Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Corruption Has Killed in Germany and the Netherlands Far More Than Coronavirus (Covid-19) Did

CIPA: Prepare for exam... Gotta go, bye!



Summary: Europe has an epidemic of corruption, but there's only panic in the media when it's of a medical nature (direct deaths)

THE European Patent Office (EPO), just like most institutions, is impacted by the virus everyone talks about. And sure, Team Campinos/Battistelli is like a parasite inside the EPO.



"At the time of writing, Campinos continues lying to the media and to his staff about patent policy."It's probably fair to say, based on the latest figures (0 as in no deaths in Germany and the Netherlands), that coronavirus killed fewer in Europe's 'patent capitals' than the EPO's cabal had killed. Not to mention how many companies in Europe were killed by illegal software patents granted by the EPO.

At the time of writing, Campinos continues lying to the media and to his staff about patent policy. They make it more expensive to challenge the process, hence discouraging full exposure of patent quality's decline. Meanwhile, the crooked ResearchAndMarkets again advertises a so-called 'Workshop' on "EPO Oppositions and Appeals". To quote:

Drawing on case law and the experience of the expert speakers, this seminar considers the present complex workings of the opposition and appeal procedures at the European Patent Office (EPO).

It provides an in-depth summary of both background and recent developments at the EPO, including the new Rules of Procedure that entered into force on 1 January 2020, and explains how these will impact on your day-to-day practice. It will give you the knowledge and skills to navigate this highly technical area and adapt to the recent changes.


Notice how they changed the rules this year, making it more expensive. Nobody in the media bothered analysing or mentioning what that means to patent quality. There's another new press release celebrating another monopoly on cancer -- a controversial subject [1, 2]. To quote the press release: "Salarius Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SLRX), a clinical-stage oncology company targeting cancers caused by dysregulated gene expression, today announced the continued enhancement of the U.S. and global intellectual property (IP) portfolio governing its lead investigational drug candidate, Seclidemstat. Seclidemstat is now in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for Ewing sarcoma, a rare pediatric bone cancer, and a Phase 1/2 trial in advanced solid tumors (AST). The European Patent Office (EPO) has recently issued a notice of allowance for Patent EP274430 exclusively licensed to Salarius from the University of Utah Research Foundation indicating that the agency is satisfied that the patent application meets all EPO requirements."

The EPO requirements aren't steep anymore; just ask the examiners (discreetly) or take a look at leaks from the inside.

The EPO of the recent years (5+ years) bets on granting loads of low-quality patents. It's akin to what the US had done before some overdue reforms and what China nowadays (still) does.

Should we be surprised that the EPO is, in an official tweet, openly propping up patent extremists who attack judges (for being strict)?

The EPO wrote: "Giving visibility to a company & its technology in the early stages is not an easy task; however, there are many ways to draw attention to successful transactions. Gene Quinn at @IPwatchdog talks about this in this video..."

This sort of connection says all you need to know about radicalisation of the EPO. It wasn't long ago that the EPO invited the most notorious patent trolls to its panel.

Of course much of the population ignores all that stuff because the media isn't mentioning it (not anymore).

Last night Thorsten Bausch (Hoffmann Eitle) wrote some "news from and about Eponia," starting with the UPC by stating that "no one following our blogs regularly (see e.g. 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019) should be greatly surprised about the UK’s decision to back out of the Unitary Patent System..."

We'll cover the UPC separately in our next post.

Bausch continues:

....the EPO continues to be a source of funny, sad, sometimes outrageous and sometimes boringly dull news of all sorts. Today is yet another example of such days.

Let’s begin with some sad news for which the EPO is not to be made the main culprit though, at least in my view. The EQE 2020 has been cancelled in view of Covid-19 concerns. My deepest sympathy is with the thousands of trainees most of whom have worked so hard over the past weeks and months to pass this difficult hurdle. It must be frustrating when you are being told so shortly before the exam (less than two weeks) that it will not happen this March and may (but without any guarantees) be postponed to later this year. I guess that the majority of them will still sort of understand the EPO’s decision, but perhaps I should take this opportunity to remind the EPO (and our EPI representatives) that it would be so much better and easier for trainees and their employers if this exam were to regularly take place at least two times a year. Perhaps the sad events of this year offer a good opportunity to generally reconsider the set up of the EQE. In the end no one is helped by holding back capable and well-educated scientists and engineers from practicing in their desired profession.


Sadly, this (and the UPC) is all the media seems to be covering, and poorly...

Bausch then mentions the many EPC violations and adds:

[...]

A lot of very good questions, I would think. I guess, the Federal Constitutional Court might also want to know the answer to some of them. Whether the representatives will get good (i.e. meaningful) answers back by the German Ministry of Justice, though, will remain to be seen. I would not hold my breath. But stay tuned, I will try to follow up on this. Transparency is important.


Transparency is a big problem at the EPO; hence the many EPO leaks. There have been a lot of openwashing tweets composed by the EPO this past week (centered around Open Data), but no transparency at all.

In terms of news, all we've seen is this "Update on Coronavirus" (warning: epo.org link; updated again the following day, so a slightly different URL). To quote: "We are cancelling all duty travel scheduled for March and April as of 5 March 2020. [...] We understand this may cause some business disruption and apologise for any inconvenience caused. We are continuously monitoring the situation and will provide updates as necessary."

Still no official word regarding the UPC. Nothing. Campinos with Team UPC in London said something about it and the EPO's Twitter account then retweeted the lie. And that's about it.

The EPO did find plenty of time to pretend that it values the health of staff, writing a couple of tweets [1, 2] about coronavirus with funny emojis in them: "⚠️Update on Coronavirus: The EPO is cancelling duty travel for EPO staff & postponing its events in March & April. Participants will be contacted by organisers on an individual basis. We apologise for the inconvenience caused. Details: https://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2020/20200304.html [...] All EQE candidates have been or will be contacted and informed individually about the decision of the EQE Supervisory Board. Thank you for your understanding."

Yes, EQE is affected and IP Kat not only mentioned "Cancellation of MARQUES Spring Meeting 2020" but also "EQE and pre-EQE postponed until further notice". There are loads of comments in there, some expressing great frustration, e.g.:

Its a pretty rubbish statement from CIPA. Why cast doubt in already stressed minds by saying:

"At this stage, CIPA has not received official confirmation of the cancellation and our plans to host the EQE in Walsall remain in place."

Sort it out behind closed doors, then issue a statement.


"If I were to guess," another person wrote, "I'd say the chances of postponement are small. Missing a year would be terrible for all concerned..."

Here's what CIPA said:



Erp, hold on, seems CIPA (and the other organisers?) weren't informed and want the decision reversed:

"Statement on EQE cancellation The news of the cancellation of this year's European Qualifying Exams by the Supervisory Board of the EQE has come as a tremendous shock to candidates, their employers and to CIPA. Our student members invest a large part of their professional and personal lives in preparing to qualify as European Patent Attorneys and we share the sense of uncertainty, frustration and disappointment that they must be feeling this morning.

At this stage, CIPA has not received official confirmation of the cancellation and our plans to host the EQE in Walsall remain in place. We will be communicating our concerns about the impact this decision will have on the UK profession to the Supervisory Board of the EQE. We will be asking that this decision be reversed and that all other options are considered. We will update members as soon as we know more."

So, on behalf of the hundreds of UK candidates wondering if they should cancel their hotel and travel books right now or now, let me ask: What on earth is going on?


Another person wrote: "Let's hope the EPO decide whether to reschedule (and if so, when) or cancel sooner rather than later. Are we all meant to remain in a revision limbo whilst we await a new date for the exams?"

One more: "It is regrettable and certainly preparing for the pre-exam and EQEs is not a trivial matter. However, in the interest of minimising the risks of contracting the disease and/or someone unknowingly spreading the virus, postponement should always be considered. And implemented. Better to get qualified slightly later than to end up with pneumonia or worse."

"This is big news," said another person. "I suspect this is in large part the result of the situation in Italy though the rest of Europe may soon be as bad. An exam that has to be sat simultaneously across the continent is surprisingly vulnerable to this kind of thing."

We've reviewed all these comments (up to this morning). Here's one from a directly-impacted person.

"I'm doing all 4 papers this year and I'm absolutely gutted. all that preparations and time sacrificed," said this comment.

"More evidence as to why having an approach of coursework/exam mixture is good," said this comment. "Relying entirely on exams as we see in this situation has too much of a large impact on everyone."

Maybe it's time to call off the PEB 'scam' of CIPA. It's another (albeit related) matter.

All in all, everyone is talking about the virus right now instead of the EPO's abuses. This very much suits the EPO's management, which wishes to paint itself as caring and responsible. The rest of the news concerns UPC and we'll cover it separately later today.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Annual Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE 22x) 'Bought' by Microsoft and Microsoft Exceeded Sponsorship Limits by Giving Double the Maximum Permitted Amount
When people get bribed they tend to forget how to utter a simple word: "No."
EPO Examiners Point Out to the Heads of Delegations in the Administrative Council of the EPO That the "AI Policy" of the Office is Illegal
"the Central Staff Committee (CSC) asks the Administrative Council to exert its supervisory role and instruct EPO management to enter into genuine dialogue with the staff representation on the AI Policy, to revise the “Leverage AI” target of 90% AI-automated classification in the SP2028 and to put in place the measures supported by staff in the resolution."
French Cities Dumping Microsoft Because They Recognise Software Freedom, Open Standards, GNU/Linux Autonomy
We hope that more French cities - maybe Paris - will follow Lyon.
LWN is a Voice of GAFAM (Through Linux Foundation, Their Front Group or Occupying Force Inside Linux)
remember who the chief editor works for and who sponsors many of the articles
The 'Case' of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft is a Lot of Copypasta (Maybe Also LLM Slop) From the Matthew Garrett 'Case'
5RB deserves to know and the matter shall be properly reported in due course (when the time is right)
EPO Squeezing the Staff - Part II - Office Breaks Rules, Ignores Courts, Defies Justice
False promises everywhere
IBM - Like Microsoft - is a Dying Company and Perishing Brand ("AI" is a Lie and Decoy)
"Arvind is cutting costs (layoffs, PIPs, forced RTO, etc...) like crazy. IBM offices are closing all over the place in the US."
"Code of Conduct" Invoked When Fedora and Red Hat Users (Since the 1990s) Don't Want to Use Wayland
That is IBM "DEI"
Microsoft Layoffs Next Week: About 10% to be Laid Off in Microsoft Gaming (2 Days Before Independence Day), About 20%+ of XBox Staff
Microsoft is rapidly collapsing
 
What Linux Foundation 'Research' is: Paid Marketing
What is Linux Foundation 'Research'?
No, IBM Does Not Care About People With Disabilities
"Aktion T4" did not seem to bother Watson
Microsoft's Financial Problems Mean Shutdowns, Not Just Mass Layoffs
If the original rumour is true, then expect almost 30,000 Microsoft workers to be let go this year
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 26, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, June 26, 2025
The Netherlands: GNU/Linux Measured at All-Time High
Are any Dutch cities going to announce dumping Microsoft?
Gemini Links 27/06/2025: "Interstitial Existence" and Autocorrect
Links for the day
Keeping Things Accessible
Gemini Protocol seems to be growing
Technical People Need Technical Lawyers
Technical Litigants in Person (LIPs) have many real and concrete advantages
10,000+ Articles in About 20 Months (and How We Got Here)
More bloat does not beget efficiency and "bells and whistles" tend to have a hidden cost
Links 26/06/2025: Illegal Kangaroo Court (UPC) Failing Scandinavia, K-Pop Agencies Abuse People
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/06/2025: AuraGem Twitch Proxy is Back and UI Sluggishness
Links for the day
Links 26/06/2025: Noise Pollution Considered High in Europe, Mass Layoffs Next Week in Microsoft Confirmed, Very Large in Scale and Scope
Links for the day
No, I Don't Want Your Latest XYZ, ThankYouVeryMuch...
Wayland is finally ready?
China Keeps Breaking Into Microsoft Systems, So for True Sovereignty, Nations Wary of China Need to Dump Microsoft
Looking at data from Taiwan (not China) and Maharlika (not Philippines, the king is dead and Spain is out), there are encouraging signs
Linux Journal Wants Ads on Its LLM Slop or Ads as 'Articles'
it's basically another BetaNews
How to Kill a Monopoly
in 10 simple steps
Mozambique: GNU/Linux Rose From 0.5% Last Year to 3% This Year
what (or how) statCounter is measuring
Next Month Marks 11 Years Since Our In-Depth EPO Coverage
The same is happening to Microsoft right now
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Campaigns Against Vista 11, Adds 4 New Associate Members Per Day
If more people understood the underlying principles, more of them would flock to Free software overnight
Canonical Seems to Have Culled Some Sources of LLM Slop From Planet Ubuntu
It's like "junk food", it's not information
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 25, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, June 25, 2025
On "Weak Claims"
For the record, they sent me unjustified threats, repeatedly tried injunctions (censorship)
EPO Squeezing the Staff - Part I - Burnout and Family Health
more exceptional circumstances
This Month's Mail (MX) Server Survey Shows Microsoft at 0.20% "Market Share"
We need to remind people that desktops and laptops decline (in proportion to other client devices) and at the "back end" GNU/Linux is already dominant and has long been dominant
Links 26/06/2025: Filespooler Guide and Learning to Code
Links for the day
Why Techrights Cannot be Vilified (and Instead It Gets SLAPPed Repeatedly by Microsoft People)
Attack dogs are all "bark"; because they have no actual "bite"
Austrian GNU/Linux Usage Up to About 5% as More of Europe Abandons Microsoft
Since inauguration day the Austrian people have adopted more and more of GNU/Linux
Why the "Wayland People" and "Rust People" Will Lose Hearts and Minds (Same Reasons)
Wayland pushers are fast becoming like "Rust People"
5,600 Pages/Articles Per Year
So far this year we've kept all the promises
BetaNews Beginning to Show What Its True Goals Are
The 'new' BetaNews won't be about journalism. It's trying to sell things.
Microsoft Has Lost "The War"
We'll soon see the 9th or 10th wave of Microsoft layoffs in 2025 alone
Slopwatch: A Wreck and a Dreck, "Flooding the Zone With Dreck" or Flooding the Web With Junk
"Slopwatch" continues today because we have many new examples
Links 25/06/2025: Thwarting More Software Patents, Overlap Grows Between EPO Corruption and Illegal Kangaroo Patent Courts in EU
Links for the day
Links 25/06/2025: Elon Musk’s Lawyers Caught Lying, WhatsApp Faces More Bans
Links for the day
Wayland Pushers Lose the Argument, Use LLM Slop and Chatbots to Make Up Arguments for IBM
Another new low and low blow
Brian Fagioli Created Another Slopfarm Targeting "Linux" After BetaNews Became a Slopfarm of Phantom Accounts and Pseudonyms
Mr. Fagioli even had slop about a dead Torvalds (hypothetical) as clickbait
Wayland is Perfect, Nobody Can Escape Its Perfection! (Or Not)
Do not form on opinion on Wayland based on politics
What is "MATA"?
Think of it as GAFAM or "Meta"
Moral Duty for "Linux Sites" to Speak Out Against LLM Slop
My wife has long complained about "Linux bloggers" keeping quiet and thus passive about a growing problem: slop
In Recent Hours Google News Promoted at Least 3 Slopfarms That Relayed Linux Foundation Propaganda Made by Bots or LLM "Bullshit Generators" (as Dr. Stallman Dubbed Them)
Google is circling down the drain and Google News too is hopeless
Linux Journal is a Slopfarm, It's Experimenting With LLM 'Authors'
Is Slashdot next?
WebProNews is a Slopfarm
Please avoid linking to WebProNews
Microsoft LinkedIn is Dying and Many More Layoffs Are on the Way
LinkedIn is just a failed acquisition of Microsoft. It causes losses and debt.
Gemini Links 25/06/2025: Combinatorial Music and Self Hosting
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Coming Back to Europe This Autumn to Give More Talks
His last talk in Europe attracted about 400-450 people
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 24, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Social Control Media, Technology & Catholicism: Synod on Synodality review and feedback
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
How Many More Women Will Managers at Microsoft Strangle and Tell to Kill Themselves (or Try to Kill)?
The world needs to know what happened
The New BetaNews: 7 New 'Articles', All of Them LLM Slop
BetaNews is basically defunct. Nobody writes there anymore.
Another "Told You So!": XBox Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (Many Recent Reports Were Chaff and Spin), Many Other Divisions Affected
With mass layoffs at Microsoft the world would be much better