Bonum Certa Men Certa

EU Patent Failing to Materialise, But EPO and Politicians Begin to Overstep Their Line of Authority to Intervene

Belgium and flags



Summary: A couple of reports about the proposed system which threatens software developers and several observations about these

The attack from multinationals on Europe comes in many forms. But one of those forms that we herein concentrate on is the EU Patent, which is just a euphemistic way to imply expansion of corporate power over the people.



Axel H. Horns, a patent lawyer, has been inadvertently useful when it comes to antagonism against the EU Patent (which he actually seems to be advocating for, due to his profit motive). He now reports on lack of compatibility:

Hence, some work on the text of Brussels I appears to be necessary in order to properly implement the UPC.

Also with regard to the other parts of the acquis as examined, technical problems need to be resolved.

If all these issues are not sorted out properly right now, the real life practice of the UPC might later on become sort of a complex nightmare with numerous difficult legal problems waiting to be resolved by the Courts. The UPC is meant to provide more legal certainy; if the complex clockwork of Treaties, Regulations and Conventions isn’t adjusted properly, the EU Patent with unitary effect might fail in practice.


Excellent. That is what all European citizens should want. The more compartmentalised monopolies remain, the better. Ideally, those patent monopolies should mostly be dismantled as they impede progress , all for the enrichment of very few individuals.

"EPO continued to lobby the EU over the Unitary Patent, a non-EU international instrument," writes/quotes Benjamin Henrion (FFII) based on this new article from IPWatch that says:

The head of the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services today renewed their commitment to introduce a unitary EU patent, which they say would significantly ease workloads and reduce costs for patent applicants.

The effort is considered a compromise after the Commission was unable to get a full EU-wide patent several years ago. The Commission issued a proposal for a unitary patent in April (IPW, European Policy, 13 April 2011). The governments of Spain and Italy filed their opposition to the idea this summer (IPW, IP Live, 7 July 2011).

The EPO press release follows:

The President of the European Patent Office (EPO), Benoît Battistelli, met with European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services, Michel Barnier, at the EPO headquarters in Munich today to discuss the planned introduction of a unitary patent aimed at improving the European patent system to better serve the needs of European industry. They also discussed the progress of the automatic translation system for patents, which is currently being developed in the EPO.

The visit by the EU delegation also included two Members of the European Parliament, Eva Lichtenberger and Cecilia Wikström.


Bad Boy Barnier (whom we mentioned days ago and also here, here, here, here and here) is still doing his lobbying, proving yet again who he is serving. Spain and Italy should be commended for their firm stance on this issue. The most disturbing thing, based on the above text, is that people who oughtn't intervene in such a process do intervene, often in some rather disturbing ways.

"The most disturbing thing, based on the above text, is that people who oughtn't intervene in such a process do intervene, often in some rather disturbing ways."Europe does not need software patents and it does not need a unified patent system that facilitates those. Those patents are, by their very nature, absurd and moreover, as we pointed out before, Oracle's case is dissipating a bit, one patent (or several) at a time yielding just about nothing but a total waste of time and money. Not so bad for patents lawyers, eh? Their clock is ticking and the register is ka-chinging.

It ought to be added that a few hours ago one of our readers from Belgium wrote: "After my visit to the single market forum in Krakow my trust in (EU) politicians and there guests were even more squeezed.

"Member of the panel Dr. Katarzyna Lasota Heller freelance lawyer/lobbyist claimed to be IP specialist but refused to answer my questions about the benefits to small businesses. Her goal is clear since she answers that patents will be more easy to gain as she runs away agitated.

"Only Waldemar Pawlak, vice premier Poland managed to give a more stupid speech than Van Quickenborne (B) the well known puppy of De Gucht senior by giving a fired up speech on IP giving Wikipedia as example."

Apologies for the strong language and relatively weak English. The comment was at least informative and important.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
 
Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025
Microsoft - Like IBM - Does the "Relocation" Tricks (Start Over Elsewhere, Then Get Sacked by Microsoft)
It is a "low blow" or a "dick move"
After the Free Software Foundation's Campaign to Raise Money Let's See Campaigns to Finish Off Microsoft (Vista 11, GitHub etc.)
Microsoft is in effect collapsing
Your Publications Have No Major Impact Unless or Until You "Get Some Heat"
we're on the right track
Slopwatch: A Cause for Hope, the Hype is Dying
For about a month we showed that becoming a slopfarm - for several weeks - resulted in utter failure and ruin for BetaNews
Links 11/07/2025: Censorship Worsening, 3D Printing Success Stories, UK and France Unite Around Nukes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Zorin OS and Scriptonite Updates
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Hardware, Russia, and China
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Intel Collapsing and Microsoft Resorts to Bribery to Push Slop Via Obligatory Education
Links for the day
The EFF Sided With the Team That Strangles Women and Tells Women to Kill Themselves
They say that apathy and inaction are a form of a "stance"
"Nat [Friedman] and [the Serial Strangler From Microsoft] Were Always Exceptionally Close," Says Former Housemate and Colleague
Now Alex (hiding behind another name when that suits him) not only attacks women but also people who merely report what he did to women
Exemplary List of Things That Are Not Artificial Intelligence or Even Intelligence
The "age of AI" or "era of AI" or "AI revolution" mostly boils down to rebranding, just like "the cloud"
New Letter From the European Patent Office Explains How the Office Plots to Grant Many Illegal Patents, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of 'Growth'
Open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) and Mr Aledo Lopez (COO)
Abuse of Process
5RB is employing people who help violent men
What Microsoft's Nat Friedman and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
"Get in da car; No time to explain, loser"
Microsoft and IBM Don't Have Much of a Future (They Mostly Pretend at This Point)
IBM and Microsoft are in some ways alike but in many ways different
It's Not Just Twitter (or X.com) That's Dying, Microsoft's Equivalent is Dying Also
Unable to find a business model
GitHub Copilot Can Cause the Bankruptcy of GitHub to Come Sooner and GitHub to be Shut Down Just Like Skype
Some publicly available information suggests that even for each paid subscriber for plagiarism (LLM 'coding') GitHub Copilot still loses more money than it makes
Wayland is Bad for the Planet
If you use Wayland, it'll take you longer to accomplish tasks and you will consume more energy (or battery life)
Legitimising Those Who Sabotage You
Microsoft is a very malicious company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 10, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 10, 2025
On Microsoft Layoffs
we might be looking at about 60,000 Microsoft layoffs since 2023
EPO Management Already Breaks Its Own Promise (Lie) on "Bringing Teams Together"
This gut-punching move happened just 2 days ago
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Occupation of 2025 and "Old Man Yells At Soundcloud"
Links for the day
Our Lawsuits Against the 'Cancel Mob' (Ringleaders) Helped Reduce Anti-Free Software Online Abuse
That's not to say that lawsuits are the best way to handle terrible people. But that can help.