Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Robbery Under the Shadow of Pandemic Sweeping Across Europe

Old Icelandic Cashiers



Old cash drawSummary: The EPO is being looted by corrupt management which gaslights the staff and turns the Office into somewhat of a laughing stock (even stakeholders have grown impatient, seeing that justice itself ceased to exist in EPOnia)

The Central Staff Committee of the EPO has just circulated the following document. It shows that António Campinos isn't more credible than Benoît Battistelli and the money only flows outwards to a financial scam, rather than to staff which does all the actual work (under exceptional circumstances).



Here's what it says:

Zentraler Personalausschuss Central Staff Committee Le Comité Central du Personnel

Munich 22.03.2021 sc21040cp – 0.2.1/4.2.1

Reward exercise for pandemic year 2020
“Strong Together” but 30% of staff excluded



In a meeting with the Central Staff Committee on 24 February 2021, Mr Campinos announced that “in view of the efforts of staff to ensure business continuity under the challenging pandemic conditions, up to 70% of staff will be able to receive a pensionable reward” and confirmed his intention in an Intranet publication the following day. Mr Campinos has now tabled to the General Consultative Committee his “President’s Instructions on Rewards 2021” effectively confirming that 30% of eligible staff will be excluded. The document also reveals that Mr Campinos has even downsized the budget available for rewards despite massive savings made on the salary adjustment procedure.

2020, the first Covid-19 year... The year 2020 was a challenge for all staff. When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, EPO management put the focus on ensuring business continuity at all costs. Home-working, paperless and home-schooling became the rule. Constantly changing new digital procedures and tools were introduced. Thanks to the dedication of EPO staff, by the end of 2020 the EPO annual cash surplus amounted to at least EUR 310m (CA/56/20). When presenting1 the February 2021 analysis2 “Intellectual property rights and firm performance in the European Union”, Mr Campinos explained that "[t]he stronger your IPR portfolio, the better your business performs. And IPR-owning businesses don't just generate more revenue, their employees earn more too.” Likewise, EPO staff should be thanked for making such achievements possible even during the pandemic.

... but downsizing the available budget Mr Campinos presented in the Budget and Finance Committee (BFC) and the Administrative Council (AC) a draft budget 2021(CA/50/20) foreseeing:

- a salary adjustment of 2,2% bringing the basic salary mass3 to EUR 1.020.395.000; - a budget for pensionable rewards4 of EUR 13.400.000 and of EUR 12.856.9775 for bonuses. ____ 1 EPO post of 19 February 2021 on LinkedIn 2 “According to this analysis, firms that own IPRs generate 20% higher revenues per employee than their counterparts without an IP portfolio. The highest revenue-per-employee gains are linked to bundles of trademarks, with performance premiums of 63% for trade mark and design owners, and 60% for combined patent, trade mark and design owners. Firms that own IPRs also pay on average 19% higher wages than firms that do not.” 3 CA/50/20 page 67 4 CA/50/20 page 168 5 CA/50/20 page 169




However, Mr Campinos’ disastrous reform of the salary adjustment procedure capping the increase of global salary mass at Eurozone inflation (0,3%) + 0.2% had a massive impact in the final budget (CA/D 1/20):

- the salary adjustment of 0,5% decreased the expected salary mass6 to EUR 1.002.075.000 - the budget for pensionable rewards almost remained almost unchanged EUR 13.490.000 and the budget for bonuses was reduced at EUR 12.626.145

As a result of the new salary adjustment procedure, Mr Campinos made between the two documents savings of EUR 18.320.000 at the expense of staff without making any compensation effort on the budget for rewards.

Doubling down against staff, Mr Campinos has now tabled to the General Consultative Committee (GCC) his “President’s Instructions on Rewards 2021” (GCC/DOC 1/2021) which reduce the budget for rewards even further:













Pensionable Bonuses Rewards Total
Draft Budget 2021 (CA/50/20) 13.400.000 12.856.977 26.256.977
Annual Budget 2021 (CA/D 1/20) 13.490.000 12.626.145 26.116.145
President‘s Instructions (GCC/DOC 1/2021) 12.100.000 10.500.000 22.600.000
Downsizing of rewards budget -1.300.000 -2.356.977 -3.656.977


“Strong Together”? How companies treat employees during a crisis reveal their true values. The way they reward them is one of them. Even when making at least EUR 310m surplus and unexpected savings of EUR 18 million, Mr Campinos cuts the budget for rewards by a further EUR -3.6 million. It shows that, contrary to what Mr Campinos promised after the Financial Study 2019, when the Organisation makes more savings than expected, these are not redistributed to staff.

We are still in a pandemic situation and with different pressures on each of us. It is morally questionable to maintain a competition-based system that goes blatantly against the values of cooperation that the administration propagates, thereby excluding 30% of eligible staff. Such a regressive and non-inclusive policy is impossible to reconcile with the “Strong Together” message the Office is trying to convey.

Mr Campinos has still full room for manoeuvre to show his recognition of the efforts of EPO staff by rewarding each staff member with a pensionable reward, especially during a pandemic. Not to do so will be his decision.

The Central Staff Committee

____ 6 CA/D 1/20 page 57



The EPO has become so rogue that it cares neither about Europe nor its very own staff (people who do all the acual work). As we noted the other day, stakeholders are starting to notice that this whole thing is coming down, even justice itself. They've accused the EPO of likely spying on IP Kat comments and putting some of their own there. Weeks after a besieged panel said "OK" to some European software patents (dubious decision tainted by Campinos intervening) we now see EPO management crucified for meddling in another case or stacking the panel. Hours ago somebody wrote: "A question. The deemed date of receipt of the summons is Saturday 27th March. Does the two month period under Rule 115 EPC start on the 27th or the 29th March?"

"As we noted the other day, stakeholders are starting to notice that this whole thing is coming down, even justice itself."The more interesting comments are above that one, but we still don't know if Rose (AstraZeneca) deletes some of the better comments (we just know she deleted quite a few) and whether EPO management is pressuring them behind the scenes, as they did before...

Interesting times for sure.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
European Patent Office Illegally Gutting and Outsourcing Its Functions, Acting Like an Above-the-Law Commercial Business (It Won't Stop at Formalities Officers (FOs) and Classification Slop at the EPO)
breaking/violating laws and conventions
Links 19/09/2025: Lobbyist of American GAFAM Becomes Data Protection Commissioner in Europe
Links for the day
 
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Press Freedom Dying in US, Anti-Austerity Strikes in France, and Alan Rusbridger to Leave 'Prospect'
Links for the day
Offloading to the Sister Site
In the interest of not overwhelming readers
Links 19/09/2025: Coffee Club and "SpellBinding is Now Absurdly Fast"
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Media Freedom Ceases to Exist in US, "Consider Dropping Twitter/X"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/09/2025: Thinking and Insect Bites
Links for the day
Microsoft E.E.E.: Git Will Now (or Very Soon) Fully Depend on Rust, Which is Controlled by Microsoft
Microsoft now makes Git dependent on Rust, or making Git dependent on GitHub, which is proprietary
The Right to Punch People (Apparently)
At Brett Wilson, Brett's job title is "Head of Crime" and Wilson normalises calls for violence
Slop or Fake Articles Have Turned Linux Journal From a Pioneering/Trailblazing "Linux" Magazine Into a Nuisance
some sites with former reputation - good reputation - turn into cesspools
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 18, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 18, 2025
Brett Wilson LLP Seem to Have Had Only One Litigation Client in 2025, He Was Previously Charged, Just Like the Serial Strangler From Microsoft (Whom They Now Represent)
Karma is superstition, regulators are not
Project 2030 to Cover How "Project 2025"-Styled Anti-Media Zealots From America Targeted Techrights and Tux Machines
The common denominator is also their attacks on women
Brett Wilson LLP Failed to Meet Deadlines Set by Judge 7 Months Earlier, Tried to Ruin Our Holiday, Then Had the Audacity to Ask Us for Over 3,000 Pounds for Its Own Lateness
As a matter of principle we will never respond to assassin while we are on holiday
On Claims That After Bluewashing Red Hat Will Increasingly Become an Indian Company
Discussed this week (long and detailed)
Americans Attacking British Sites Only Months After They Leave America
We find it kind of funny if not ironic that this site, originally an American site, got legal harassment only from Americans and only months after it had moved to the UK
Despite Losing Over a Quarter Million Dollars a Year Software in the Public Interest (SPI) Gives Helping Hand to Libreboot
SPI's financial state depends a lot on its public image or its reputation
Slopwatch: Google Helps Plagiarism and Sends Traffic to Ripoff Artists
That Google as a company helps spamfarms is noteworthy
If You Want to Know the Future, Listen to the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and Andy Farnell
We're sure the FSF will have plenty of its own output
Links 18/09/2025: A Taliban Ban on Internet Access and Troubled US Job Market
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/09/2025: Computer Literacy and Accessing Alhena's Database
Links for the day
Links 18/09/2025: US War on Media (Truth Banned, Cancel Culture by the Hard Right), NYT Chief Executive Warns Cheeto is Deploying ‘Anti-press Playbook'
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, September 17, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, September 17, 2025