Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Meltdown and Collapse in Patent Quality Don't Bother Bristows Kat

IP Kat gags



Summary: Bristows LLP gains greater influence inside the dead 'Kat' (what used to be a source of internal EPO news) and courts continue to throw out invalid European Patents; Funnily enough, there are virtually no publications left in Europe that are willing to touch EPO scandals

TODAY'S EPO remains an autocracy. Just like in China, where the Communist regime cracks down on citizens who state facts and now censors entire news networks which mention Tiananmen (the massacre's thirtieth anniversary is today) the EPO's management in Munich is blocking thousands of EPO stories in all of its Offices (even abroad!) to prevent its staff from finding out about the EPO's crimes. Techrights has been blocked for almost 5 years now. António Campinos has not lifted the ban; the USPTO would not do anything like it because of the First Amendment, but here in Europe autocratic censorship is apparently alive and well (even thriving). Years ago the EPO even banned IP Kat quite briefly; a day later the ban was lifted and IP Kat stopped mentioning the EPO's misconduct, abuses and so on. Team UPC (CIPA) then joined leadership positions in IP Kat and later took photo ops with Battistelli. Amazing how fast things can change when the EPO heralds sanctions (like outright ban of an entire blog with about 20,000 stories).



Well, lost in puff pieces such as these (from this week) are actual court cases, which almost nobody in the media pays attention to (because it's considered uninteresting unless there's some "famous" brand like Apple). The European Inventor Award 2019 'festival' will take place around the same time Campinos and the EPO's Council hand over 40,000,000 euros to Third Reich goons. Remember that the EPO is likely going on strike at around that very same time. SUEPO is absolutely right (if not too late) calling for a strike. Things will get worse a lot faster unless there's strong resistance and effective action. Patent quality has already collapsed and the longer it goes on for, the higher the proportion of bogus European Patents.

Looking at IP Kat today, mind what was mentioned by Jonathan Pratt, who wrote: "EPLaw has a summary of the NL case between Mobile Sanitary Solutions B.V. v. TWT Verhuur B.V at the court of Appeal in The Hague. There is also a look at the Opinion in TATA STEEL IJMUIDEN V. ARCELORMITTAL before the Dutch Supreme Court."

It links to this. A Dutch court opines that another key European Patent may be rubbish, as usual, according to this patent maximalists' blog:

MSS holds EP 2 780 515 entitled ‘Mobile sanitary unit for accommodating at least three sanitary facilities’. The Court of Appeal like the Judge in first instance rules that here is a serious, non negligible chance that the Patent will be invalidated in proceedings on the merits. Therefore, MSS can not enforce its Patent against TWT.


It's the Court of Appeal based in The Hague that's cited above. Bart van Wezenbeek at Kluwer Patent Blog has also just mentioned the Court of Appeal of The Hague (NL), citing a decision from March 26th 2019. "The Court held that the CJEU decision in the Bericarp case, where it was decided that for invalidity procedures no reimbursement of full litigation costs applies, did apply to invalidity proceedings if these did not contain an enforcement procedure."

That doesn't sound good, does it? It's no secret that European Patents are nowadays of low if not rubbish quality. More so the recent ones. And not too long ago this press release was published to state that the "EPO Revokes Regenlab PRP Patent". It resurfaced today:

The UK Patents Court denied Regenlab permission to appeal the patent revocation judgement and ordered Regenlab to pay extensive legal expenses to Estar Medical. Regenlab, however, asked the court to defer the payment because it has "severely restricted…liquid funds available" and, "the amount of disposable cash Regen can access is limited." Regen asserted that if it is "not allowed sufficient time to secure the necessary funds…it is likely that it will be in default of any Order to make the interim payment," which "could have a 'domino effect' on the viability of the business" which "would impact on Regen's business in a way that would be difficult to quantify financially but is likely to be substantial and would take significant time for Regen to recover its position."


How much did that cost to correct? Certainly a lot of money. Lawyers must have enjoyed that! They lobby for software patents in Europe, as well as patents on life. Here's what the EPO has just tweeted: "The number of European patent applications related to autonomous driving has grown 20 times faster than that across all technologies in recent years."

"You make up buzzwords," I told them, "and then claim massive growth in the buzzwords."

The sad thing is that many people out there in the patent microcosm are absolutely fine with what the EPO is doing. We find it astounding that anyone would pay Bristows LLP for legal advice. They're liars, not lawyers; just as we expected (and predicted earlier today), only hours later IP Kat (now with fewer writers) pushed Bristows nonsense from Annsley Merelle Ward, their employee. This reaffirms the view that the anonymous writer at Kluwer Patent Blog was Bristows in disguise. Is IP Kat (the blog) a Team UPC blog, just like Kluwer Patent Blog? Notice how on the very same day, just an hour apart, she posted for her colleagues, Alex Calver (Bristows). Is IP Kat partly owned by Bristows now? Has this "Kat" become just another Bristows 'front'? Annsley Merelle Ward is like a coordinator for their lobbying there, publishing stuff for her colleagues (always promoting the litigation agenda of the firm).

Notice how there's not a single word about strikes and EPO scandals. Nothing!!! The 'Kat' is dead; to make matters worse, it often feels complicit with EPO management. It actually deleted blog comments that mention Campinos. It's like a gatekeeper.

Earlier today Rose Hughes published another puff piece or fluff about an EPO 'internal' decision (where the judges have absolutely no autonomy or independence, having been thrown into a rented building in Haar). To quote:

A recent EPO board of appeal (BA) decision T 1218/14 applied the criteria for the allowability of amendments relating to undisclosed disclaimers. The BA provided some interesting commentary on the definition of "accidental anticipation" as a criteria for when an undisclosed disclaimer may be allowed.

A disclaimer is a claim amendment that introduces a negative technical feature. Disclaimers are a special case in which subject matter not disclosed in the application as filed may be introduced into a claim without contravening the EPO's strict added matter requirements (Article 123(2) EPC). The allowability of disclaimers in patent claims has a controversial history at the EPO. The Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) has considered the issue a number of times. G 1/03 and G 1/16 established that an undisclosed disclaimer may be introduced into the claims to restore novelty in view of an accidental anticipation. An accidental anticipation is anticipation of a claim by something completely unrelated to the invention in question. As recently confirmed in T 1218/14, the threshold for what constitutes an "accidental anticipation" is a high one.


Notice how IP Kat wrote not a single negative post about the EPO since Campinos came. Today it resumed its UPC advocacy, which more or less ceased for a while. The "Kat" was censoring my comments too (when I last tried to leave some). Is Europe becoming like China? Where nobody dares speak of high-level corruption?

Recent Techrights' Posts

"Bad Shim Signature"; So 'Secure' That It Overrides Users' Preferences and Turns Itself Back on (Coercive Measure)
This was a few hours ago
We Covered UEFI 'Secure Boot' Scandals. The World Listened.
To hell with UEFI 'secure boot'
Fake News With Fake Numbers About Microsoft
"This is what happens when the world's economy is governed by sick old men"
Slopwatch: "Google News" is Fast Becoming a Mashup of Slopfarms, Linux Journal ("LJ") is a Dump of LLM Slop
Well done, Google News. Google itself can flourish as a slopfarm mashup.
Torturing Users Who Just Want to Run GNU/Linux on Their Own PC
"Linux does not want to install"
European Authorities, Already Bribed and Infiltrated by Microsoft, Won't Help You Find BigBlueButton, Jami, Ring, and Jitsi
Because they're paid by Microsoft and are Microsoft 'addicts' themselves
 
Links 14/09/2025: Disasters for CEOs Obsessed With Slop and Slop Companies School Like Fish
Links for the day
"Bad Shim Signature" (Microsoft 'Secure' Boot)
"Fresh install not booting"
What Microsoft Garrett and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
Similar tactics, different "wings"
Links 14/09/2025: US "Economy Sagging", "Michigan Economy Wobbles From Tariffs"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/09/2025: Minimalist Snippet Manager and Omarchy Linux
Links for the day
The Face of the Digital Far Right: Microsoft Lunduke
Microsoft Lunduke is an online extremist that belongs to and panders to the far right
20 Years Later and Academia Isn't the Same
"I never dreamed of being a professor"
'Cancel Culture' by the Right: Microsoft Lunduke Contacts People's Employers Trying to Get Them Fired
Microsoft Lunduke panders to extremists online
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 13, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 13, 2025
Microsoft is Rapidly Dropped From Web Servers, Shows Survey
Microsoft lost about 8% "market share" in just 3 months
Many GNU/Linux Users Report MOK (Machine Owner Key) Issues in Recent Days
many people don't report this online and never post in Reddit
Links 13/09/2025: Escalations in East Europe and POTUS’ Health Cover-Up
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/09/2025: Lagrange Turns 5 and Lagrange 1.19.2 Released
Links for the day
Microsoft Inside Your Linux: "Security vulnerability that allowed an attacker to bypass UEFI Secure Boot."
2 hours ago
A New Low for "Linux Journal": Promoting MICROSOFT WINDOWS Using LLM Slop
They've just jumped the shark entirely
The Register MS Still Takes Money to Hype Up "AI" in Articles by Microsoft Resellers With the Term "AI" 30+ Times in Them
Notice how many times they mention "AI"
The Apache Logo News is VERY Old, Racists and 'Anti-Woke' Bigots Look for Something to Incite Other Bigots With
Nothing to see here, move along
Linux Mint 9/11: "4th One Today..." (in Reddit)
Remember that not everyone having an issue reports it to social control media like Reddit
Nepal Will Fall Without a Single Shot Fired, Thanks to Social Control Media
Or very few shots (by the authorities)
European Corruption in the European Patent Office (EPO) Targets Culture
"In reality, the project includes a new “legal instrument” shifting administrative burden and liability on EPO staff while creating new uncertainty and externalising Amicale activities."
UEFI Secure Boot Failing, as Expected for Nearly 15 Years Already (Techrights Said This Since 2012)
in the media
Debian 9/11
people report this issue
Gemini and Web Links 13/09/2025: MElon's Slop Grift and "Autonomous Trains"
Links for the day
Moving From Content Management Systems (CMSs) to Static Site Generators (SSGs) Saves You Time, Makes You a Lot More Productive
try to reduce the cost (financial and computational) of running your site
Pursuing Peace Through Violence
You cannot "see" a person's mind, until the mouth opens
Leak: European Patent Office (EPO) is Now Attacking Amicale Clubs
corruption has become the norm and scientists are robbed of any dignity
Can We Please Stop Celebrating Shooters?
"An important point to hammer on is that CoCs were never intended for uniform or symmetric application"
Oracle Fraud (or Defrauding Shareholders)
"the obvious [lie] is that watts are (wasted) electricity [and] and FLOPS are computing capacity"
Geminispace is Growing Faster in 2025 Than It Did in 2024
What matters is that corporations haven't ruined it and LLM slop is extremely rare
Links 13/09/2025: China Punishes for 'Negative' Posts, US Police Unable to Find Shooter
Links for the day
Who's the Mystery Financier of SLAPP Against Techrights and Is That a Millionaire/Billionaire?
Whose idea was it to fund meritless lawsuits against my wife and I?
Slopwatch: Slow Slop Day
This distracts from or may take traffic away from the original articles, actually written by actual people
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 12, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 12, 2025
CoC Gone Wrong: Celebrating Murder OK, Complaining About the Celebration Gets You Banned
Hopefully the NixOS Foundation will have a word with (maybe replace) the moderator/s
Gemini Links 12/09/2025: Familiarity and Secondary Dominants
Links for the day
Explaining (in Length and Depth) the Damage Matthew Garrett Did to Linux and to GNU/Linux Users
no matter how many threats we receive
Links 12/09/2025: "Bad Reviews" as Extortion Weapon, "Free Speech At Risk in America’s Schools" According to ACLU
Links for the day
Only One Speaker Does Not Do Sharecropping for MElon (in X.com)
The man who puts principles before PR/optics
The Mind of the 'Hulk Hogan of UEFI'
in a nutshell
A Day After "UEFI 9/11": UEFI Secure Boot Bypass
In the news today (right now), as published in the past few hours
Links 12/09/2025: Slop Code as Liability, Microsoft Outlook Down for Many
Links for the day
It's Still Not to Late to Turn Off "Secure Boot"
If people reboot their PC or server today, and it relies on "Secure Boot" on Sept. 12 or later, then depending on the firmware there may be trouble ahead
Links 12/09/2025: Shira Perlmutter is Back, “Software Per Se” Patent Rejections in In re McFadden
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Linux Plagiarism, Slopfarms Still Infesting Google News, Many Images Are Fake
Google is promoting plagiarism
"This Morning Might Turn Out to be an Interesting One for System Admins Who Haven't Updated Their Devices' Secure Boot Certificate" (If They Reboot)
Who asked for this anyway?
Gemini Links 12/09/2025: Metric System, Dumping Windows, and Software Architecture is Dead
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 11, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 11, 2025