Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Fall of the UPC - Part II: Team UPC Will Pay Dearly -- for Years If Not a Decade to Come -- for Having Repeatedly Lied About Unitary Patent/Unified Patent Court (UPC)

So will media which participated in (e.g. amplified) these lies; will readers and clients trust them any longer?

Mathieu Klos‏



Summary: Proponents of patent trolls such as Intellectual Ventures (which has just lost another case in the US) will no doubt carry on lying to us all; but they do so at their own expense (or peril); we're meanwhile coordinating observation and response to the lying

IN Part I we focused on the response to the fantastic news from circles which actually create things, not litigate things. It's rather clear that nobody really wants the UPC except few vocal monopolists and their lawyers. They try to give an impression that this is not the case, which necessitates lying constantly and also controlling debates, media etc.



The facts are on our side. People, once they actually properly understand what's at stake, are also on our side. "However," an associate of ours said, "as far as the UPC goes, the proponents will fuss and fume for a while but probably quiet down after trying to sow doubt. Then after around 18 months from now, beyond the average memory span of the average adult, they will pop and try to resume where they left off taking advantage of the world having forgotten the reasons against software patents and the counter arguments and counter strategies to their shilling..."

We'll still be here to counter them.

The update at the top of this post is all that matters. The court has decided. There are no appeals. It's final. UPC is dead. The 'spinfest' has thus begun. At least Mr. Ramsay can look for another job, but will he? How long before he's treated as obsolete or as too worthless a peon? It's not a good time to be looking for a job because of Coronavirus. Sure, it's really depressing to a lot of people. But a good reason to be happy this week is the collapse of the UPC. FFII did a little 'online party' ("If you wan[t] to discuss the German decision on UPC," Benjamin Henrion said after he made made this promise, "here is a live video conferencing room https://meet.jit.si/PatentLawDoesNotEvolveInTheSilenceAndReclusionOfATrappistMonastry …").

"We'll still be here to counter them."Quite frankly, partying would come across as unprofessional. The FCC's decision is set in stone and there's no point 'lobbying'.

"Some people still think Bundestag can revote with a 2/3 majority," Henrion wrote to me, "but by reading the press release of the court. [...] But if you read the actual decision in German (I am going through the google translate decision in english), they trashed the Administrative Committee. Even juniors know that you cannot setup courts like this. I guess now Germany will ask the Commission to renegotiate. But we should be much more organized for another round."

As we said before, it's expected that Team UPC will rebrand and have another go with another marketing spiel, a set of strategies, a new bag of lies, new names and so on.

"The German FCC may have dangerously left an out for the UPC," as an associate told us, "bribing and lobbying the hell out of the parliament. It may not be achievable, but they will almost certainly try all the options, legal or not."

Well, we'll be watching closely, as will others.

Team UPC earned nothing but scorn (even from people inside the legal "community") and some people who belong to it have left or retired early. We named some of them. They really dislike the label "Team UPC" although few others adopted it for themselves (like "deplorables" had done).

"Team UPC earned nothing but scorn (even from people inside the legal "community") and some people who belong to it have left or retired early."Over the next few days we will be collecting responses to the decision without surrendering to the temptation to mock them; instead we'll only politely rebut, however succinctly, with substance and facts. We'll categorise the responses and explain what they tell us about the media, not the messengers, and the inaccuracy (if not fantasy) in the message.

"Thanks for the work you've been putting in over the years on this," one technical person told me. "Let's make sure it is acknowledged dead by its proponents and that it stays dead.

"It is important to drive home why this victory over the UPC is a good thing for European business and Europe in general."

In the next part, which is imminent, we'll start blasting the media. ⬆

Recent Techrights' Posts

Linux is Not Controlled by Linus (Torvalds)
Torvalds has become "90% marketing hype"
 
Gemini Links 24/10/2026: Arch Linux Journey and Amin Bandali's Priorities
Links for the day
Bluewashing as a Form of Silent Layoffs
IBM will continue to shed off loads of workers while its debt climbs
Turning 20 in 2 Weeks and Upcoming Network Maintenance
That ought not interrupt our anniversary
Microsoft Shutdowns Accelerating, More Shutdowns Revealed (Not Connected to Gaming)
Silent layoffs disguised as "voluntary" "exits"
Links 24/10/2026: Microsoft Blackmail and Lingering Unrest in France:
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/10/2026: From Bendigo to Kerang, Enshittification of Radio and Music in the UK
Links for the day
Red Hat Sinks With the Blue (IBM) Ship
As IBM's debt continues to soar so do the silent layoffs
The "No Pain No Gain" Expectations in Publishing
Sometimes truth hurts; but that does not mean it mustn't be told
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XIII - Censorship by All Means Available in a Continent So Far Away, as 'Secure' (Restricted, Restriction by Microsoft) Boot Has a Crisis of Legitimacy
it's about America controlling sites and computers everywhere
Links 24/10/2026: Oligarchs Already Buy US Elections, GAFAM Front Group "EFF" Speaks of "Vulnerability Apocalypse"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/10/2026: Automobile Differential Tire Movement, Samsung Washer Woe, and Slop Scraping
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 23, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, October 23, 2026
As Usual, Late on a Friday XBox (Microsoft) Releases Evidence of Its Demise
We covered several such Friday announcements earlier this year
Gemini Links 24/10/2026: Break/Fix and OpenStreetMap
Links for the day
Links 23/10/2026: Slop "is Scaling Transnational Repression" and Infringement and DMCA Suits Against Suno/Anthropic (Plagiarism Blenders)
Links for the day
More Shutdowns at Microsoft, Hundreds of Workers Impacted Shortly
It's not the entire wave, just part of it
The Register MS: About 60 Mentions of "AI" in One Day Are Paid-for Spam (Sponsored Hype, Composed by the Companies Covered)
The Register MS is a dying site
Links 22/10/2026: MElon (Elon Musk) Election Interference and Perl/Raku Foundation by the Numbers
Links for the day
Techrights Audience Grew as a Function of the Intensity of Attacks on Its Existence
We try to publish fewer stories but better (not necessarily long but at least important) stories
TechRepublic is Becoming a Slopfarm
It seems like TechRepublic became LLM slop (maybe all of it, maybe only some of it for now)
Techrights is Not About GNU/Linux, Tux Machines Is
When we say "GNU/Linux" we emphasise the GNU
The World Needs Activists With Social Skills and Perseverance
An everyday activist makes life better for everybody, everywhere (not for personal gain or even credit)
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XII - Lawfare to Cover Up Microsoft's Restricted Boot Calamity (Microsoft as Authority Over Linux), Garrett Wants to Talk About Penises Instead
When lawsuits become a political weapon
Without Microsoft's Monopoly (and Monopoly Rents) the Inevitable Microsoft Mass Layoffs Carry on Endlessly
Microsoft Windows is not retaining the dominance it once had
IBM's Debt Grew About $2 Billion in 3 Months
The silent layoffs still seem to impact Red Hat
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 22, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, October 22, 2026
Gemini Links 22/10/2026: Solar MiniBBS, Building Major Tom, and Zig
Links for the day
Links 22/10/2026: Busan’s Celebrity Shark in Canal Again
Links for the day
Links 22/10/2026: "Software Developers Have Been Promoted Into Incompetence"
Links for the day
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XI - Losing Over a Million Pounds (Borrowed Money) to Try to Silence Critics of Restricted Boot With Microsoft-Controlled "Certificates"
Garrett is also very jealous of Daniel Pocock
Links 22/10/2026: eBay to Lay Off a Tenth of Staff (Again), Node.js and PHP Security Crises, Climate News
Links for the day
Red Hat Layoffs Still Going on This Week (Whilst IBM's Debt Grows in Spite of Mass Layoffs)
IBM is bluffing/cheating the shareholders again
IBM's Debt Continues to Increase While the Company Rapidly Shrinks
This is what a dying company looks like
Linux Kernel Needs Diversity and Diversity of Good Code, Not LLM Slop
Linux (and Linus) are kicking a can down the road
Microsoft Shrinks Every Year
Microsoft will try to spin or twist this as "efficiency"
Gemini Links 22/10/2026: Holiday Inn and Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 21, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 21, 2026