Bonum Certa Men Certa

Germany-Based Focus Online is Apparently Covering Up Cocaine Use at Europe's Second-Largest Institution, the European Patent Office

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Nov 17, 2025,
updated Nov 17, 2025

Focus (German magazine)

Yesterday: German Media and German Politicians: Working for the Public or Manipulating the Public?

A couple of days ago: BILD is Apparently Covering Up Cocaine Use at Europe's Second-Largest Institution, the European Patent Office, as It's Based on Germany

A few days ago: Prominent German Media Dares Not Mention Cocaine at the European Patent Office, Germany's "Cash Cow" (Seller of Monopolies for the Whole of Europe)

Earlier this month: How German Media Covered Cocainegate at The European Patent Office (EPO)

The European Patent Office (EPO) is reeling. It cannot quite recover from Cocainegate [1, 2]. It hopes people won't notice or simply forget (if they've already noticed). But it's not going to work. The matter is here to stay.

We, collectively, need to press the issue, first to "the press", then to politicians. "Forcing" this issue is essential for democracy and for the Rule of Law. Because the leadership of the EPO right now resembles organised crime, not leadership.

Almost a week ago I wrote to Focus Online "Re: Major story missed" (referring to the EPO connection to a report). It wasn't formulated only by me, it was put together by interested parties:

Hi,

The Oktoberfest "cocaine bust" was mentioned by Focus Online which referred to the original BILD report. https://www.focus.de/panorama/oktoberfest/wiesn-fahnder-erwischen-spanier-in-flagranti-der-muss-40-000-euro-zahlen_d7c43efd-efb5-4507-862b-d7293f3e212d.html

As in the case of the original BILD report, the Focus Online account does not contain any mention of the EPO connection. It is very likely the the journalists were not aware of this aspect because the "Spaniard" seems to have passed himself off to the Bavarian police as a "tourist".

There is no individual name on the article about the Oktoberfest which is attributed to the Focus Online "editorial team" ("Redaktion").

It should be noted that the person caught was a high-level EPO official, so can the topic be revisited?

See http://techrights.org/n/2025/11/01/The_Cocaine_Patent_Office_Part_III_European_Patent_Office_Offic.shtml

They never got back to me. Nothing.

"Focus Online is the website of the German weekly news magazine "Focus"," we're told, but some more sites covered the bust without taking note of the EPO connection. We'll contact some more sites next.

If media owned by billionaires chooses what to cover and what not to cover based on the personal interests/preferences of the owner, then there's no effective chain of accountability, no "four pillars" (or five).

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

Plagiarism is Hardly a New Problem, It Predates Mainstream Media Getting Paid to Whitewash It as "Training" or "Hey Hi", Then Conflate Plagiarism With "Intelligence" or Deferred "Value"
"Quantum" isn't new either; it's a 'circle-jerk' for companies without direction, only hype
Unsafe at Any Speed, "Modern" Appliances
Appliances have gotten worse
 
IBM's Senior VP of Infrastructure is Out, Silent Layoffs Still Going On
Some people imagine the CEO will also "retire" very soon (and "ahead of time")
Gemini Links 09/09/2026: Mechanical Cameras, "Super App", and Prusa Issues
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 177 Out of 200: Manosphere Without Financial Transparency
It has moreover replaced a female worker with a male
Deadline Tomorrow (10th of September) to Appeal the EPO's Fleecing of Staff (Union to Make Legal Challenges)
Join them. Fight the good fight.
linuxstans.com Died, Then Came Back as Slop (LLM Junk)
Don't make the mistake or the assumption that merely 'dabbling in' or 'experimenting with' LLMs can be forgivable as it is a trust destroyer
Links 09/09/2026: GAFAM Fatalities in Miami International Airport, "Britain’s Health Crisis Is Becoming a Political Crisis"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/09/2026: "Adjective Is Subjective" and Walled Gardens
Links for the day
Links 09/09/2026: Airport 'Down' (Glasgow and Edinburgh), 'Open' 'AI' Losses Rise to Pace of 50 Billion Dollars in Losses Per Year
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 176 Out of 200: The Sex-Obsessed Non-Experts
We heard some sexual stories
European Patent Office (EPO): No Transparency and No Paper Trail
The incompetence is that of the management, i.e. sheer incompetence of people who never examined a patent in their entire lifetime
Gemini Links 09/09/2026: Going Out, Smartphone Addiction, Mapping the Geminispace
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 08, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 08, 2026
Linux is Sabotaged by Botspam and Bloat (de Facto Denial of Service Attack in "Intelligence" Clothing After Rust in "Security" Clothing)
Linux is becoming orphaned, devalued and diluted by GAFAM slop
Switzerland No Longer Wants Microsoft's 'Swiss Cheese' (Back Doors)
Switzerland's patience with Microsoft is wearing thin
Debian is Not a Community, Many Debian Developers Work for Large Companies Including GAFAM (US)
"Community" sounds like friendship and amicability
Links 08/09/2026: Slop Companies Attack Some More Sites, Nvidia Bribes 'Linux' Foundation for Some More Openwashing and for Saying Slop is "Secure"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/09/2026: Ultra Introverts, BlackBerry Bold in 2026, and Laughing at LLMs
Links for the day
Microsoft Layoffs in October 2026
Microsoft is a market leader. In NDAs.
Links 08/09/2026: "The Green Revolution Has Failed Africa" and Palantir/Microsoft Harming NHS
Links for the day
Microsoft's Silent Layoffs Are the New Normal at Microsoft
Microsoft has a ton of layoffs all the time, but the media isn't mentioning those as no WARN notices get issued
SLAPP Censorship - Part 175 Out of 200: Implicit and Explicit Coalition Against the UK's SLAPP Industry
SRA recognises the problem
Further Transparency Problems at the EPO
The EPO was never meant to be profitable
Gemini Links 08/09/2026: "Everything Must Go", Announcing Perigee, and Presentations in a Browser
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 07, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, September 07, 2026
Alleged Manager at IBM Says "[t]here are likely to be a lot (and I meant, A LOT) of RAs before December."
"We’re getting pressure from above to put some team members on PIPs."
Links 07/09/2026: Amazon Cargo Plane Crash, .org/.net/.com Domains Considered Risky
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/09/2026: Cheese, Text-based Life, and Icons in Swaybar
Links for the day
Freedom, Not Fame, is His Goal
pursuit of money can be not only tiring but also involve abandoning one's freedom
Links 07/09/2026: Slop Trashes Memory of Parton, Flock Surveillance Infuriates Everyone
Links for the day
Getting Better After 20 Years
Exactly two months from now this site is turning 20
EPO Hiding Cocainegate and Abandoning Transparency (Even Access to Very Basic Information is Denied)
The EPO isn't just becoming like a private for-profit corporation. It's also becoming more secretive.
Richard Stallman Has Resurrected Lost Updates
We didn't ask about it
SLAPP Censorship - Part 174 Out of 200: Cascading Scandals and a Path Towards Much-Needed, Long-Awaited Reform
Reform the UK's law, not "Reform UK"
EPO's Gema Requena Sempere (PD People) Contacted Regarding Children With Disabilities
In the coming week we may be in fruitful contact with some media regarding EPO scandals
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Gemini Links 07/09/2026: Music Composition, Free Stuff, and Self-hosting Git Repos
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 06, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, September 06, 2026