05.01.19

Union Syndicale Federale (USF) Writes to António Campinos Again Regarding the Appalling Atmosphere at the EPO

Posted in Europe, Patents at 1:27 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

USF 2019 letter
Original letter from USF [PDF]

Summary: The letters from USF keep coming; the latest of many refers to the EPO’s very own survey, which the EPO’s management attempted to spin

THE EPO PRESIDENT, António Campinos, has just received the above letter from Union Syndicale Federale (USF), which previously remarked on EPO scandals, e.g. union-busting and lawlessness. Among our articles about them:

The latest letter talks about the survey (we published it in full) and adds these remarks, partly reproduced by SUEPO as follows:

With a letter dated 26 November 2018 and a reminder dated 29 January 2019, USF drew Mr Campinos’ attention to the negative perception of the abusive – and for several of them still unresolved – disciplinary cases against staff or union representatives at the EPO and the personal suffering the situation still entails. In the meantime, a survey has been run at the EPO which seems to reveal/shows very worrying results calling for an analysis to be run jointly by the EPO President and the EPO staff representation / SUEPO.

We recently noted that, based on insiders, staff is running out of patience. A pressure cooker analogy was used. António Campinos isn’t impressing or fooling anyone. Not even USF. █

Share this post: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

Permalink Mail Send this to a friend

If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

Pages that cross-reference this one

Professionally Incompetent EPO Management

What Else is New

IRC Proceedings: Sunday, February 16, 2020

IRC logs for Sunday, February 16, 2020
Links 16/2/2020: MX Linux 19.1 and MyPaint 2.0

Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, February 15, 2020

IRC logs for Saturday, February 15, 2020
Guest Article: Au Revoir, GNU/Linux

"Funny how OSI just ended up being another vehicle for their takeover of the computing world..."
Former Microsoft Employee: ZDNet is Owned by Microsoft (and Others) in Some Senses

A noteworthy message we've received from someone who knows Microsoft from the inside
Links 15/2/2020: Blender 2.82, Qt 5.15 Alpha and NetBSD 9.0 Released

Links for the day
Microsoft Views 'Open Source' as a Zero-Cost Heist Opportunity (Making Proprietary Software/Spyware Using Other People's Free Labour)

Making GPL-licensed (copyleft) software and hosting it outside Microsoft’s jaws is the best way to counter the abusive monopolist, which still says it “loves” what it is actually attacking
Did Microsoft 'Buy' ZDNet?

A look at what ZDNet tells its readers (screenshot from this morning) and a rare look at how its writers are censored/suppressed
Anatomy of a Crime and Protection From Prosecution

It’s hard to forget what António Campinos hides for his friend
Today's EPO is a Fraud Managed by Frauds

Beneath the scandals associated with systematic abuse against staff, union-busting (silencing whistleblowers) and en masse granting of invalid patents — the hallmark of grotesque maladministration — lie a bunch of even greater crimes
IRC Proceedings: Friday, February 14, 2020

IRC logs for Friday, February 14, 2020
One Need Only Look at ZDNet's 'Linux' Section to Understand It's a Microsoft Propaganda Operation

A timely new snapshot (or screenshot) that demonstrates what ZDNet became after hiring Microsoft employees as ‘journalists’ and censoring on behalf of Microsoft, defaming Free software figures and so on
Links 14/2/2020: New Release of KStars, OpenSSH 8.2, Rhythmbox 3.4.4, Flatpak 1.6.2

Links for the day
The Uselessness of Social Control Media and Why We Need RSS Feeds' Resurgence More Than Ever

Social control media became pure noise or misinformation, usually in pursuit of financial expansion alone, and it is also a censorship machine which discourages not falsehoods but unconventional thinking
Another New 'Clown' for the UPC 'Circus'

A former writer of IPPro Magazine (which seems to be defunct now) reports another shuffle -- perhaps the fifth in a few years -- of "IP" [sic] Minister for the UK; it doesn't bode well for the Unified Patent Court (UPC)
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, February 13, 2020

IRC logs for Thursday, February 13, 2020
Links 13/2/2020: Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS, Septor 2020, Endless OS 3.7.7, Wayland 1.18.0, KDE Plasma 5.18 and GTK 3.98 Released

Links for the day
The Microsoft Propaganda Model

Classic new examples (real screenshots) of how Microsoft-funded media entraps people looking for information about "Linux" to actually push Microsoft talking points and marketing, cover-up, face-saving lies etc.
What's Evil is Forcing People to Use Something They Don't Want and Typically Dislike

The difference between Google Search and Microsoft is that many people actually want to use Google (and don't have to)
2020: The Year Microsoft Became Honest... About Being Corrupt and Criminal

Microsoft is destroying any past attempts to portray itself as a reformed company or 'recovering criminal'; nothing is really changing and everyone has noticed
Free Software is Being Abandoned by Opponents of Software Patents and It's Being Attacked by Patent Trolls

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is rotting away as an advocate against software patents; Patents on algorithms are still being granted (even when courts repeatedly reject these) and Red Hat's Chief Patent Counsel remains Manny Schecter, one of the loudest proponents of such patents (citing the likes of Adam Mossoff this week, in effect Koch operatives); this is a very big problem because Free software projects come under a barrage of lawsuits, using patents like those IBM lobbies ferociously to legitimise
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, February 12, 2020

IRC logs for Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Links 12/2/2020: KDE Neon 5.18, Tails 4.3 and WordPress 5.4 Beta

Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, February 11, 2020

IRC logs for Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Links 11/2/2020: New Firefox and KDE Plasma

Links for the day
Sometimes ILO-AT is Good for Nothing But Law Firms in or Around Switzerland

ILO-AT’s latest judgements are out. But ILO — and by extension the UN — are still morally deficient and they give the impression that don’t care about people (or that ILO is in bed with the same businesses WIPO (UN) serves, i.e. no better than WB/IMF).
The European Patent Office Continues to Violate the European Patent Convention (EPC) With Impunity While the European Commission Lets That Happen

The European Commission (and Union) can be seen as increasingly complicit in the EPO's abuses; this means that the EPO has become a liability or source of accountability for the integrity of Europe as a bloc
IRC Proceedings: Monday, February 10, 2020

IRC logs for Monday, February 10, 2020
EPO Staff Representatives to Challenge Ridiculous and Unnecessary Austerity Measures

The EPO's President of Nepotism "is currently finalizing his “package” of financial measures in order to reduce an alleged coverage gap of 5.8 B€ following a heavily biased and flawed Financial Study," according to EPO staff representatives who have already demonstrated it's a fake crisis that distracts from the real crisis and profound corruption
You're Almost Guaranteed to Lose the Argument When You Call People Who Plant Seeds 'Pirates'

The EPO's patent maximalists are damaging the reputation of the institution and harm its perceived legitimacy (people are getting fed up instead of fed)