Bonum Certa Men Certa

Today's EPO is an Illegal Institution Promoting and Granting Illegal Patents

The EPC is violated every time, rendering it meaningless or irrelevant

You must grant software patents! Oh yeah? The EPC says not! Now grant! I killed the EPC!



Summary: With patent courts or tribunals or boards (panels) that enjoy as much 'independence' as patent examiners -- i.e. none at all -- the EPO continues to grant and then authorise patents in direct and clear violation of the EPC, never mind public interest, directions from public representatives, external (to the EPO) courts and so on

"I am just wondering, the UK is bent to leave the EU, why not the European Patent Office. We both know that it is no EU institution but... probably there are better reasons to leave the EPO than the EU..."



So said a reader of ours, who is actually a high-profile person who opposes software patents in Europe. It has become pretty clear that EPO tyranny didn't end with Battistelli's departure because António Campinos is even worse in certain aspects. This is why EPO staff protested last week.

"I am just wondering, the UK is bent to leave the EU, why not the European Patent Office. We both know that it is no EU institution but... probably there are better reasons to leave the EPO than the EU..."
      --Anonymous
Looking at the official words of the EPO itself, those have nothing whatsoever to do with staff's positions. It's clear that press releases and tweets are composed by people highly loyal to high-level managers (or else they would not endure in these positions).

"Looking at the official words of the EPO itself, those have nothing whatsoever to do with staff's positions. It's clear that press releases and tweets are composed by people highly loyal to high-level managers (or else they would not endue in these positions."Here are some examples from yesterday.

The EPO is clearly hiding the collapse in patent quality while focusing on other things instead ("level of satisfaction related to the European Patent Register & future needs"). This is what it did this week in EPOPIC, which we wrote about yesterday. The following day (not the opening day) they had fewer high-profile speakers, but the nonsense kept on coming. Take this bunch of "tweets" for example [1, 2, 3]: "A new IPC subclass “G16Y” for IoT-related technologies will enter into force in January 2020 #EPOPIC cc @JPO_JPN [..]. ZIT is the world’s first #classification for #IoT-related technologies #EPOPIC cc @JPO_JPN [...] Opening the next session at #EPOPIC on classification, Toshiki Yamaguchi at @JPO_JPN is going to give us the latest information on new J-PlatPat & #IoT-related classifications."

So in EPOPIC too they misuse these words; Many bogus, invalid, bunk software patents have been 'dressed up' as "IoT" -- a rather meaningless or at least vague marketing buzzword. Here's more: "Automatic Classification: There is likely a data deficiency challenge ahead – we need human investment! One of the take-aways from Alexander Klenner-Bajaja's insights into #AI & #patentclassification #EPOPIC"

"Hey hi" is pure magic. You just say out loud those two letters, A and I, and the audience will be wowed. Are software patent not valid? A I! Hakuna matata.

"It means no worries

"For the rest of your days

"It's our problem-free philosophy"

Just grant, grant, grant. Do it for Grant Philpott. The poor sod will only get promoted if he artificially inflates the number of grants by consciously violating the EPC, compelling examiners below him to break the law for him.

The EPO's propaganda partner IAM has meanwhile published "AI technology – the pitfalls of protecting inventions" and promoted that in Lexology.

Aled Richards-Jones (Carpmaels & Ransford LLP) is admitting these so-called "AI" patents are just software patents, almost right from the outset: "The current situation in the United States presents uncertainties when it comes to patenting AI-related technology, following the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice Corp v CLS Bank, while the law covering other aspects of AI is equally complex. In the United Kingdom, protecting AI-related technology involves a range of considerations, from EPO case law relating to computer-implemented inventions, to UK domestic laws involving other forms of protection such as copyright and trade secrets. With innovation currently outpacing the law, where does this leave innovators? This article uses a hypothetical example to shed some light on the landscape."

So what? They grant anyway. Let the courts deal with the resultant mess.

This is as much of a problem in the US as it is in Europe and HTIA has just mentioned it in relation to this article from Dave Jones. We'll put it again in Daily Links as it's not about Europe. "David W. Jones is a former IP Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee and currently executive director of the High Tech Inventors Alliance," says the bio and his employer quotes him as saying: “The solution to poor quality isn’t to lower the bar. We need to address quality head on by making it less likely invalid patents are granted and by strengthening the ability to challenge them when they do."

The same is true in Europe. "How to fix the patent quality crisis" is his headline and he wishes to raise patent quality, not lower it. The EPO has been constantly lowering the patent bar in recent years and that became very visible -- to the point where EPO management panicked and sought to silence the messengers.

The problem isn't limited to software. Big Pharma blogger Rose Hughes (litigation industry for monopolies) has just published "BREAKING: Board of Appeal provides some initial thoughts on the Broad Institute’s CRISPR appeal (T0844/18)" (we covered this case many times before).

Well, the EPO is not allowed to grant patents on life. So on the surface this whole appeal may seem like a waste of time (or non-starter). It's not legal. That much should be obvious, but the EPO is so inherently corrupt and the law does not matter to it. Judges aren't rewarded for enforcing the law (EPC) but for doing the Office President's biddings. Watch that comment from an attorney:

Looking forward to the appearance of the summarized TBA Communication on the EPO public file. Meanwhile, thanks to the IPKat for sharing this news that is "breaking" in more senses than one.

Reading through the Board's summary of the pro's and con's of stepping back from the current established practice, two thoughts occur.

First, getting more into line with "the intention" of the Paris Convention strikes me as outweighing most, if not all, other considerations.

Second, can anybody here recall a case of many years ago, in which a UK patent attorney firm (U&L) was caught in the middle of an ownership dispute, between rival parties, that went to litigation during the Paris year. The facts of the case were quite mundane really. Such ownership disputes can arise quite easily. The two sides were giving that patent attorney firm (which had filed the priority application) opposite and irreconcilable PCT filing instructions. Thus it was, that U&L entered the litigation as an "interpleader". I should like to re-read any published case report in the context of the present dispute before the TBA. Can anybody supply the case report reference?


We already know, based on prior cases such as G 2/19 (Enlarged Board of Appeal), that these rulings aren't compliant with the EPC -- so much so that the EPO aggressively lobbied to not even deal with a query about it (deeming it inadmissible). The EPO is an outlaw institution where the concept of lawfulness ceased to exist some years ago. Something must be done.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Certificate Authority Let's Encrypt Has Almost Gone Down to Zero, Nearly Totally Extinct in Geminispace, the Few Capsules Still Using It Are Spam/Dead/Stagnant
This represents another decrease for Let's Encrypt; the last decrease was last week
Trying to Silence Techrights Was a Huge Mistake
Peter Thiel attacked a publisher for asserting, correctly, that he was gay. Now everyone knows it.
 
Gemini Links 07/09/2025: Advertising, Decentralized Archival, and Outsourcing to Bezos
Links for the day
Not Much Left in News Cycles
To be very clear, this does not describe "Linux" anything; it's true in just about every facet of news, except the paid-for fake "journalism" about "hey hi" (sites getting paid explicitly to maintain or rekindle hype)
Throwing Away "Old" Computers (Mozilla and Other Climate Deniers)
Mozilla is not leftist
The UEFI 9/11 - Part VIII - Denial of Service and Selling Us WSL (Windows) Instead of "Risky" (Prone by Breakage by Microsoft) GNU/Linux
Restricted Boot (so-called 'SecureBoot') does not improve security. It is nothing but trouble. It's meant to trouble non-Windows users. In dual-boot setups, SecureBoot is a recipe for disaster because Microsoft keeps erasing or tampering with the boot sector, to paraphrase an associate
Slop is Extremely Rare in Geminispace, Slop Images Are Unheard Of (Despite Images Being Supported)
As long as Geminispace grows in terms of domains it's safe to predict the protocol will still be used in 2029 and hence Geminispace will turn 10
Links 07/09/2025: Robodebt Class Action, Fines, and Copyright Settlement
Links for the day
Links 07/09/2025: Yle Impersonated in Social Control Media, Boat-Attacking Orcas, Midjourney Sued Again
Links for the day
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, Linux Journal, and the Serial Slopper
Google won't tackle the issue because Google participates not only in relaying slop but also in generating lots of it
Links 07/09/2025: Google Fines in EU and "Your Internet Access Is at Risk"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/09/2025: Little Brother and Corporate Theatre
Links for the day
Links 07/09/2025: More Harms of Slop and Anthropic's Nightmare Scenario (Huge Legal Liabilities for Slop)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 06, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 06, 2025
Microsoft Sites Now Talking About September's Mass Layoffs at Microsoft
It's noteworthy that even Microsoft's MSN now covers the latest revelations about mass layoffs
Gemini Links 06/09/2025: SpellBinding Moving and "The Cloud" Ridiculed
Links for the day
Slopwatch: On "the Apology Industry", Chatbots (Punchbag for Customers), and Fake Articles About "Linux"
"news reporting priorities changed"
Links 06/09/2025: "Covid Incidence on the Rise" and Many Attacks on the Press Worldwide
Links for the day
The Register Bill
The Register MS - putting the "MS" in your centre of the universe
Analogies for "Memory Safety" in Rust
Don't worry, it's Rust! It can do anything!
Nobody Denies That SecureBoot Will Cause Problems After September 11
Not even Microsoft
Gemini Links 06/09/2025: Infinite Scrolling and Posting from Emacs
Links for the day
Links 06/09/2025: GitHub Meltdown Over Slop, "U.S. Jury Says Google Should Pay $425 Million in Privacy Lawsuit"
Links for the day
Despite Its Severe Financial Problems Gnome Foundation Inc Paid Rosanna Yuen Over 100,000 Dollars Last Year
maybe relocation should be considered
The "Left" and the Right"
It poisons everything
Mozilla and Rust Are Not Leftists
they're part of the mass consumerism machine
Disposable to Microsoft
There is an extensive set of people who got used by Microsoft, only to be thrown away a month later or a year later or a decade later
The UEFI 9/11 - Part VII - This Coming Week Many PCs Will Refuse to Boot "Linux" (Because of Microsoft's Expired Certificate)
The real solution is, disable "secure boot" or "SecureBoot" while it's still possible. [...] Just like submarine patents, a lot of this problem was "hibernating" for a while
The Thing Nobody in Red Hat Wants to Talk About Openly
There is a real sentiment or worry among Red Hatters, Europeans and Americans in particulars (because of higher salary expectations)
Slopwatch: Small Parade of Fake News About "Linux" and Scams Borrowing the Name (or Word) "Linux"
In practice, LLMs are a risk
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 05, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 05, 2025
Genini Links 05/09/2025: Community, ROOPHLOCH, and PITkit
Links for the day
Links 05/09/2025: Vaccine Sceptics Poison the Well, Two Exploited Vulnerabilities Patched in Android
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/09/2025: Logitech Lift and DIY Gemini Servers
Links for the day
Links 05/09/2025: Sainsbury's Caught Spying on In-Store Shoppers and Microsoft "OpenAI is Using Legal Threats to Harass its Critics"
Links for the day
BASIC Predates Microsoft by Over a Decade, Microsoft-Controlled Sites Like The Register MS Don't Want You to Know This
The state of the media is really bad when it relies a lot on oligarchs' money and is appointing editors who are working for oligarchs
Brian Kernighan, "Only Third to Dennis Richie and Ken Thompson" (UNIX), Agreed With Someone Who Said Rust Was Just Hype, Should Not Replace C
17 hours ago
Reminder: Microsoft's "Secure Boot" Certificate for "Linux" Will be Expired in One Week
Many PCs won't manage to 'rotate' to another certificate
"Many of the Red Hat Employees Are Still Looking for Work"
Shame on IBM's CEO
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 04, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 04, 2025
Microsoft Started With Code Literally From The Trash, Nothing Has Improved Since
The reality is, there are systems and code that are reliable. But they're not Microsoft's.
Hypothesis That New McKinsey/Microsoft Executive Inside Red Hat Will Outsource Research and Development Operations to India (Like They Do in IBM)
IBM is floundering
Slopwatch: Scams, Fake Articles About "Linux", Plagiarism, and Worse
Perhaps some time soon the LLMs or the "Big LLMs" will run out of money (to borrow) and go offline, leaving those slopfarms in a tough place