Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Chief Economist Yann Ménière Keynote Speaker at Patent Trolls-Funded Event Set Up by the Patent Trolls' Lobby

Economists should know the lack of economic value of these

Yann MénièreSummary: The EPO continues to align itself not only with the interests of patent trolls (even those from another continent) but also with the trolls themselves, causing great embarrassment and confusion over the goals/motivations of the Office

THE European Patent Office (EPO) recently boasted having one of the world's most notorious patent trolls in its panel. It had also made it rather obvious that the António Campinos regime welcomes trolls and software patents in Europe; is oftentimes invites trolls to promote software patents.



People at the EPO's examining division aren't stupid and they can research these things; what the EPO is doing these days is beyond unethical and it's a total disgrace. It's also a major threat to European businesses, individuals, sometimes even governments. They'll get sued.

"This is the usual from IAM. This is how trolls pay (or reward) IAM for future propaganda (or past propaganda, respectively). That's the business model."Yesterday, retweeted by the EPO was this tweet from the patent trolls' lobby known as IAM. Team Battistelli is connected to IAM and Battistelli is an occasional author, not to mention keynote speaker, reaffirming the connections to this trolls' front group, where corruption and trolling/blackmail are celebrated, even applauded. IAM profits from abuse.

"We are pleased to announce that Yann Ménière," they wrote, "who became @EPOorg Chief Economist earlier this year, has been confirmed as a keynote speaker for IPBC Europe 2019!"

Notice that about half of the Gold Sponsors there are trolls (directly and indirectly). There are several prominent patent trolls like Dominion Harbor. This is the usual from IAM. This is how trolls pay (or reward) IAM for future propaganda (or past propaganda, respectively). That's the business model.

"It's not hard to see that the EPO is in bed with patent trolls who are controversial not just for extortion sprees/witch-hunts but also for their reliance on abstract software patents."Speaking of Yann Ménière (another nepotist Frenchman like Campinos and Battistelli), earlier this year he promoted the buzzword/term "Fourth Industrial Revolution" (in the Gazatte) as a guise for software patents, which are illegal and economically unsound. This is what the EPO has just written: "Interested in the Fourth Industrial Revolution? This study looks at the inventions behind the digital transformation..."

There's also this new tweet where the EPO is seen shamelessly promoting software patents by just calling algorithms "AI". The EPO knows it's against the rules/laws, but it's a corrupt institution that gets away with it.

"AI provides an opportunity for more collaborative innovation and more thoughtful patent protection strategies," the EPO wrote. "That's one conclusion from our recent conference on patenting #artificialintelligence: http://bit.ly/AIpatents" (a conference stuffed and stacked).

Accura Advokatpartnerselskab's Morten Bruus and Martin Dysterdich Jørgensen have just noted that the EPO is shamelessly promoting such patents, dubbing these "AI".

Benjamin Henrion (FFII) looked at the summary of this conference on "artificial intelligence" (it's a PDF) and wrote: "EPO AI WTF: The panel was divided regarding the proposal to allow patents for AI algorithms as such. Currently they were not patentable, yet algorithms represented the core of AI. One solution would be to legislate to make AI algorithms as such patentable…"

It's not hard to see that the EPO is in bed with patent trolls who are controversial not just for extortion sprees/witch-hunts but also for their reliance on abstract software patents.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft: Work Weekends Too
Microsoft literally working its workers to death
Stallman Has Explained Slop is "Marketing Hype Campaign" and Torvalds Agreed. The Difference is the Bribes.
So be like Stallman
SLAPP Censorship - Part 167 Out of 200: The Court of Appeal Might be the Next Step
Today is our last vacation day
 
The Peculiar Case of OSNews, Which Experiments With Slopfarming
It wasn't published in error. It has been there for two months.
Russian Federation is Removing Windows From Computers
Windows is going "out of fashion"
XBox CEO Has No Clue What She is Selling
Some people believe Microsoft will parcel and offload the whole "gaming" unit to some other companies
analognowhere.com and xkcd.com Selling Physical Copies of Webcomics
That's one way to support their work
PIP/GVSA at Microsoft: Mass Layoffs Disguised as Something Else
Microsoft is trying to cheapen the workforce because the numbers don't add up
Microsoft Lunduke Uses Twitter ("X") Because It's Algorithmically Designed to Boost His Worldview/s, He Ignores What "X" Is
Maybe all those people really deserve one another
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 31, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, August 31, 2026
Censorship by Threats
It should be noted that the Web site of Richard Stallman will soon enter its third day of downtime
In Romania, GNU/Linux Reaches 6%, According to Clownflare
Tomorrow we'll see the latest data from statCounter (for September)
Gemini Links 01/09/2026: Denali Park Train Trip, Crafts, and Community-Building in smol.pub
Links for the day
Microsoft Workers Doing 80 Hours a Week After Microsoft Culled Their Colleagues
there are days when they work 17 hours a day (barely any time left to sleep and eat) and work starts at 5AM
IBM Defrauds Shareholders With Fake News (Bribed Press) About "Quantum"
That says a lot about the state of "Tech Giants" and also the utterly shameless state of the media
Record Highs for GNU/Linux, Especially in the United States of America
the "market share" of GNU/Linux is about 9%, still about a third of what Vista 11 stands at
PIPocalypse at IBM
Silent layoffs
Spending Over a Million Bucks on Lawsuits Abroad When There's a Big Mortgage to Pay in America
Priorities, priorities...
Gemini Links 31/08/2026: Announcing ROOPHLOCH 2026, smol.pub Discussion, and LLM Plagiarism Engines Target Geminispace
Links for the day
Richard Stallman's GNU Turns 43 in 4 Weeks, FSF Growing
In a few weeks GNU turns 43
IBM's Cuts Are Worsening Security in GNU/Linux
IBM is still run by the same idiot who proposed taking over Red Hat
Links 31/08/2026: Anthropic Sued Again for Copyright Infringement of Massive Scale, 'Tokenmaxxing' Shows Slop is a Worthless Liability
Links for the day
Links 31/08/2026: "Teslas Are Still Driving Into Oncoming Freight Trains" and "LLM Moats Quickly Evaporating"
Links for the day
Debian Project Discards About 25% of the Votes on LLM Slop, Microsoft Votes in the General Resolution (GR)
"[t]he rules of the vote saw community members asked to rank each of the eight proposals. Just under 600 people voted, but Debian’s election team rejected many for unspecified reasons, leaving almost 450 valid votes to count."
Essentiality of Rest and Killing Oneself for Vicious Companies
Working for Microsoft is foolish
In the UK, Bing (Microsoft) Down to Lowest Level Since January
our tax money being passed to Microsoft via MoUs (back door deals with kickbacks)
German Government Sponsors IBM Because of GNU/Linux
Flatpak is sponsored by, run, and controlled by IBM
Richard Stallman Speaks to Christine Hall of FOSS Force, stallman.org is Down for Over a Day
interview does a good job addressing the hype about LLMs too
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 30, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, August 30, 2026
Gemini Links 31/08/2026: Holidays, Stream of Consciousness, and Posting Online
Links for the day
Anniversaries Next Month
The month should be otherwise quiet and uneventful for us
Coding is Not Obsolete
we drown ourselves in chaff to meet "LOC" objectives while ignoring everything else
Microsoft Layoffs Perpetual But Silent, People Pushed Out Using Pressure or Incentive Schemes
Earlier this month we named some of the programs
Links 30/08/2026: Apple Rant and LLM (Slop) Scrapers Target Gemini Protocol and Gopher
Links for the day
Salaries Are Counted in Money, Not in Participation in the Employer's Scheme
articles greatly exaggerating GAFAM salaries
Walls in Free Software
mind your own business and move on
Even Linux Cannot Cope With Slop
Bots on the Web are truly obnoxious
What a Summer!
Tomorrow is the last day of this month
Links 30/08/2026: Soldiers in Niger Attack Presidential Palace and Airport, Nepali City Struggles to Handle the Many Dead Bodies
Links for the day
Clownflare Sees GNU/Linux Rising to 11% This Past Week
Is it the year of "Linux in China"?
Links 30/08/2026: Russian Strike on a Ukrainian Warehouse and Rhetoric Escalations
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/08/2026: Photography, Paper Books, Linux Kernel and the Debian Projects Permitting Slop Plagiarism
Links for the day
Imagine a World Where Nobody Fights for Software (and Computing) Freedom
The community keeps fighting back, so some of these ambitions are delayed or watered down
FSF Has Grown (More Staff) After a Year of Financial Growth
On October 4 the FSF turns 41
GNU/Linux Has Become More Mainstream in the United Kingdom
It's a long weekend here and we guess some people dabble in GNU/Linux migrations, at least at home
SLAPP Censorship - Part 166 Out of 200: Garrett Wasn't Found Innocent Per Se, the Court Wanted More Evidence of Who Was Behind Particular Accounts Using Tor
It's complicated
Criminals Don't Obey Laws, California Does Not Enhance Online Safety
It has been a while since we last mentioned so-called 'age-verification' laws
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 29, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, August 29, 2026