Bonum Certa Men Certa

Article Highlights Madness When It Comes to Overstressing EPO Staff and Pushing Towards Overpatenting (Even Life!) in Pursuit of Profits

Patent maximalism too an important angle in the German media

Cash boxing
Knocking workers out to the benefit of foreign corporations: Benoît Battistelli, whose only notable qualification seems to come from a business school, turned the EPO into a private, non-European, unaccountable business (complete with outside contractors, not just Questel but also Control Risks and FTI Consulting from the US)



Summary: The greed of the European Patent Office (EPO), or the insatiable aspiration to compromise examination quality and expand patent scope (software included), noted alongside the human rights abuses at the EPO

THERE are many articles about the EPO in Dutch and German media right now.



Translation is still desirable/needed for these two new articles in German (published today) [1, 2]. The article from Christian Kirsch at Heise looks particularly interesting. Well, citing the TV program which scares EPO management, this new article now has an English translation (as requested by us) and it's quite interesting because there are new/unique elements in it, as highlighted below:

Patents

Climate of fear at the EPO: Anyone who dares to voice criticism faces dismissal



15 March 2016 by Lara Dovifat

Fear is spreading among the employees in the European Patent Office: house arrest in the case of illness, prohibition on speaking to the press and internal investigations. On top of that, the pressure to grant more and more patents more and more quickly. There have already been a number of strikes at the Munich headquarters. This documentary explains why this is so and what consequences it has for patents on life - and how this could change soon.

Click here for the complete report about the European Patent Office.

For some time now in Munich at regular intervals the staff of the European Patent Office can be found out on the streets instead of sitting behind their desks. They are demonstrating because of the dismal atmosphere at the Office. Intense pressure and a President who instills fear in everybody. The Office is a supra-national institution and, consequently, German labour law does not apply here.

The Office lives on the horrendously expensive patent application fees of corporations and naturally has an interest in the rapid and voluminous granting of patents. As we have already reported in the context of our campaign "Stop Patents on Life", the structure of the European Patent Office does not foresee any independent judicial oversight or control by international courts.

Profit takes precedence over examination

In particular, the current President Benoît Battistelli is taking this madness to the extreme. He wants to make the Office more efficient and increase its revenues. Labour laws, sickness and representation of the workforce by trade unions are only seen as obstacles in his path. He proudly boasts: "Our productivity increased by ten percent last year, the production by as much as 14 percent." No wonder that the numbers of patented plants, animals and seed are going through the roof. Patent examiners speak of intolerable conditions, internal investigation teams and the summary dismissal of staff union representatives. They also complain that insufficient time is available to examine patent applications properly. This is all the more surprising when one considers the potentially disastrous consequences of patents on life.

The buck stops with Heiko Maas - he has to take action now!

Only the Administrative Council of the EPO can put a stop to this unsustainable state of affairs. The Council is composed of delegates from all of the Member States - including the representatives of the competent [German] Justice Minister, Heiko Maas. The Administrative Council is due to meet on 16 March to discuss the internal conflict and to try to regain control of the Office. This would also be a first step towards restricting the granting of patents on naturally cultivated plants, animals and seed varieties in the future. So don't waste any time in signing our appeal to stop patents on life for once and for all!


"When will there be a democratic and human end of the present (apparent mis-) leadership of EPO," one person asked Heiko Maas. "Abuse of power, currently." Well, Bavarian politicians are already on the case (at least some of them).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Informal Open Letter to the Lawyer of the Microsofters (on Who's Funding the SLAPPs Against Techrights)
Whenever I ask about the funding they try to change the subject and act all aggressive
Microsoft Lunduke is Just Provoking People for Provocation's Sake
Be forewarned and remember where this guy came from: Microsoft
 
The Register MS: We Know Slop is a Bubble and Mindless Hype, But We Get Paid to Participate
Call out the culprits
Hate Mail From Anonymous Cowards
if this persists, we'll need to escalate
There Are Probably Over a Million Pages in Geminispace
there are two many limitations which merit a mention when it comes to assessing magnitude
Besieged by Plagiarists Who Play With LLMs and Image Fusions
We really need to exercise or use our collective voice to oppose Serial Sloppers
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 08, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 08, 2025
Gemini Links 09/08/2025: Water Painting and Political Violence
Links for the day
Slopwatch: LLM Sloppers in Google News, LinuxSecurity, and More
they also perpetuate some falsehoods as the LLMs lack any comprehension
Links 08/08/2025: China King of Plastics and US Dictator Plans to Meet Russian Dictator
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: Cracking a Family Member's Password and Overdose of Slop
Links for the day
Red Hat's Latest Talent Hunt, Day Ahead of Mass Layoffs, is Yet Another Microsoft Executive
Red Hat will apparently commence mass layoffs early this coming Monday
Links 08/08/2025: "Quit Facebook" and High Cost of Microsoft/Windows Shown Again ("BlackSuit")
Links for the day
Good Morning, Readers of The Register MS
Things The Register MS could (but does not) cover this morning
Why Gemini Protocol Has a Bright Future
Maybe Gemini Protocol's promise becomes more appealing as the Web turns to slop and bloat
It's a Lot Easier to Participate in the Unethical System Than to Oppose Injustices in It
Going after powerful and high-budget interests is never easy
Microsofters Filed Two SLAPPs Against Us, Now They Cannot Keep Up With Judges' Orders
For over 4 months already their facilitator in London has been under investigation by British authorities because of what's being done to my wife and I
Censorship Regarding Red Hat Layoffs
Talk about this? They'd rather not.
Struggling to Cut Costs, Microsoft Continues Shutting Down and Cancelling Stuff This Month
There are August layoffs at Microsoft
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 07, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 07, 2025
Fake 'Linux' Articles, Written by Bots to Take Traffic Away From Real Articles
LLM slop helps replace information with junk or misinformation
When Google's Googlebombing of "Gemini" Was Not Enough; They Now Also Googlebomb "Gemini Space"?
We know GAFAM not only worries about Gemini Protocol but also attempts to 'infiltrate' Geminispace
The Register MS Promotes Microsoft Slop, Assumes All Readers Use Microsoft Windows
Microsoft really dominates the site
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: KDE/Qt Development and What's Missing From "Retro"
Links for the day
Links 07/08/2025: US Punishes India Instead of Russia, Attacks Law Firms to Prevent Scrutiny
Links for the day
Read Us in Geminispace as Well
it's definitely a lot simpler than using a Web browser
Once a Site About BSD and GNU/Linux, and After Months of Silence, LinuxBSDos.com Comes Back Only as a Slopfarm
very frustrating
Links 07/08/2025: Hardware Wars, Mass Recall of Colgate Total Clean Mint, More Microsoft Holes Found
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/08/2025: "Right To Manage" and LoRa Analysis
Links for the day
For the First Time in a Month OSI's "OpenSource.org" Blogs and It's Basically a Microsoft Blog Post (Microsoft Controls OSI)
For the first time in a month OSI writes something and it is Microsoft propaganda composed by a Microsoft-salaried operative
Microsoft, Already Borrowing 3 Billion Dollars a Month, is Trying to Cause Many People to Resign
MSN (i.e. Microsoft) and others openly admit it
GAFAM 'Says' is Front Page "News"
The point of journalism is to check and assess facts, not parrot what people and companies merely claim
Links 07/08/2025: Apple Makes False Promises, More Trouble for Microsoft
Links for the day
OSS Didn't Always Mean Open Source Software
"oligarchs all the way down"
The Register MS Does More Microsoft Sez or GitHub Sez (Says) Pieces
60 minutes ago
They Want Activists to Just Barely Walk and Eat, Not Do Activism Anymore
It's sort of like the ending of '1984'
Quit Perpetuating the Narrative of Gemini Protocol 'Dying' (It's False)
The "whisper campaign" against Gemini Protocol
Criticising Social Control Media in Social Control Media
Many people are quitting Social Control Media (fewer of them announce this in public)
Non-Free JavaScript Programs in Banks Aren't Even the Biggest Problem
Technology was supposed to make life easier; in practice, however, for most of us the opposite effect can be observed
Slopfarms Are Typically Fake News
Slopfarms typically relay falsehoods
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Replacing a Pocket Watch and Buying in Bulk
Links for the day
IBM is Obliterating Fedora
"Fedora releases were shipping with an increasing number of bugs on launch day even while I was using it for a several year stretch."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 06, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 06, 2025