "I agree. Proposing all of these changes on 101 is a waste if the courts are going to kill on the same issues. What's the point? IP still not enforceable. [...] While issued patents are valid they aren't worth the ink or the paper unless they can be enforced. So the pto stops rejecting on 101 and issues SW patents again at a higher rate. PO tries to enforce in court down the line and gets killed due to 101. Massive waste of time & money..."

She later added (lots more in there from her): "Issued patents are *presumed* valid; they are not conclusively valid as an evidentiary matter. If a defendant in an infringement case proves by clear and convincing evidence that the patent was erroneously issued, then the presumption is defeated."

Therein lies the danger to the EPO. What good are European Patents that aren't presumed valid or likely to be considered invalid by courts? Lawyers may benefit, but nobody else...

"That's called the "Rule of Law"," Henrion remarked on the above conversation. "US is lucky, in Europe we have the EPO that is not bound by any court, and don't give a damn if for ex the French courts are saying their practice to grant swpat [software patents] don't have a legal ground. So you are lucky."

"That's separation of powers and rule of law for you," another person remarked.

We cannot have patent offices deciding the rules by which they're governed. That would be even a laughable proposition in a country like China. We'll say a lot more about it in the weekend (in relation to the US).

Recent Techrights' Posts

'Tech' Gimmicks Are for Advertising, Not for Usability
In the case of Microsoft, they latched onto slop
BetaNews Sacked Brian Fagioli and Deleted His Comments, But He Still Tries to Use the "BetaNews" Brand for Self-Affirmation
Fagioli takes the work of other people
[Meme] Hard to Be a Better Person?
Sooner or later they'll realise that for each pound I spend they need to spend about 1,000 times more
New US Editor for The Register is a Microsoft Booster
"Avram Piltch has served as US editor for The Register since July 2025."
Reda Demanded That FSF Removes Its Founder, Now Reda Works Directly for Microsoft
A sellout and a traitor, first working for GAFAM, now Microsoft
PCLinuxOS is Raising Money to Support Development After Fire Incident at the Host
PCLinuxOS has not had announcements lately
Over 3 Months Later Brett Wilson LLP Still Unable to Recruit a Media Lawyer?
"Immediate start", but not found... still unfilled
Microsoft is Trying to "Pull a Nokia" on GNU/Linux as Desktop/Laptop Platform
We all remember that rather well, don't we?
 
Gemini Links 24/07/2025: Forgejo Woes and Smolnet Directory Week
Links for the day
Misinformation is Not Intelligence
It's low-grade plagiarism and it fails to show any signs of intelligence
Links 24/07/2025: Storage Tapes Still Kicking, Windows TCO 'on Steroids' (Microsoft-Induced Catastrophes)
Links for the day
Bobby Borisov (LinuxIac) Has Apparently Begun Experimenting With LLM Slop, So We Cannot Trust LinuxIac Anymore
So did LinuxIac become a slopfarm? Maybe not yet, but it's getting there
Informa TechTarget's ITProToday is Becoming a Slopfarm Generated by Microsoft Chatbots
Busted.
The LLM Con Artists Are Highly Destructive
Who will ever be held accountable for this scam?
Too Bribed by Microsoft to Move to Free Software?
Microsoft lies and Microsoft bribery (in politics)
Microsoft Hiring European Politicians is Another Form of Bribery; There Should be a European Investigation
When Microsoft bribed people in Europe for OOXML (there's no denying this!) a European government delegate said that Microsoft operated like a cult
Speed of the Site Should be Better Now
The "bot attacks" impact the speed of the sister site too
Getting More From AnalogNowhere
Recently we used many images from AnalogNowhere
Microsoft, Microsofters and 'Secure' Boot Shills Already Storming the LWN Report About Expiring Certificate, Shooting the Messenger
LWN has clearly stuck a nerve
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 23, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Disable "Secure" Boot Today (the Only Better Time to Do So Was Yesterday)
Don't trust anything Red Hat tells you about security
Links 23/07/2025: Windows Killed Company After 150+ Years, US Government Mimics Russia's Attacks on the Media
Links for the day
Freedom Generally Wins at the End, History Shows (But It's Constantly Attacked, Too)
At the moment people realise "Linux" (e.g. Android) isn't enough to guarantee any freedoms
“Inhumane” and “Disgusting” Mass Layoff Execution, According to Microsoft Staff
The workers are looking for other places to work
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has a New Slogan for Its 40th Anniversary
The freedoms are what's most important
LLM Slopfarms gbhackers.com, "Cyber Press" and CyberSecurityNews Are Drowning Google News (and Shame on Google for Feeding and Facilitating Them)
All are run by the same people
Links 23/07/2025: Droplets GUI Patent Monopoly Challenge, Nokia Leverages Illegal Patent Court Against Rivals
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/07/2025: Community in Geminispace and Challenges With Old Computers
Links for the day
Links 23/07/2025: Slop Patents Tackled, Slop Copyright Misuses Tackled by Politicians
Links for the day
Our Three Lawsuits Against Microsofters Are About to Become a Lot More Relevant to GNU/Linux
The Master will easily understand why Garrett has been attacking me since 2012
Links 23/07/2025: Retreating From Transparency on Jeffrey Epstein, We No Longer Have Press Freedom
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/07/2025: Piano and Food
Links for the day
New and Old
On Ageism in Tech
Slop Is Not Intelligence and It Does Not Enhance Productivity
Like voice dictation, which cannot tell the difference between "sheet" and "shit"
EPO Crimes Are Spreading to the British Court System
Society is now paying the price for failing to tackle crimes at the EPO
It's Time to Dump SharePoint and Here's What to Use Instead
Nextcloud, ownCloud, Bookstack, MediaWiki, and MediaGoblin
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 22, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Brett Wilson LLP Has Gone Silent
Sometimes silence says more than nothing at all
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, Planet Ubuntu, and LinuxTechLab
some slopfarms show no remorse and they don't value their reputation at all
Links 23/07/2025: Book Bans, Storms, and Kangaroo Court for Patents Commits More Unlawful Acts of Overreach
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/07/2025: Thinkpad and Pinephone
Links for the day
Links 22/07/2025: "Blog Restart" and Microsoft Clobbered by “ToolShell"
Links for the day
Global Warming and Global GAFAM Energy-Wasting
Burn more money (borrowed, loans), then hope the waste will somehow translate into profit?
No Compliance With the European Patent Convention (EPC) at the European Patent Office (EPO)
It's about preventing competition against this autocracy
Blue-Collar Trolls vs White-Collar Trolls
Examples of white-collar trolls
Apple Vision Pro Failed So Badly That Its Sales Are About 2,000 Times Smaller Than iPhone Sales
What's left for Apple to offer other than hype?
To Millions of People "Year of the Linux Desktop" Was Some Time in the 1990s (Bootable GNU/Linux as a Complete Operating System is Over 33 in Age)
In some sense, "year of the Linux desktop" was 33 years ago
Make No Assumptions (or Demands) About the Screen Resolution Used by Other People
There are usability aspects, aside from accessibility aspects
Why Wayland (and XWayland) Won't Solve the Key Problem It Proclaims to be Tackling (the Same Is True for Rust)
The problem isn't Wayland per se but the false promises and efforts to force everybody to move to it whilst insulting or demonising everyone who won't play along
They Don't Tell Us that 'Digitalisation' (Now Sold as "Hey Hi") Just Means Customers Become Unpaid Staff and Are Made Accountable
People are being conditioned to associate technology with something undesirable, at times even unbearable
Diplomatic Immunity Should Not Exist for Anybody
The EPO in its current form gradually 'normalises' the end of European democracy
Brett Wilson LLP Stopped Sending Me Papers When I Showed It had Sent Me Over 5 Kilograms of Legal Papers
A week ago we lodged our third lawsuit
Microsoft Mass Layoffs and Shutdowns Became the New Normal at Microsoft
Microsoft mass layoffs became a topic of everyday media coverage since May
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Has Layoffs and Microsoft Gaming/Entertainment Division Has an Uncertain Future
it's good to see all those horrible things crashing and burning
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 21, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 21, 2025
FSF "Raised Almost $139,000 During This Summer Campaign"
"Thank you for making a stand against dystopia!"
Gemini Links 22/07/2025: VPS Exploited and Fear of View
Links for the day