Almost a Thousand EPO Staff Protesting to EPO Member States That the Office Illegally Grants Software Patents and Other Invalid European Patents

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Oct 10, 2024

THIS week a meeting of EPO staff was held in Germany, bearing an agenda and a vote on "DRAFT RESOLUTION to be adopted on EPO procedures". That meeting is now over and there's a letter informing staff of the outcome, in the process condemning António Campinos when moreover informing Heads of Delegation in the Administrative Council (who are supposed to oversee Campinos; in practice they help him cover up his abuses). It is particularly worth noting that they're naming European software patents - i.e. patents which are both illegal and undesirable - as it's a major and very much intentional illegality coordinated from above and within. The Central Staff Committee said to the staff or "colleagues" (as it refers to them): "Staff of the European Patent Office gathered on Wednesday 9 October 2024 in a General Assembly attended by 820 participants. Thank you for your participation! A resolution on the EPO procedures was put to a vote and supported by an overwhelming majority: 773 voted in favour, 66 against and 52 abstained. The outcome confirms that the concerns about the EPO’s ability to grant legally sound patents remain. In this open letter, we urge the Administrative Council to exert its supervisory role and instruct EPO management to enter into genuine dialogue with the staff representation and to put in place the measures supported by staff in the resolution."

The letter is similar but its target (recipient) would be considered (in a functioning democracy) the regulator that should actually do something on the matter:

European Patent Office
80298 Munich
Germany

Central Staff Committee
Comité central du personnel
Zentraler Personalausschuss

centralSTCOM@epo.org

Reference: sc24060cl

Date: 09/10/2024

European Patent Office | 80298 MUNICH | GERMANY

To:
Heads of Delegation in the Administrative Council

Mr António Campinos
President of the EPO

By email:
council@epo.org
president@epo.org

OPEN LETTER

Call for clear and transparent rules respecting the EPC

Dear Members of the Administrative Council,

Staff of the European Patent Office gathered today in a General Assembly attended by 820 participants.

A resolution on the EPO procedures¹ was put to a vote and supported by an overwhelming majority: 773 voted in favour, 66 against and 52 abstained. The outcome confirms that the concerns about the EPO’s ability to grant legally sound patents remain. The Quality Action Plan 2024 obviously failed to deliver the improvements hoped for. The press and the users of the patent system continue to be critical of the quality of EPO granted patents². The Staff Engagement Survey 2024 by Willis Towers Watson showed a significant decline of –12 percentage points since 2022³ with respect to the perception of the EPO’s reputation for the quality of products and services. Back in 2022, the results were already –13 percentage points below the European norm⁴. The Active Search Division project was

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¹ “Resolution adopted on EPO procedures” [Annex 1]

² “Serious interferences in the EPO patent granting process”, CSC letter of 19-09-2024 (sc24057cl)

³ Engagement Survey 2024, Willis Towers Watson, p. 12/35

⁴ Engagement Survey 2022, Willis Towers Watson, p. 11/34

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hastily put in place to formally integrate a check of all searches by each member of a potential future Examining Division and their line manager without any basis in the EPC into the Patent Work Bench. One year later, positive results are missing and the project still lacks definition and legal basis.

Over the summer, DG1 Operations has arbitrarily and unilaterally reallocated patent applications from IPQC members to so-called “Repair Teams” working in another Directorate of a different technical field. Oral proceedings were cancelled and intentions to grant sent directly instead. The project can neither be seen as a “peer review” nor as “harmonisation” as the competent “peer” Examining Division was neither consulted nor provided any feedback. It was run outside the Quality Management System (QMS) and cannot comply with ISO 9001 and ISO quality management principles. Indeed, the latter require proper documentation and sharing of knowledge and experience in a feedback loop which is still missing.

We can only urge the Administrative Council to exert its supervisory role and instruct EPO management to enter into genuine dialogue with the staff representation and to put in place the measures supported by staff in the resolution.

Sincerely yours

Derek Kelly
Chairman of the Central Staff Committee

List of annexes:
Annex 1 Resolution adopted by staff on EPO procedures

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RESOLUTION adopted on EPO procedures

Staff of the EPO, gathered in a General Assembly,

Noting that:

• DG1 Operations arbitrarily initiated the cancellation of oral proceedings and reallocated patent applications i.a. from IPQC members to so-called “Repair Teams” working in another Directorate of a different technical field without consulting nor providing any feedback to the competent Examining Division;

• DG1 Operations mandated, outside of any legal framework of the EPC or quality management system, “special units” to check summons for oral proceedings and communications on patent applications, i.a., from IPQC members;

• new “Golden Rules” are circulating in some Directorates with the explicit mention that they shall remain confidential;

• DG1 Operations frequently interfered with the work of the Examining Division especially in the field of Software Patents (e.g., CII, digital simulations)

Fears:

• an abolition of the obligation for neutrality of the EPO in the treatment of patent applications;

• the failure of the Organisation’s mission to grant legally sound patents, and

• a negative effect on European society and industry;

Urges the President and the Administrative Council to:

• respect the EPC’s regulations on patent examination, which is further oriented on the interpretation and case law of the Boards of Appeal, and guided by publicly available Guidelines for Examination;

• put an end to interferences with Examining Divisions and arbitrary reallocation of files on the advice of “special units” and hidden instructions;

• clearly and transparently define regulations for the allocation and for the exceptional reallocation of files to competent Examining Divisions;

Munich/The Hague/Berlin, 9 October 2024

As the above hopefully shows, the crisis of Benoît Battistelli's making did not stop, it's just being brushed under the carpet by successive regimes. An associate told us that "the bigger picture is that the corruption in the EPO is spreading to the rest of Europe, specifically the EU, through its continued existence." █