The "Mafia"
For a number of weeks already we have heard from several independent and totally separate sources that the EPO is basically run by a "Mafia".
Even internally, those people are referred to as the "Mafia".
Those who work in those circles will certainly know and understand what we're talking about. The "water cooler" talk (or coffee machine gossip) isn't the same as what's advertised outwardly.
We've heard of great pain, life-shattering and life-threatening pain. I discussed this with my wife. We have a moral obligation to give a voice to the victims, albeit protecting identities of victims is also important and not always trivial. There are workarounds that I learned and hopefully managed to master over the years; that's why we're managing to maintain a 100% source protection record and we'll never put that record at risk.
Our utmost respect goes to brave whistleblowers whose courage lets us run EPO series. The "Mafia" shall be exposed. The world will know what needs to be known about this "Mafia", which was imported to the EPO first by Benoît Battistelli (mostly from France) and then by António Campinos (mostly from Alicante, and this directly implicates the EU).
Yours truly and all associates are pro-EU, that's just why it troubles us so much. We're not EU bashers.
Running a patent office isn't some carte blanche to break the law while declaring oneself "the law". We commit ourselves to the risky task of talking about all this and will devote a great deal of time to properly study how to best tell the story. Hopefully, with help of readers, we can 'reboot' the Office (one man booted under the guise of "6-month sick leave" is not enough; it's hardly even a start).
If Europe or at least Europe's largest institutions are run by a "Mafia" (or gangsters or organised crime; they don't like it when we say this and have hired several laws firms to intimidate me over this), then we must do something - we have a collective obligation - before it becomes 'normalised'. People must make sacrifices sometimes, for the greater good; sometimes it also means sacrificing oneself.
Later today we shall publish "Abuses Women at the EPO, Uses His Daughters to Comfort His Big Ego" (part of months-long series), so stay tuned. █