The European Patent Office is Sinking
LATELY we've written a lot more (again) about the European Patent Office (EPO). It has now been almost 10 years since we started in-depth EPO coverage, including whistleblowers' accounts. We're extremely proud of the EPO coverage we did here. We can see the difference it has made over the past decade.
The EPO won't say it out loud (or in its Web site), but it is suffering profound brain drain because experienced examiners left in droves in recent years and all the EPO can attract is low-paid graduates with barely any experience in patents and no knowledge in the area of patent law.
History consistently shows that institutions - including corporations like tech companies - rapidly die when they lose the ability to recruit workers with suitable skills. This is what's happening in the EPO right now.
Officials (or national delegates) at the European Patent Organisation have long been warned about this (by staff representatives from the European Patent Office), but they ignored the warnings. Who will pay the price? Europe. █