05.11.21

Gemini version available ♊︎

Mass Litigation Over the Salary Adjustment Procedure (SAP), Basically an Attack on All EPO Staff, Even EPO Pensioners

Posted in Europe, Patents at 6:42 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

I'll pretend to talk to you, then ignore your suggestions, then shout at you, then wonder why dialogue breaks down, then leave the Office in disgrace
Battistelli’s ‘monkey puppet’. Monkey see, monkey do… and monkey shout

Summary: “Importance of a binding and unambiguous erga omnes declaration” stressed by staff representatives of the EPO in a new letter to Benoît Battistelli‘s successor of choice, António Campinos, who has done nothing so far except attacking (or robbing) EPO staff, even EPO pensioners

The EPO’s Central Staff Committee (CSC), which we've just mentioned in relation to crushing of staff and their families, has also issued the letter below. It said it had “made two constructive proposals for the good administration of justice in the dispute on the Salary Adjustment Procedure. The reason was that we were reluctant to recommend to staff to identify test appellants. We regret that the President refused our proposals.”

“The EPO is going downhill. Even for people who used to work there.”“In our open letter,” they told staff, “we emphasise that a binding and unambiguous erga omnes declaration will lead us to announce appropriate recommendations to staff. Staff should have the right that the outcome of the dispute on the Salary Adjustment Procedure is applied toward everyone (Latin: erga omnes). An overload of the system for the settlement of disputes can be avoided.”

Here’s the full open letter as HTML:

European Patent Office | 80298 MUNICH | GERMANY

Reference: sc21062cl
Date: 07.05.2021

Mr António Campinos
President of the EPO
ISAR – Room 1081

OPEN LETTER

Your letter of 28 April 2021 – Legal proceedings on the Salary Adjustment Procedure

Dear Mr Campinos,

The Central Staff Committee (CSC) regrets that your letter of 28 April 2021 does not contribute to structuring the legal proceedings on the Salary Adjustment Procedure (SAP). You simply refuse the two constructive proposals that the CSC made in the previous letter dated 1 April 2021. These proposals aimed at a smooth administration of the dispute before the Appeals Committee in case your decisions on the numerous requests for review should be negative.

It is not only for this reason, however, that the CSC must reject any insinuations of a “reluctance to – should the case progress to the stage of the internal appeal – contribute to a good administration of justice.” A binding and unambiguous erga omnes declaration will lead the CSC to announce appropriate recommendations to staff. In view of the large number of requests for review on the SAP, there is a risk that the system for the settlement of disputes will soon become overloaded.

The CSC would like to emphasise its availability to discuss possible means of avoiding such an overloading with your administration. Should you for example be ready to open the discussion on a locus standi of the CSC or any other mechanisms of a structured approach to mass litigation, this would definitely contribute to the functioning of the European Patent Office. It would also contribute to the smooth running of the service. With regard to Article 10(2)(a) EPC and Article 34(1) ServRegs, this is in our common interest.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Sampels
Acting Chairman of the Central Staff Committee

Months ago Campinos demoted SUEPO in the fashion of ‘dialogue’; it nowadays feels like the same sanctions were unjustly imposed on just about anyone who speaks for staff, even elected officials (not tyrants erected for and by Battistelli and his ilk). The EPO is going downhill. Even for people who used to work there.

The European public deserves to know all this — and become better aware of the real facts — because over the past week the EPO bombarded media all around the world with many dozens (maybe over a hundred!) puff pieces and press releases. We still see new examples, even this week, albeit they’re mostly relegated to Daily Links (with accompanying commentary) due to lack of time to properly cover/rebut. This PR campaign is costing a fortune. It's also highly risky. This latest EPO ‘news’ item (fluff about Europe Day 2021; warning: epo.org link) reveals that it’s also a risk and liability that jeopardises the stability of the European Union.

Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Reddit
  • email

Decor ᶃ Gemini Space

Below is a Web proxy. We recommend getting a Gemini client/browser.

Black/white/grey bullet button This post is also available in Gemini over at this address (requires a Gemini client/browser to open).

Decor ✐ Cross-references

Black/white/grey bullet button Pages that cross-reference this one, if any exist, are listed below or will be listed below over time.

Decor ▢ Respond and Discuss

Black/white/grey bullet button If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

DecorWhat Else is New


  1. Links 01/06/2023: KStars 3.6.5 and VEGA ET1031 RISC-V Microprocessor in Use

    Links for the day



  2. Gemini Links 01/06/2023: Scam Call and Flying High With Gemini

    Links for the day



  3. Links 01/06/2023: Spleen 2.0.0 Released and Team UPC Celebrates Its Own Corruption

    Links for the day



  4. IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    IRC logs for Wednesday, May 31, 2023



  5. Tux Machines Closing the Door on Twitter Because Twitter is Dead (for a Lot of People)

    Tux Machines recently joined millions of others who had already quit Twitter, including passive posting (fully or partly automated)



  6. Links 31/05/2023: Inkscape’s 1.3 Plans and New ARM Cortex-A55-Based Linux Chip

    Links for the day



  7. Gemini Links 31/05/2023: Personality of Software Engineers

    Links for the day



  8. Links 31/05/2023: Armbian 23.05 Release and Illegal UPC

    Links for the day



  9. IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 30, 2023

    IRC logs for Tuesday, May 30, 2023



  10. Gemini Protocol About to Turn 4 and It's Still Growing

    In the month of May we had zero downtime (no updates to the system or outages in the network), which means Lupa did not detect any errors such as timeouts and we’re on top of the list (the page was fixed a day or so after we wrote about it); Gemini continues to grow (chart by Botond) as we’re approaching the 4th anniversary of the protocol



  11. Links 31/05/2023: Librem Server v2, curl 8.1.2, and Kali Linux 2023.2 Release

    Links for the day



  12. Gemini Links 31/05/2023: Bayes Filter and Programming Wordle

    Links for the day



  13. [Meme] Makes No Sense for EPO (Now Connected to the EU) and Staff Pensions to be Tied to the UK After Brexit

    It seems like EPO staff is starting to have doubts about the safety of EPO pensions after Benoît Battistelli sent money to reckless gambling (EPOTIF) — a plot that’s 100% supported by António Campinos and his enablers in the Council, not to mention the European Union



  14. Working Conditions at EPO Deteriorate and Staff Inquires About Pension Rights

    Work is becoming a lot worse (not even compliant with the law!) and promises are constantly being broken, so staff is starting to chase management for answers and assurances pertaining to finances



  15. Links 30/05/2023: Orc 0.4.34 and Another Rust Crisis

    Links for the day



  16. Links 30/05/2023: Nitrux 2.8.1 and HypoPG 1.4.0

    Links for the day



  17. Gemini Links 30/05/2023: Bubble Version 3.0

    Links for the day



  18. Links 30/05/2023: LibreOffice 7.6 in Review and More Digital Restrictions (DRM) From HP

    Links for the day



  19. Gemini Links 30/05/2023: Curl Still Missing the Point?

    Links for the day



  20. IRC Proceedings: Monday, May 29, 2023

    IRC logs for Monday, May 29, 2023



  21. MS (Mark Shuttleworth) as a Microsoft Salesperson

    Canonical isn’t working for GNU/Linux or for Ubuntu; it’s working for “business partners” (WSL was all along about promoting Windows)



  22. First Speaker in Event for GNU at 40 Called for Resignation/Removal of GNU's Founder

    It’s good that the FSF prepares an event to celebrate GNU’s 40th anniversary, but readers told us that the speakers list is unsavoury, especially the first one (a key participant in the relentless campaign of defamation against the person who started both GNU and the FSF; the "FSFE" isn't even permitted to use that name)



  23. When Jokes Became 'Rude' (or Disingenuously Misinterpreted by the 'Cancel Mob')

    A new and more detailed explanation of what the wordplay around "pleasure card" actually meant



  24. Site Updates and Plans Ahead

    A quick look at or a roundup of what we've been up to, what we plan to publish in the future, what topics we shall focus on very soon, and progress moving to Alpine Linux



  25. Links 29/05/2023: Snap and PipeWire Plans as Vendor Lock-in

    Links for the day



  26. Gemini Links 29/05/2023: GNU/Linux Pains and More

    Links for the day



  27. Links 29/05/2023: Election in Fedora, Unifont 15.0.04

    Links for the day



  28. Gemini Links 29/05/2023: Rosy Crow 1.1.1 and Smolver 1.2.1 Released

    Links for the day



  29. IRC Proceedings: Sunday, May 28, 2023

    IRC logs for Sunday, May 28, 2023



  30. Daniel Stenberg Knows Almost Nothing About Gemini and He's Likely Just Protecting His Turf (HTTP/S)

    The man behind Curl, Daniel Stenberg, criticises Gemini; but it's not clear if he even bothered trying it (except very briefly) or just read some inaccurate, one-sided blurbs about it


RSS 64x64RSS Feed: subscribe to the RSS feed for regular updates

Home iconSite Wiki: You can improve this site by helping the extension of the site's content

Home iconSite Home: Background about the site and some key features in the front page

Chat iconIRC Channel: Come and chat with us in real time

Recent Posts