Bonum Certa Men Certa

UPC Nepotism, Political Abuses, and UPC Involvement From the Legal Firm That EPO Hired to Bully Techrights

Fieldfisher and UPC



Summary: The Unitary Patent Court (UPC), a rigged system that is being rammed down Europe's throat by the EPO, its big clients (even foreign), and their patent lawyers laid bear for people to see

There's a lot of very serious abuse (at least institutional) surrounding the UPC, much like in those 'trade' agreements with all the confirmed bribes. The UPC should be at least as scandalous as ACTA or the TPP, but the public is hardly aware of the UPC, there's no public input on it, and the driving forces behind it typically work behind closed doors (or in private events with high fees to attend and no input from critics).



The UPC is driven not by public demand but by the desire of some parties to essentially loot the public. It's like legalised theft, or systematic passage of wealth.The EPO has its own lobbyists Brussels and so do EPO allies like Microsoft, which employs Microsoft-connected lobbying groups in Brussels (for software patents in Europe -- a goal evidently shared by the Battistelli-led EPO). Does anyone know who funds the front/lobbying group “Fair Standards Alliance”? They don’t say, but we can make guesses.

Curiously enough, yesterday we found out that the legal firm that the EPO hired (i.e. paid) to bully me with legal letters is boosting the UPC right now. Well, another coincidence or alignment/intersection of interests? MIP wrote that in its partially-visible article (behind paywall). "Fieldfisher expand ahead of UPC launch," it says, and all I know Fieldfisher for is threatening legal letters that it sent me. Articles which highlighted the connection between Microsoft and the EPO is what they threatened me over, repeatedly.

As it turns out, based on yesterday's tweet from the FFII's President, the "German Ministry of Justice seems to prepare for UPC ratification, software patents like a letter to the post #swpat #nodebate" (indeed, no public debate at all, same as in the UK).

Patent firms love the UPC because more (and broader) lawsuits mean more income for them. As it turns out, based on input that we received yesterday, there is a lot of nepotism and lobbying in the mix. The German Ministry of Justice is implicated, too. To quote this source of ours:

Roy,

as regards your postings on who will benefit most from a unitary patent and Unified Patent Court, you might want to have a closer look to the article here:

http://www.stjerna.de/index_en_htm_files/The_requirements_of_Article%20118_1_TFEU.pdf

Its sections I. and II. describe a remarkable connection between the German Ministry of Justice and one of the leading German pro-UPC proponents, Prof. Tilmann (http://www.hoganlovells.com/winfried-tilmann/), a preeminent German attorney at Hogan Lovells, one of the leading patent litigation firms in Europe. Tilmann admitted that he had been given confidential court documents by the Ministry of Justice to publicly comment on these in favour of the UPC.

The article also cites a letter sent by his firm to a Committee of the House of Commons in 2012, trying to clarify that Mr Tilmann was not acting on behalf of Hogan Lovells, but was merely providing "his own personal views" - after he had apparently pushed his lobbying for the unitary patent and UPC a little too far. The letter was mentioned on the IPKat (http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2012/05/when-unity-creates-division-kat-patent.html), it can be downloaded here (https://sites.google.com/site/ipkatreaders/unifiedpatentproposal/hoglove.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1). It is still a good laugh.

Regards


It seems possible that the only reason the European public has not yet scandalised the UPC is the secrecy around it, the lack of understanding (the EPO spends money on pro-UPC propaganda events), and lack of public participation.

We urge all readers, both inside and outside Europe (and inside the EPO or outside the EPO) to antagonise this injustice. The EPO spends a lot of money misleading the public so whistleblowers are needed. One reader told us yesterday: "thank you for tenaciously holding the EPO management to account. I don't necessarily see eye to eye with you on software patents, but I definitely agree with you on the state of the EPO."

No two people can agree on everything, but there are overlaps. It is also possible to work for the EPO (e.g. as an examiner) whilst also recognising the problems with the UPC. We strongly encourage readers to send us documents, pointers or any other material we should know about regarding the UPC. EPO management is understandably paranoid about UPC critics (it sees UPC critics even where there are none), as we stressed several times in the past.

Recent Techrights' Posts

In BetaNoise, The "Latest Technology News" is Noise (Still!)
If you fail to get the slop under control, the site as a whole will perish
Defaming, Impersonating, Hijacking Accounts is Abusive If Not Illegal/Criminal Behaviour
There are actual victims here
If Your Bicycle Got Stolen, Then Open a Facebook Account and Send the US Lots of Personal Data to Get the Bicycle Back (or Try to)
"No Help Unless You Open an Account at Facebook"
Growing Recognition Out There That Courts Must Abandon Microsoft or Have No Perception of Authority, Autonomy, Independence, Fairness, and More
Imagine making a complaint about Microsoft to an agency that uses Microsoft
The Next Talk of Richard Stallman (Father of GNU/Linux and the GPL) Advertised in the Media 3 Days in Advance
He spoke in Italy earlier this year and also did some interviews
Free Software as a Culture of Resistance
Free software as a movement accomplished a lot in 40+ years
 
Corporate Media Did Not Report on Mass Layoffs at IBM's Expert Labs
Not a single media outlet even mentioned those mass layoffs!
Links 24/05/2025: Google Helps Slop Videos, Microsoft Resorts to Desperate Measures to Fake Demand for Slop
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/05/2025: New Home and Force/Drag Simulation
Links for the day
Sometimes Legal Action is Imperative (Even if Recovering the Cost of the Litigation Itself is Infeasible)
Sirius got sued, but the company has no money (large piles of debt)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 23, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, May 23, 2025
Simpler is Better
Gemini Protocol turns 6 in exactly 4 weeks
Slopwatch: Brian Fagioli, Brittany Day, and Other Plagiarists Who Rip Off Real Writers and Target Themes Around "Linux"
Fagioli also prompted chatbots for some words diarrhoea
Links 23/05/2025: Microsoft Openwashing at ZDNet, Signal Does It Wrong (DRM, Back Doors Still Intact)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/05/2025: Clutter in Modern Interfaces and Dealing With DRM-Free Music
Links for the day
Links 23/05/2025: Tax Audits of Hong Kong's Independent as ‘Intimidation Tactics,’ Why "Regulating X Isn’t Censorship"
Links for the day
TecAdmin Took a Break From Linux to Push SPAM
This happened hours ago, and it seems to have been posted directly by the site's "Admin" (Rahul)
The Microsofter Who Kept Sending Threatening Post and E-mail to My Wife Has Been Joking He'd Work on Code for "Sexual Favours"
For one thing, for software professionals (like for landlords), this is outright illegal and you'd get arrested for it, and moreover it's no joking matter because there are many real victims of such sexual exploitation
We Seem to Have Abandoned Science and Replaced Sound Policy With Private Patent Shareholders and College Dropouts Like Bill Epsteingate
Because of what they did there are now many people out there who reject all vaccines
Links 23/05/2025: Violent Attacks on the Press, VMware Price Hikes, Vista 11 Considered Unsuitable for Any Confidentiality
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/05/2025: Balkan Tourism, UK Polls, Reticulum and Meshtastic
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 22, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, May 22, 2025
Back to Basics, Folks, "AI" (Plagiarism) is Symptom of a Dying Industry Looking for Whatever Prey It Can Devour
lousy/sloppy imitations
Liam Proven's Thoughts on "AI" Being a Scam No Different From Religions, Alternative Medicine, and More
"Is there anywhere outside of retrocomputing that doesn't have AI in it?"
Many IBM Layoffs, Centred Around Expert Labs US in Atlanta (Offer of "Relocation" Where No Such Option Exists)
So Techrights was assessing comments/gossip online and it was right about the Thursday cull
Slopwatch: Slopfarms That 'Hallucinate' (Yield Falsehoods) Cited as Credible Sources and Microsoft Media Gaslighting Everybody
Part of the problem is, Google News
More Media Coverage and Photos From Richard Stallman's Presentation in Liberec (Czech Republic)
Here are some photos
The Microsofter Who Kept Sending Threatening Post and E-mail to My Wife Has Been Spooking Women for at Least Two Decades
censorship was the ultimate goal
Links 22/05/2025: Openwashing, Dumping Microsoft's Entrapment (Microsoft GitHub), and New Climate Disasters
Links for the day
Richard Stallman's Next Public Talk is in Milan, Italy Next Week
Happy hacking
Gemini Links 22/05/2025: Crimson Pro Font and CGI in Bash
Links for the day
IBM Goes to India, Fires People in the United States (Under the Guise of "Relocation" or Similar), Accusation of Bribery in the Company
LLM slop sites (some are pure slopfarms) from India say the IBM layoffs result in hiring "AI" (the "I" stands for India)
Why We'll Continue Covering EPO Abuses (Other Patent Offices as Well, as the Need Arises) for Many Years to Come
We're basically becoming Russia
Links 22/05/2025: TikTok Laying Off Again, Microsoft-Backed Builder.ai Set for Bankruptcy, Scam Altman Uses 'Funny Money' to 'Buy' (Hire) Company
Links for the day
These Feet Are Made for Walking
Humans are apparently so very clever that they decided to form a "progressive" consensus: feet no more
The Evolution of Microsoft's War on GNU/Linux
13 sins
OFTC Has Just Culled About a Third of Its Online Users
It's not the first time they purge or force offline many people/bots
My New Desk Arrangement (and More Breaks From the Keyboard)
all in all yesterday I devoted 4-5 hours to redoing and shuffling stuff
Central Staff Committee of the EPO Opposes Abuses Against EPO Staff, Challenging SuccessFactors Stunts
Europe became institutionally colonised
Gemini Links 22/05/2025: "Conspirituality" and Visiting One's Old University
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 21, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 21, 2025