"AS announced by Sandro Gozi," says this post, "Italy communicated to the European Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska its intention to request participation in the enhanced cooperation for the creation of unitary patent protection."

"The EPO can radically expand patent scope (both scope of jurisdiction and scope of patents) if “Unitary Software Patents” — as the above calls it — is successfully passed in its current form."This is troubling, albeit not too shocking (we heard similar things before) and as the FFII's President put it: "Italy to join Unitary Software Patents #unipat maybe a good country for a legal challenge." Italy's stance was different four years ago, but just like Spain it is being lobbied, pressured, and sometimes even financially blackmailed into it. Remember what the IMF did to Greece just weeks ago.

The EPO can radically expand patent scope (both scope of jurisdiction and scope of patents) if "Unitary Software Patents" -- as the above calls it -- is successfully passed in its current form. Implementation may be years away, so there's still time for reactionary opposition.

Our protests against this undemocratic (no referendum yet) expansion go almost 8 years back, or the Alison Brimelow days (2007), predating the current 'branding' of the change (back when Charlie McCreevy and Michel Barnier promoted it). This opposition might fall on deaf ears at the EPO's management. As we pointed out last week, the EPO's management censored our site Office-wide and it seems to have led to self-censorship at SUEPO, which has just published this letter in German [PDF]. It is a letter from a SUEPO lawyer, who candidly speaks about keyloggers, cameras, etc. as he informs Heiko Maas.

A letter of complaint has been sent regarding the censorship of Techrights (no indication of a response has been publicised by now) and what we attach is below (all four pages, click for full size) serves to show just how arrogant the EPO's management has become. It refuses to listen to European citizens, much like true tyrants who quit pretending to be benevolent. ⬆