Bonum Certa Men Certa

New Evidence Emerges, Showing That Unitary Patent (UPC) is Indeed an SME Killer That Negatively Affects Europe for Patent Lawyers' Sake

Trojan horse



Summary: A newly-released PDF sheds light on the grave injustice planned for the Unitary Patent Court, Europe's secretive and highly damaging new system, whose architects are mostly patent lawyers and other patent profiteers that serve large international corporations

More evidence, ironically from the UPC's biggest boosters, starts to surface, unveiling the truth or the ugly face of the EPO's 'baby', the UPC (the EPO spends a lot of money promoting this). There is a very dark side to the UPC in Germany, where patent lawyers even interfere with the legal system in an effort to wheel in the UPC Trojan horse [1, 2]. This is a coup d'état which European citizens are unaware of.



According to this new comment on a new IP Kat article, the Battistelli-led EPO is so eager to 'improve' numbers that it grants bogus patents, not just extending/expanding the scope/boundaries of patents (UPC would probably usher in software patents, as high-profile people repeatedly warn). As the commenter put it, "I see the corresponding EP patent has just been granted after the examiner raised an objection relating to the priority claim and cited a PhD thesis. The priority filing looks questionable as to whether it discloses the "same invention" as per EPO-speak. The inevitable opposition should be interesting."

“11K for a declaration of non-infringement seems a bit prohibitive. Hardly encouraging/enabling a 'clear-the-way' attitude.”
      --Anonymous
Commenting on this new article from UPC booster Annsley Merelle Ward (also IP Kat, not just pro-UPC propaganda sites), one person says "11K for a declaration of non-infringement seems a bit prohibitive. Hardly encouraging/enabling a 'clear-the-way' attitude. Good for patentees when infringers are small fry."

The UPC, as it stands at the moment, has one major barrier. It's not countries that won't sign it (Spain, UK in case of Brexit etc.) but an actual democratic debate (the UPC is antidemocratic). Right now this whole process is taking place behind closed doors. It's like some kind of secret trade deal. Courts are being set up in London before there is even a British referendum, in order to make the exit barrier (exiting UPC) incredibly high.

“UPC action to revoke a patent will cost 20.000 EUR. Infringement actions at least 11.000 EUR. Lawyers not included!”
      --Kristof Neefs
The UPC is -- by most indications (in spite of the international secrecy) -- indeed what we warned about all along. It would be an SME killer if it ever became a reality. As another person (Kristof Neefs, who says he is an IP, media and technology lawyer) put it: "UPC action to revoke a patent will cost 20.000 EUR. Infringement actions at least 11.000 EUR. Lawyers not included!"

Why would you need to revoke a patent? See the second paragraph above. The Battistelli-led EPO is a joke when it comes to examination (often if not increasingly rushed) and Battistelli is totally clueless about it, or maybe just in denial, i.e. willfully ignorant.

Managing Intellectual Property (MIP), a proponent of the UPC (like most patent lawyers out there), pretends that the UPC is already here (but it's not inevitable).

What needs to be done right now is dissemination of information about the UPC, which the European public (more than 95% of it) knows nothing about. Currently, the UPC is being promoted by the very same people who would benefit from it, whilst everybody else has no voice. It would be good news for patent parasites and patent lawyers (look who's excited about it) and we know at whose expense. Everybody would be harmed. Recall our recent article titled "UPC: To Understand Who Would Benefit From It Just Look at Who’s Promoting It (Like TPP)".

"This is like Koch Industries celebrating passage of ISDS."CIPA too is promoting the UPC right now. Remember what CIPA stands for. It's just a big bunch of patent lawyers lobbying for their interests at the very heart of Europe, trying to tax everyone while nobody (whom they tax) is paying attention. As CIPA put it: "The #UPC Preparatory Committee confirms there will be no opt-out fee. Big vote of confidence in the new system!" The UPC boosters (like Jane Lambert in this case) only care about EU membership because of patents!

This is like Koch Industries celebrating passage of ISDS. Anything like ISDS would give such a malicious corporation the power to pollute without government interference (because interference might harm Koch Industries' shareholders). We need to stop these people before it's too late. The UPC is a huge danger to Europe, which is an SME-based economy.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Alex Oliva, the Potential 'Successor' of RMS, Has a New Web Site
More freedom for Alex Oliva
Azure is Turning 17 This Year, Still Losing Money and Staff
Hallmark of pyramid schemes, deriving "value" out of things that do not really exist?
Richard Stallman on RISC-V and Free Hardware
Invidious is under attack by Google
IDG 'Reviews' of GNU/Linux Now Contain LLM Slop
It's typically ads or commercials... or sometimes spin disguised as news
In Gopher and Gemini Protocol People Abandon Services Based in the United States
There's no resistance whatsoever
Python and Microsoft: Pandas Should Have Known OpenDocument Format (ODF) and Microsoft Excel Are Different and Competing Things
now we're meant to think that in order to open ODF files we need some functions with "Excel" in their name
Not Only Windows, Surface, and "Hey Hi" PCs; Microsoft's Hardware Ventures Are a Dumpster Fire; HoloLens Mixed Reality Hardware Now Axed Altogether and Staff is Miserable
Microsoft is in a terrible state
Links 15/02/2025: University Price Hikes and Copyright Action Against Slop Companies
Links for the day
Slopwatch: All Those New 'Articles' Are Fake and Crafted by Chatbots (LLM Slop)
Google News is promoting these as "Linux" news; they're not even made by humans
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, February 15, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, February 15, 2025
Links 15/02/2025: Harms to Health, Public Domain, and More
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/02/2025: On Autistic People, AuraGem Over HTTPS
Links for the day
The Cyber Show (C|S) Speaks of the "Rise of the Nerd Reich."
This 'Valentine Episode' is quite good
Strong Momentum for the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as Winter Approaches Its End in Boston or in the Northern Hemisphere
FSF's founder, Richard Stallman, gives another talk in Italy in 9 days from now
The 'Drunken Plagiarists' Are Harming Journalism About GNU/Linux
They lessen the incentive to do real journalism abut GNU/Linux
Female Nazis and racist Swiss women
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 15/02/2025: Erasing of American Science and Tesla SLAPPing Critics
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/02/2025: Spectacles and "Before Sunset", Moving Domains Out of the US
Links for the day
Microsoft Has Only $17,482 Million Left, "Cash on Hand" Sank 40 Billion Dollars in 2 Years
Microsoft runs low on money in the bank
YouTube Layoffs Mean That YouTube is Still Losing a Lot of Money (Net Income or Profit Almost Definitely Negative)
In more recent years Google defunded many vloggers
Certificate Authority (CA) Let's Encrypt Now Down to TEN (0.3% of the Whole) in Geminispace
The number of capsules that use Let's Encrypt is, according to Lupa, about to fall to single-digit figures
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, February 14, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, February 14, 2025
Gemini Links 14/02/2025: Mysterious Friend and "Eight by Eight"
Links for the day
They Will Never Leave Linus Torvalds Alone, Rust is Just Another Way to Cause Instability and Infighting in Linux
We already identified the Rust "community" as troublemakers more than 5 years ago and we wrote about the evidence
Apple: Social Justice or Social Nationalism?
Remember to buy Apple, folks
Links 14/02/2025: Mass Layoffs at Sophos, Chatbots Failing Very Badly, "DOGE as a National Cyberattack"
Links for the day
Moving Away From Certificate Authorities (CAs) Like Let's Encrypt Means Taking Away From the US Government the Power to 'Censor' Sites by Revoking Certificates
Gemini capsule is cheap to run and easy (easier than a Web site) to maintain. More people disillusioned and frustrated with social control media flock to it.
BetaNews' Managing Editor Wayne William Took Charge of GNU/Linux Articles and His Articles Are Real (He Actually Wrote Them)
We are frankly relieved to see that Wayne William recognised the problem and did something about it
Links 14/02/2025: Publicity Rights Violated (ByteDance), Bribes to Trump Passed via Social Control Media 'Settlements' Again
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/02/2025: Constitution, Cosmic DE, and More
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Articles Published by Bots, Dominating Google News
So a lot of the Web is Microsoft chatbot-generated anti-Linux FUD
Links 14/02/2025: Measles Outbreak in Texas, Zelensky Warns Russia Will Attack a NATO Country
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, February 13, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, February 13, 2025