Bonum Certa Men Certa

German Media Becomes Aware of Battistelli's Defiance of the Very Basis of the EPO

FTI Consulting helps the EPO 'manage' Dutch and German media (new contract recently signed), but that does not always work

EPC



Summary: The mass media is catching up with Battistelli's alienation, segregation or isolation of the boards of appeal as part of his plan to phase them out of existence and maintain systematic exacerbation of patent quality for production's sake, where "production" is inaccurately and improperly measured

THE media has been rather quiet regarding the EPO recently. The only "EPO" we see in the news is actually the drug, typically in relation to doping in the Olympic games.



"For your information," told us one of several readers who alerted us about Süddeutsche Zeitung, the local paper "finally breaks the silence on the EPO..."

It is an article composed not by one of the more familiar writers (who ought to be quite familiar with EPO matters) and several people told us about it.

"I noticed the following article which has just appeared in the Süddeutsche Zeitung," one reader told us. "It is mainly about the planned move of the EPO Boards of Appeal to Haar and it refers to the recent coverage of this story on Techrights." (see for example [1, 2])

It is good to know that they follow Techrights. We typically get the stories here earlier than the corporate media.

"Battistelli's plans to send the Boards of Appeal into "exile" in Haar are eerily reminiscent of the methods employed by Željko Topić during his time at the Croatian SIPO," told us this reader, "as previously reported by Techrights" (see for example [1, 2])

"The difference," continued this reader, "is that in his previous role Topić could only inflict damage on the IP system in Croatia. It seems that with Battistelli's backing he has managed to manoeuvre himself into a position where he can now operate on a European scale."

This is pretty bad as it brings what we once saw dubbed "Balkan standards" into the whole of Europe. We previously made note of exactly the above point (similarity to Topić's history in Croatia).

These problems at the EPO are real and there is no solution in sight for them (not in summertime anyway). European Inventor Award 2017 (EIA2017) is already being planned as if everything will be fine for another year to come and the PR people are 'spamming' for it (there have been yet more examples of that since, albeit not as much if anything at all after we published the article). "Inventors who aren't European nationals but have been granted a European patent can also be nominated for this Award," the EPO stated in relation to EIA2017. It's not "European Inventor Award 2017" just as "European Patent Office" is not really European, I've told them, considering the fact that there is even discriminatory prioritisation which puts small European businesses at the back of the line.

"I would replace "in Europe" by "at the EPO"," wrote Benjamin Henrion in response to software patents advocacy in Europe. I told him that that EPO "is not European, it just has the word "European" in its name, like Federal Express which isn't Federal." The EPC does not permit software patenting either, but that does not exactly prevent EPO management from trying to work around the exclusions.

A lot of the above relates to how detached from the EPC Battistelli's EPO has gotten. It's jaw-dropping that he managed to get away with it. The EPO now has a Brexit-like 'Constitutional Crisis' (dealing with deviation from founding documents like EPC and EU/Lisbon Treaty). Apparently, with help with his marionette called Kongstad, there is something Battistelli can do. A discussion about it is buried inside a very long, multi-page comments thread (the only remaining suitable place as IP Kat barely covers EPO these days). To quote the latest in this discussion:

Hmmm. Not sure I agree that the founding fathers "made arrangements" for arbitration. For example, they failed to provide a description of how arbitration should work, and who should be the arbiter.

At best, the PPI merely provides for the possibility of arbitration. However, there are many practical barriers to that possibility being exploited. For a start, there is the complete apathy upon the part of the representatives to the AC (who, it must be remembered, come from national offices whose income from renewal fees will increase if examination standards at the EPO are lowered). Then there is the total absence of any formal procedure for initiating a dispute.

So who do you see "getting the ball rolling" in this context?




Read Article 24 of the PPI.

I keep posting the text of the Article but the comment doesn't seem to get through ... http://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/html/epc/2016/e/ma5.html

There is a very detailed description of how the arbitration is to take place. The President of the ICJ has a role in selecting the committee. It's all there in black and white. You just need to RTFM ...




Do not overlook Article 23 (2) PPI:

If a Contracting State intends to submit a dispute to arbitration, it shall notify the Chairman of the Administrative Council, who shall forthwith inform each Contracting State of such notification.

That is how the ball starts rolling. A notification is sent to the Chairman of the AC. It's that simply.




Thanks. You are quite correct, of course. Interesting that Art. 24(2) PPI states that "This panel shall be established as soon as possible after the Protocol enters into force and shall be revised each time this proves necessary". This implies that the relevant panel should have been established almost 40 years ago. So which panel is it? And what rules of procedure for that panel have been established according to Art. 24(4)? Or are those yet further provisions of the EPC that the AC has neglected to follow?


I suspect that this could very well be the case. To the best of my knowledge the details of the "panel" - if it has been established - have never been published. Normally one would expect that kind of information to appear in the Official Journal. However there does not seem to be any explicit requirement for publication of the membership of the panel.

From that I conclude that either the provision has been ignored or else it's a well-kept secret.


Can Battistelli simply bend the rules and make up new rules to justify his abuses retroactively? If some time in the past he simply broke the rules, as he did as far back as 2014 (if not further back), why does he get to keep his job and astronomical salary? EPO mouthpieces have certainly helped that and based on internal documents we saw, Battistelli still cites these same mouthpieces for 'evidence' and 'support' regarding patent quality. He is fooling the delegates at times when they growingly express concerns about patent quality. Battistelli is a chronic liar. Maybe he does this without even realising (the hallmark of sociopaths, learning to believe one's own lies and reject critical voices).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Wayland is About Less Choice, About Removing Choices, It's Not About Freedom
IBM insists that it cares about "diversity"
Keeping Things Accessible
Gemini Protocol seems to be growing
Not Much Better Than LLM Slop: Linux Foundation-Funded 'News' Site Writes Linux Foundation 'News', Composed by Linux Foundation Operative, Quoting Linux Foundation Staff
...they get paid (sponsored) to produce this spam. Then they call it "journalism".
Annual Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE 22x) 'Bought' by Microsoft and Microsoft Exceeded Sponsorship Limits by Giving Double the Maximum Permitted Amount
When people get bribed they tend to forget how to utter a simple word: "No."
EPO Examiners Point Out to the Heads of Delegations in the Administrative Council of the EPO That the "AI Policy" of the Office is Illegal
"the Central Staff Committee (CSC) asks the Administrative Council to exert its supervisory role and instruct EPO management to enter into genuine dialogue with the staff representation on the AI Policy, to revise the “Leverage AI” target of 90% AI-automated classification in the SP2028 and to put in place the measures supported by staff in the resolution."
French Cities Dumping Microsoft Because They Recognise Software Freedom, Open Standards, GNU/Linux Autonomy
We hope that more French cities - maybe Paris - will follow Lyon.
 
Links 27/06/2025: Journalists Under Fire and Microsoft Has Serious Slop Problems
Links for the day
X is Dying, But Not XServer/X11. Twitter X.com is Dying.
People or businesses or government officials (and departments) that still rely on Social Control Media are playing Russian Roulette with their future online
Escaping Colonialism (or 'Hegemony') Requires Abandoning GAFAM, Microsoft in Particular
Europe is already in the process of abandoning Microsoft
Microsoft Will Shut Down More Studios This Week, Its Media Operatives Will Tell Lies About the Magnitude of the Shutdowns and Layoffs (They Always Do)
Many people who get counted as "workforce" are "temps" or similar
What Linux Foundation 'Research' is: Paid Marketing
What is Linux Foundation 'Research'?
No, IBM Does Not Care About People With Disabilities
"Aktion T4" did not seem to bother Watson
Microsoft's Financial Problems Mean Shutdowns, Not Just Mass Layoffs
If the original rumour is true, then expect almost 30,000 Microsoft workers to be let go this year
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 26, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, June 26, 2025
The Netherlands: GNU/Linux Measured at All-Time High
Are any Dutch cities going to announce dumping Microsoft?
Gemini Links 27/06/2025: "Interstitial Existence" and Autocorrect
Links for the day
Technical People Need Technical Lawyers
Technical Litigants in Person (LIPs) have many real and concrete advantages
10,000+ Articles in About 20 Months (and How We Got Here)
More bloat does not beget efficiency and "bells and whistles" tend to have a hidden cost
Links 26/06/2025: Illegal Kangaroo Court (UPC) Failing Scandinavia, K-Pop Agencies Abuse People
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/06/2025: AuraGem Twitch Proxy is Back and UI Sluggishness
Links for the day
LWN is a Voice of GAFAM (Through Linux Foundation, Their Front Group or Occupying Force Inside Linux)
remember who the chief editor works for and who sponsors many of the articles
Links 26/06/2025: Noise Pollution Considered High in Europe, Mass Layoffs Next Week in Microsoft Confirmed, Very Large in Scale and Scope
Links for the day
The 'Case' of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft is a Lot of Copypasta (Maybe Also LLM Slop) From the Matthew Garrett 'Case'
5RB deserves to know and the matter shall be properly reported in due course (when the time is right)
EPO Squeezing the Staff - Part II - Office Breaks Rules, Ignores Courts, Defies Justice
False promises everywhere
No, I Don't Want Your Latest XYZ, ThankYouVeryMuch...
Wayland is finally ready?
China Keeps Breaking Into Microsoft Systems, So for True Sovereignty, Nations Wary of China Need to Dump Microsoft
Looking at data from Taiwan (not China) and Maharlika (not Philippines, the king is dead and Spain is out), there are encouraging signs
Linux Journal Wants Ads on Its LLM Slop or Ads as 'Articles'
it's basically another BetaNews
How to Kill a Monopoly
in 10 simple steps
IBM - Like Microsoft - is a Dying Company and Perishing Brand ("AI" is a Lie and Decoy)
"Arvind is cutting costs (layoffs, PIPs, forced RTO, etc...) like crazy. IBM offices are closing all over the place in the US."
"Code of Conduct" Invoked When Fedora and Red Hat Users (Since the 1990s) Don't Want to Use Wayland
That is IBM "DEI"
Mozambique: GNU/Linux Rose From 0.5% Last Year to 3% This Year
what (or how) statCounter is measuring
Microsoft Layoffs Next Week: About 10% to be Laid Off in Microsoft Gaming (2 Days Before Independence Day), About 20%+ of XBox Staff
Microsoft is rapidly collapsing
Next Month Marks 11 Years Since Our In-Depth EPO Coverage
The same is happening to Microsoft right now
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Campaigns Against Vista 11, Adds 4 New Associate Members Per Day
If more people understood the underlying principles, more of them would flock to Free software overnight
Canonical Seems to Have Culled Some Sources of LLM Slop From Planet Ubuntu
It's like "junk food", it's not information
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 25, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, June 25, 2025
On "Weak Claims"
For the record, they sent me unjustified threats, repeatedly tried injunctions (censorship)
EPO Squeezing the Staff - Part I - Burnout and Family Health
more exceptional circumstances
This Month's Mail (MX) Server Survey Shows Microsoft at 0.20% "Market Share"
We need to remind people that desktops and laptops decline (in proportion to other client devices) and at the "back end" GNU/Linux is already dominant and has long been dominant
Links 26/06/2025: Filespooler Guide and Learning to Code
Links for the day
Why Techrights Cannot be Vilified (and Instead It Gets SLAPPed Repeatedly by Microsoft People)
Attack dogs are all "bark"; because they have no actual "bite"
Austrian GNU/Linux Usage Up to About 5% as More of Europe Abandons Microsoft
Since inauguration day the Austrian people have adopted more and more of GNU/Linux
Why the "Wayland People" and "Rust People" Will Lose Hearts and Minds (Same Reasons)
Wayland pushers are fast becoming like "Rust People"
5,600 Pages/Articles Per Year
So far this year we've kept all the promises
BetaNews Beginning to Show What Its True Goals Are
The 'new' BetaNews won't be about journalism. It's trying to sell things.
Microsoft Has Lost "The War"
We'll soon see the 9th or 10th wave of Microsoft layoffs in 2025 alone
Slopwatch: A Wreck and a Dreck, "Flooding the Zone With Dreck" or Flooding the Web With Junk
"Slopwatch" continues today because we have many new examples
Links 25/06/2025: Thwarting More Software Patents, Overlap Grows Between EPO Corruption and Illegal Kangaroo Patent Courts in EU
Links for the day
Links 25/06/2025: Elon Musk’s Lawyers Caught Lying, WhatsApp Faces More Bans
Links for the day
Wayland Pushers Lose the Argument, Use LLM Slop and Chatbots to Make Up Arguments for IBM
Another new low and low blow
Brian Fagioli Created Another Slopfarm Targeting "Linux" After BetaNews Became a Slopfarm of Phantom Accounts and Pseudonyms
Mr. Fagioli even had slop about a dead Torvalds (hypothetical) as clickbait
Wayland is Perfect, Nobody Can Escape Its Perfection! (Or Not)
Do not form on opinion on Wayland based on politics
What is "MATA"?
Think of it as GAFAM or "Meta"
Moral Duty for "Linux Sites" to Speak Out Against LLM Slop
My wife has long complained about "Linux bloggers" keeping quiet and thus passive about a growing problem: slop
In Recent Hours Google News Promoted at Least 3 Slopfarms That Relayed Linux Foundation Propaganda Made by Bots or LLM "Bullshit Generators" (as Dr. Stallman Dubbed Them)
Google is circling down the drain and Google News too is hopeless
Linux Journal is a Slopfarm, It's Experimenting With LLM 'Authors'
Is Slashdot next?
WebProNews is a Slopfarm
Please avoid linking to WebProNews
Microsoft LinkedIn is Dying and Many More Layoffs Are on the Way
LinkedIn is just a failed acquisition of Microsoft. It causes losses and debt.
Gemini Links 25/06/2025: Combinatorial Music and Self Hosting
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Coming Back to Europe This Autumn to Give More Talks
His last talk in Europe attracted about 400-450 people
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 24, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Social Control Media, Technology & Catholicism: Synod on Synodality review and feedback
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
How Many More Women Will Managers at Microsoft Strangle and Tell to Kill Themselves (or Try to Kill)?
The world needs to know what happened
The New BetaNews: 7 New 'Articles', All of Them LLM Slop
BetaNews is basically defunct. Nobody writes there anymore.
Another "Told You So!": XBox Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (Many Recent Reports Were Chaff and Spin), Many Other Divisions Affected
With mass layoffs at Microsoft the world would be much better