Bonum Certa Men Certa

Corporate Imperialism in Europe Through the UPC, the Horrible Patent Deal Almost Nobody Heard of

Battistelli and his ilk hope to keep it under the wraps, without any public backlash/flak like TPP and TTIP have received

A statue



Summary: The coup d'état of the EPO, large applicants (massive global corporations), and their patent lawyers continues with shameless lobbying, new unsubstantiated rumours, and the self-fulfilling prophecies strategy (to depress the opposition and lower its morale)

THERE is virtually no open debate or investigative journalism in the corporate media about the UPC (when it's mentioned at all, if it's ever mentioned, it's corporate propaganda), the corporations-leaning deal which patent lawyers and their largest clients are crafting and drafting with help from clueless politicians, national patent offices, and EPO officials such as Battistelli. This is a travesty because if the public knew about it (especially the broader impact), there would be riots and protests in the streets.



"This is a travesty because if the public knew about it (especially the broader impact), there would be riots and protests in the streets."While patent law firms keep us distracted with puff pieces like "Protecting software inventions in Europe" or "EPO developments on patentability of biotechnology inventions" (April 11th [1, 2, 3]) much bigger things are happening (not the openwashing of UPC, as seen in [1] below), which can serve to legitimise software patents in Europe and also bring patent trolls to the entire continent and beyond it (Britain gets them already).

Proponents of software patents already start to insinuate that it will be easier to be granted software patents in Europe than in the Unites States. As one of them put it a few days ago [1, 2, 3], "Message from the EPO to US Software Applicants: Give us your rejected, your software applns in 3600 yearning to be granted; The Alice-rejected inventions of your teeming shore, Send these, the disrespected, tempest tossed software inventions to us: We lift our lamp beside the Golden Door to issuance and validation in Europe."

"What about the option of blocking it altogether?"Sadly, under the regime of the clueless Battistelli there is already some truth to it and this closer look by Merpel suggests that a wholly horrible package is expected to come with UPC. To quote: "Of course there are a number of things that need to be resolved as the clock starts ticking down on the UPC opening its doors, the Code of Conduct being one of them. However, while there is still time, it is important that the uncertainty and issues outlined in CCBE's letter should be fully considered and addressed, with the current draft being a launching off point. Further, Merpel hopes that the current draft is circulated more widely so that the larger European profession, who will be bound by the Code, is given an opportunity to comment."

What about the option of blocking it altogether? And why does Merpel assume that this is inevitable and that "the clock starts ticking down on the UPC opening its doors"? There are all sorts of great barriers which remain. The Bristows colleague of Merpel, a longtime proponent of software patents and the UPC, would probably have Merpel and others aware only of the 'good' news about UPC, not the rest. This booster has been meddling in UPC affairs for quite a while, this time omitting any of the negative publicity around UPC and instead latching onto this speculation from Italy. Italy opposed this package vigorously and rejected it strongly half a decade ago when it was called "EU Patent" [1, 2, 3]. It still hasn't consented to it. "After a sunny lunch this afternoon," the Bristows employee writes about herself in third person narrative, "the AmeriKat returned to her desk to find some very exciting news from her friends at leading Italian IP firm, Trevisan Cuonzo, about the status of Italy's UPC ratification process."

They would wish so, wouldn't they?

"They hope that by giving the impression that nothing can stop the UPC the UPC will eventually defeat the antagonists, having lowered their morale."So a law firm hears from another law firm about something and now they hope to give Italians the impression that their language and interests are being abandoned and there's nothing they can do to stop it? Seems like yet another go at self-fulfilling prophecies. They hope that by giving the impression that nothing can stop the UPC the UPC will eventually defeat the antagonists, having lowered their morale. For shame. Those propagandists have been doing a lot of damage and Bristows played a significant role in this propaganda for quite some time, often taking advantage of IP Kat as a platform (because almost nobody bothers with Bristows' own platform, even when they opportunistically -- for marketing purposes -- call it "Bristows UPC").

Here is one comment posted in response to the rumour mill:

My guess is that the Netherlands will try to be with the first implementing countries at all cost... It passed the stage Italy currently is in months ago, and presented the agreement (well: the law approving the UPC Agreement) to parliament 2 months ago and is currently busy answering the first round of written questions by the responsible parliamentary committee. The government also requested the legislation to be fast-tracked.

However, there seems to be trouble with the advice of the Council of State (Raad van State) on the implementing legislation. The implementing legislation was thus not accompanying the approval of the agreement, when it was presented to parliament (which was the plan from the beginning), and the government has requested additional advice from the Council of State on "a new European patent system" (which is very special).

My guess therefore: NL will be nr 13, but the implementing legislation will come later....


Well, it's a de facto coup; the UPC keeps changing names, which makes effective public criticism difficult and also misleads/confuses the public. EPO officials are not traveling to nations that wish to leave the EU and push the UPC down their officials' throats to bypass the referendum (or equivalent process). Not a coincidence. Bristow wants London to become a patent litigation hub and many other patent firms also look after their own interests, irrespective of what the general public wants and deserves. Watch how the London-based IAM tries pushing a similar meta-industry (patent feuds) into Asia, making it sound like a contest again (preaching and shaming, not objectively reporting):

Authorities in Shanghai have made fresh calls for the city to become an IP centre in recent months. The plans include efforts to improve IP rights enforcement, in both the judicial and administrative spheres, which is surely a prerequisite to having any sort of transactional activity. But like past blueprints, it also calls for building an ecosystem for IP trading, for example by attracting services providers that can facilitate and advise on deals, and professionals with the requisite expertise. The head of the Shanghai IP Office says that an IP ‘trading centre’ will be established within the year.

For a long time, Singapore and Hong Kong have been the most prominent jurisdictions vying for the hub mantle. The Lion City’s efforts have been decade-long and wide-ranging, and resulted in significant changes to the IP environment; the drive has seen it introduce a positive grant patent system, train its own patent examiners and other IP professionals, and open up the market to competition from foreign patent agents. Hong Kong’s plans, by contrast, have been more narrowly focused on IP trading, premised on its combination of a common law legal system and easy access to mainland China. Malaysia joined the fray about three years ago, pledging $65 million towards an IP financing plan that emphasised the collateralisation of patents, especially by SMEs.


Asia has been a lot more pacific on the patent front, but patent lawyers in Europe and the US obviously want to change that. They profit from making a mess. IAM itself is more of an advocacy site (for patent trolls, lawyers etc.) and it previously used shame tactics to pressure European officials to adopt the UPC, as we repeatedly showed here.

Related/contextual items from the news:


  1. European Unified Patent Court goes Open Source
    Using Private Cloud and Drupal as a starting point together with small expert partners and agile management the new platform for the European UPC has been shaped to the exact requirements and quickly adapted while more needs surfaced. The only ready to use Open Source tool used has been Zarafa Collaboration Platform which integrated with the Case Management System will provide secure email, instant messaging, file sharing and video conferencing to the platform's users.

    The result is that, thanks to Open Source based platform and by working with SMEs, the UK IPO team has been able to deliver to the Unified Patent Court team the project earlier than planned and under budget.




Recent Techrights' Posts

Social engineering attack: Debian voted to trick you on binary blobs
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Techrights Will Always Stand for Women's Rights
We even invest money - personal savings that it - in our principles
Certified Lawyers Should Know Better (Than to Intimidate Us With Man Who Drives on Motorcycle Through a Really Bad Storm Between Distant Cities, Then Collects Photos of Our Home)
Mentioning someone was in prison for bad things isn't a crime, it's a public service
Why We Support Richard Stallman and You Probably Should Too
It's not about being "Richard Stallman fan", it is about maintaining the right to hold positions (on technology) like his
The "AI" (Slop) Bubble is Already Imploding
"ChatGPT Usage Has Peaked and Is Now Declining, New Data Finds"
The So-called "Sexy" Buckets (AI, Quantum) Cannot Save IBM From Reality, Shares Tank
"No matter how much financial hocus-pocus they use to reclassify revenues to land in the "sexy" buckets (AI, Quantum), it still smells old and musty - just like this company."
Paul Krugman is Wrong About the Scope of Mass Layoffs in the United States
A few years ago society was accelerating its journey towards feudalism, boosted by COVID-19
Links 23/10/2025: Proprietary Blunders and CISA's Latest Disclosure of Holes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/10/2025: Fast Past (F1), 99.9% Uptime
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 22, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Slopwatch: Google News is Promoting Fake 'Articles' About Fake Xubuntu, Fake Articles About Replacing Windows With GNU/Linux
The quality of the Web deteriorates and unless someone cleans up the mess, real sites will lose an incentive to produce anything
When "AI Layoffs" Mean Layoffs Due to the "AI" Bubble Popping
many people that are laid off by Microsoft claim to be specialists in "AI"
Mysterious grant forfeited, $100,000 from Software in the Public Interest accounts 2023
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Evidence: bullying, student union behaviour: Armijn Hemel's FSFE resignation
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Evidence: psychological abuse, stalking, Galia Mancheva, Susanne Eiswirt ignored by FSFE judgment for Matthias Kirschner
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Helping FSFE scam victims and conference organisers
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Nigerian fraud in FSFE constitution
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Worrying and Amusing Stories of "Clown Computing" Gone Awry
Many of these disasters could be avoided
Some Large German Media Covers Richard Stallman's Talks in Germany Earlier This Week
LLM-based chatbots are just "bullshit generators" (as he has long called them)
Links 22/10/2025: Amazon Plans to Replace Workers With Robotics, AWS and Clown Computing in General Ridiculed
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/10/2025: Niri Completely Changes Multitasking and Overview of Diff-ers
Links for the day
Links 22/10/2025: Study on Misinformation by Slop and Heavily Debt-Sabbled Microsoft OpenAI (ClosedSlop) Uses "Browser" as Gimmick/Distraction
Links for the day
They've Already Spent Close to a Million Dollars on Lawyers and Sent Us About 50 KG of Legal Papers (Sponsored by Mysterious Third Party) to Try to Censor Techrights, Without Success
They try to overcompensate with sheer volume for a lack of solid, clear arguments (we are the victims here)
Who Asked Software in the Public Interest (SPI) for a Refund? ($100,000, Resulting in Losses of $267,201 in 12 Months, Highest-Ever Losses)
The IRS does not reveal who or what's tied to this refund (or the cause/reason)
Trouble in Red Hat/IBM and a Retreat to Ponzi Economics in Search of Wall Street Market Heist
Would you invest your life savings in this kind of crap?
12 Months Ago the 'Hulk Hogan of UEFI' Officially Went 'Tag-Team'
We're actually sort of flattered or proud that such despicable people are so desperate to censor us
"Cloud Computing" Was Always a Joke, But This Week Was the Punchline
Maybe stop following tech trends and fashions
"Cloud Computing" Does Not Mean Safety
Fault tolerance is related to the notion of software freedom
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 21, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 21, 2025
The Fall of Windows: From Something to Nothing
Of course Microsoft will pretend everything is fine and "just trust the hey hi" (AI)
Sounds Like Fedora is Ready to Become Less of a Slave of Microsoft (GitHub)
This seems like a belated move in a positive direction
XBox is a Dead Microsoft Product in a Dying Industry
It's probable that another wave of XBox layoffs is just over the horizon (maybe even before month's end)
Progress on Techrights Site Search
Fun times
IBM's Bluewashing of Red Hat Means the Layoffs Are Silent, Barely Reported
Don't wait to hear about "Red Hat layoffs"
Gemini Links 21/10/2025: Happy Disconnection, AWS Falling Apart, Closing of Gemlog Blue
Links for the day
Full Audio of Today's Richard Stallman Talk in the Technical University of Munich
Free/Libre software and freedom in the digital society
Microsoft XBox is Just Vapourware (Promises of Hardware That Doesn't Exist), Real Products Perish
just as developers lose interest in developing for XBox Microsoft is increasing the costs imposed upon them
Slopwatch: Fake Articles (Slop) in "Linux" Clothing in Google News (Noise)
all about what Google does
Links 21/10/2025: Even "Inventor of Vibe Coding" Rejects Vibe Coding, USPTO Experiments With Slop in Examination
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Talk Now Available for Viewing (Archived Copy, Not Live-streamed)
This recording is over 2 hours old
Links 21/10/2025: AWS-Induced Chaos and Social Control Media Curbs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/10/2025: Programming, StarGrid, Brand-New Palm OS Strategy Game in 2025, and Chatbot as Addiction Mechanisms
Links for the day
The African Lion and the American Cowards
Safaris exist for people to watch and enjoy animals
Amazon Web Shenanigans Perfectly Timed for Today's Talk by Richard Stallman
Maybe listen to him instead of looking for excuses to ridicule the messenger
Mission:Libre Has Taken Off (Project by Carmen Maris)
there will be a lot more to report on next month (after the event)
Techrights to Publish More EPO Leaks Next Week
We're meanwhile also doing lots of work on search, whose interface now looks better
Links 21/10/2025: 'The Lost Art' of Neon Signs and Twitter (X) to Enable Identity Theft (or Handle Theft) as a Service
Links for the day
Plagiarism With LLM Slop: Hindustan Times (HT Digital Streams Limited) Has Become a Slop Factory/Hub
What a disgrace
A radical proposal to keep your personal data safe, by Richard Stallman
"The surveillance imposed on us today is worse than in the Soviet Union. We need laws to stop this data being collected in the first place"
Next Week We Launch Search at Techrights
We're planning to launch it some time next week. Maybe Tuesday, maybe Thursday.
Talk by Richard Stallman Will be Live-streamed in Less Than 10 Hours
Happy hacking
"No Kings" in the Software World (GAFAM Should Not Exist, Either)
"No Kings" is a good slogan. Let's start by ridding ourselves of masters, not only those who reside in DC or visit DC
Every Morning
Bugs/edge cases combined with automation can spell disaster
Insane, Deliberately Dishonest, or Just Another Bigot?
very intellectually-dishonest human being
A Lot of Techrights is Built on Perl
Perl also runs the sister site
The Register MS Selling Slop for Microsoft (Vapourware, Ponzi Scheme, False Claims)
What will be left of The Register MS if it keeps repeating falsehoods and looking to profit from Ponzi schemes?
analytics.usa.gov Says Less Than 14% of Web Requests (to Government Sites) Come From Vista 11
Vista 11 was released more than 4 years ago!
People Who Attempt to Take Down Correct Information Need a Doctor a Day
“Journalism is printing something that someone does not want printed. Everything else is public relations.” ― George Orwell
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 20, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 20, 2025
Vista 11 is Sinking While Microsoft is PIPing (Mass Layoffs But Silent Layoffs)
We're witnessing a shift in platform dominance
Richard Stallman is Having a Good Week Already (Stallman Was Right About 'Clown Computing')
That alone is worth bringing up in his talk
An Update About Soylent News, With Jan Rinok "Back in the Saddle"
Burnout or "near burnout" a possibility when having to curate abuse
When Prominent GNU/Linux Distros Are Run by Spies
What has Microsoft Canonical become?
More Publishers and Companies Nowadays Say "GNU/Linux", Not "Linux"
It's not to see InstallAware saying GNU/Linux this week