Bonum Certa Men Certa

The EPO's War on Justice and Assault on the Law -- Part 1: Rumours of a Kangaroo Court at EPOnia

Carl Josefsson's kangaroo court
Is Carl Josefsson presiding over a kangaroo court?



Summary: EPO's President Benoît Battistelli viciously attacked judges and slandered judges; António Campinos adopts a more 'soft power' approach, but nevertheless the impact is the same

Almost two years have passed since Techrights published the mini-series "EPO Looney Tunes" which explored the "difficult legacy" of Battistelli's Boards of Appeal "reform", in particular the banishment of the Boards to Haar.



That mini-series reported on the referral case G 2/19 in which the Enlarged Board had to deal with the question as to whether or not oral proceedings could lawfully be held in the municipality of Haar adjoining Munich.

As predicted, the Enlarged Board ended up confirming that the holding of oral proceedings in Haar was in compliance with the EPC, thereby effectively rubber-stamping the exile of the Boards from Munich in accordance with controversial scheme conjured up by Battistelli in 2016.

Since then the Enlarged Board under Josefsson's management has cemented its reputation for "legal fudge" and "cakeism", most notably following its decision in case no. G 3/19 in May of last year.

On the surface, case no. G 3/19 was about the rules governing biotech patenting but the decision of the EBA has far more general and wide-reaching legal and political implications which extend beyond any specific field of patenting.

"Hence, the decision of the Enlarged Board in case no. G 3/19 implies that the mechanism for amending the Implementing Rules can now be (mis)used by the Council as a convenient - but legally questionable – means for avoiding the bother of convening a diplomatic conference to revise the Articles of the EPC."According to informed commentators, the doctrine of "dynamic interpretation" on which G€ 3/19 relied, basically opens the door to the EPO's Administrative Council to change the EPC by amending the Implementing Rules.

It should be recalled that - in contrast to the Articles of the EPC which can only be changed by a diplomatic conference and the unanimous consent of all contracting states - the Implementing Rules can be changed at the drop of a hat by a simple majority of the Administrative Council.

Hence, the decision of the Enlarged Board in case no. G 3/19 implies that the mechanism for amending the Implementing Rules can now be (mis)used by the Council as a convenient - but legally questionable – means for avoiding the bother of convening a diplomatic conference to revise the Articles of the EPC.

This is because the Enlarged Board has effectively taken the position that the primary law of the EPC can be "dynamically re-interpreted" in the light of amendments to the subordinate Implementing Rules.

"Even IP Kat - which had been more or less neutered by Battistelli from about 2016 onwards - showed visible signs of discomfort at this development..."Such a position is completely at odds with the generally recognised principle of the hierarchy of legal norms - but this is EPOnia we are dealing with here, the realm of "legal anarchy".

Even IP Kat - which had been more or less neutered by Battistelli from about 2016 onwards - showed visible signs of discomfort at this development and warned that "the fudging by the EBA to reach its decision in G3/19 will raise questions as to its functioning as an independent body, free from the political influence of the President and AC."

The Enlarged Board has been back in the news again recently and once again questions are being raised about its compliance with fundamental legal principles such as judicial independence.

"As the date for the hearing approaches it seems like a good time to take a fresh look at the EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal to get a better idea about what is really going on behind the scenes in this landmark case."This time the case number is G 1/21 (warning: epo.org link) and the IP blogosphere is buzzing with rumours of a "kangaroo court" procedure.

An oral hearing is due to take place on 28 May. [PDF]

As the date for the hearing approaches it seems like a good time to take a fresh look at the EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal to get a better idea about what is really going on behind the scenes in this landmark case.

Stay tuned for more…

EPO Summons to ViCo

Recent Techrights' Posts

Computers Got Smaller, So GNU/Linux Got Bigger
Many people here recognise the lack of urgency (or need) to get expensive new laptops
GNU/Linux Grows at Windows' Expense and Microsoft Trolls Infest and Maliciously Target Articles About It
Microsoft is - and has long been - organised crime
They Say I'm Mr. Bombastic
They didn't take good lawyers
 
Gemini Links 09/06/2025: Addition Addiction and Nitride
Links for the day
Links 09/06/2025: Science, Hardware Projects, and Democracy Receding
Links for the day
BetaNews is a Plagiarism and LLM Slop Hub, the Chief Editor Isn't Addressing This Problem Anymore
SS Fagioli is basically a parasite leeching off or exploiting other people's work
Links 09/06/2025: Chaos in Los Angeles and Hurricane Season
Links for the day
Links 09/06/2025: Windows TCO and Many Data Breaches
Links for the day
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VI: Political Stunts by Former President Edyta Demby-Siwek and the Connection to Profound Corruption at EUIPO
it's like a money-laundering operation where one politician rewards another at taxpayers' expense
Gemini Links 09/06/2025: Pipelines and Splitgate
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 08, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 08, 2025
Links 08/06/2025: Tiananmen Carnage Censorship Persists, North Korean Goes Offline
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/06/2025: Love as an Ethnographic Method and Monitorix Gemini-Frontend v0.1
Links for the day
Links 08/06/2025: Exposure of More GAFAM Surveillance and Social Security Records Compromised
Links for the day
Linux Foundation is a Mediator for Microsoft et al, Not for Small Companies That Support Rather Than Attack the GPL
Many people still wrongly assume that because it is called "Linux Foundation", then it is pro-Linux and represents the same mindset
This Past Friday, Confirming What We Said All Along About Brett Wilson LLP: It's Shrinking, Has Considerable Debt, Loss of Net Assets Despite the Microsoft SLAPP Money
The documents only became publicly available less than 2 days ago
Some of the Many Reasons We Sued Microsofters for Harassment
perpetrators of harassment
For 20 Years Many People Were Sharecropping for Canonical's Oligarch, Now He's Deleting All Their Contributions
"Ubuntu has erased instead of archiving the trove of material at Ubuntu Forums"
There Was Always Too Much 'Crazy Stuff' Going on Around Freenode
What many IRC users lost sight of
Exposing Crime is Not a Crime (It Never Was)
In the eyes of rich and powerful people, those who speak about their crimes are the "criminals"
GNU/Linux Distros Abandoning Microsoft GitHub
Will curl be next to leave Microsoft GitHub?
Expect More XBox Mass Layoffs Soon If the Rumours Are True
From a Microsoft media operative
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 07, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, June 07, 2025
Europe Needs to Move Away From GAFAM; The Sooner, the Better
Europe - not just the EU - must abandon GAFAM as soon as possible
The Issue Isn't GNOME's Promotion of Diversity But GNOME Corruption, Abuse, Censorship, and Worse
So-called "Conservative" (republican, pro-Trump, bigoted) people want you to think the problem with GNOME is politics
When the News Sources Become Scarce and Increasingly Full of Polluted/Contaminated 'Content' (With LLM Slop and Slop Images)
Integrity matters
"Linux" Sites That Spew Out LLM Slop
We're lacking enough material for another "Slopwatch"
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part V: Breaking the Law, Just Like EPO
We'll hopefully cover some of the pertinent details later this year
Links 08/06/2025: Security Lapses, CISA Cuts, and More
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/06/2025: Mime Types and Geminisphere Introduction
Links for the day
Links 07/06/2025: Slop Companies Retain All Private Data, More Books Banned in the US
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/06/2025: "A Monk's Guide to Happiness" and "Wireless Earbuds"
Links for the day
Links 07/06/2025: More Rumours of Mass Layoffs in Microsoft's XBox Division, New COVID Variant
Links for the day
Drug Addiction is a Real Problem, It Destroys Families
a rather sensitive matter
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part IV: Political Scrutiny and Errors/Inconsistencies in Official Documents
When such organisations receive scrutiny they start focusing on cover-up and muzzling of facts (or crushing people who say the truth)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 06, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, June 06, 2025