03.11.19

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EPO Examiner: “I Have Been Against Software Patents and Eventually 3/4 of My Job is Examining Software Patent Applications.”

Posted in Europe, Patents at 12:31 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

EPO management makes it hard to do one’s job; if in doubt, European Patents get granted anyway

A messy desk

Summary: Overworked examiners aren’t being given the time, the tools and the freedom to reject patents, based on prior art, patent scope and so on; it is beginning to resemble a rubber-stamping operation, not an examining authority

IT is probably fair to say that Techrights is trusted among patent examiners (different from lawyers, attorneys and others who profit from patent maximalism). I was never myself against patents, only software patents. At a later stage I became aware of the ethical issues and dangers of patents on life, so I oppose these too. In the course of my discussions with examiners — discreet and confidential discussions with disclosures of truth one cannot share with the likes of IAM — I became aware of a profound issue. Many EPO examiners oppose European software patents, but under Battistelli and Campinos they were virtually forced to grant these just to keep their job and pay the mortgage or whatever.

[Remainder of post removed at source's request] █

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