Bonum Certa Men Certa

Team UPC and CIPA Are Lobbying, Publishing Puff Pieces, and Rewriting the Law for Unitary Patent (UPC) Behind Closed Doors

CIPA on UPC
View larger version



Summary: A collection of the latest news and views on the UPC, which is being lied about by those who stand to benefit from it and is probably going nowhere because Brexit means that the UK stays out, in which case it must be reset and pertinent ratifications done all over again

THE EPO's management is eager if not desperate to bring legal chaos to Europe (in the form of UPC), even if the public and businesses object to it.



So why did the UPC have some momentum? Well, Team UPC was pushing for it in private events where it habitually lied (for instance claiming that UPC was "for SMEs" -- the very opposite of what's true). Christopher Weber, for example, part of the litigation 'industry', ignored what didn't suit his position and wrote: "Very little opposition to the UPC in the U.K.?"

“Despite political will & legal creativity, Brexit is end of UK in UPC.”
      --KlunkerIP, Munich law firm
No, not really. There is a lot of opposition among people who know what is going on. There is in fact this new petition titled "Reject the ratification of the Unitary Patent treaty by the UK and Scotland". Someone from FFII started it and the summary states: "The Unitary Patent contain articles which refers to the supremacy of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), while politicians have promised to respect the democratic Brexit vote of UK citizens to leave the EU; The UPC court will provide case law in favor of software patents."

KlunkerIP, a "Munich IP law firm reflecting on professional issues" (based on its Twitter profile), has meanwhile said: "Despite political will & legal creativity, Brexit is end of UK in UPC. #CJEU held only #EU states can make #UPC. #UK like #CH or #NO (fm)"

The supposed "political will" is due to mischief and lobbying from Team UPC, CIPA, etc. Someone from the patent microcosm has just selectively quoted in a tweet something from a new article: "Great quote in The Times UK IP supplement Raconteur “There may be a compromise and we’ll be allowed into the UPC th..."

“I thought it was a quite good piece as it states quite clearly that the UPC is incompatible with the CJEU not having jurisdiction in the UK after Brexit.”
      --Anonymous
We've decided to chase the source and see what's behind it, knowing that Team UPC has turned lying into somewhat of an art form. We have produced a screenshot of this article (requires Flash and bloat to view otherwise) and it looks like News Corporation doing another puff piece for a stakeholder. "Not sure if you have seen this one," one reader told us, but "look at page 3..."

Not News Corporation's page 3 of The Sun...

Having just read it quickly, it looks familiar. It repeats a lot of myths. I asked the reader if there was "anything in particular" in that article that's worth repeating, for it's "full of lies" and it was published in association with CIPA, i.e. it's lobbying. "I thought it was a quite good piece," the reader told me, "as it states quite clearly that the UPC is incompatible with the CJEU not having jurisdiction in the UK after Brexit."

"Team UPC does not want the public to understand what's going on, for fear it might -- gasp! -- get involved."Why didn't Team UPC cite these passages then? Not convenient enough? Where is the coverage from IP Kat? Something about these serious issues? Well, Bristows' virtual takeover of IP Kat seemed further cemented yesterday. Bristows, based on this nonsensical post, now speaks for "the entire IPKat team!" (direct quote)

In this post, Bristows' lobbyist also sucks up to Microsoft's patent extortionist once again. Serial litigators who shake down companies for 'protection' money...

So anyway, why is it so hard to obtain accurate information about the UPC? Well, that's a design flaw. Team UPC does not want the public to understand what's going on, for fear it might -- gasp! -- get involved.

"It's 'laundering' of law or abject hijack of law (stealing democracy) by those who want more litigation because they would profit from it at everyone's expense."Ever heard how lobbyists are writing laws on behalf of corporations? Watch what Team UPC is trying to do right now, based on this tweet and corresponding blog post from Louise Amar (part of Team UPC).

"The Preparatory Committee published the new draft rules of procedure," it says, not quite noting who's in this committee (it's an embarrassment if not institutional corruption). It's an "undemocratic procedure," Benjamin Henrion (FFII) told them. They have detailed a list of changes to procedures, written by so-called 'experts' who are actually the wolves pretending to guard sheep. That in its own right should disqualify the UPC. It's 'laundering' of law or abject hijack of law (stealing democracy) by those who want more litigation because they would profit from it at everyone's expense. Letting these people write these laws is like allowing oil companies to compose environmental regulations which govern them.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Firefox in Trouble in the US, Down to Lowest Level in 20+ Years
more sites will stop or intentionally neglect Firefox support
Clownflare: More Than 1 in 5 Laptops or Desktops in El Salvador Run GNU/Linux or ChromeOS
Clownflare Radar reckons it's more like 20%+ now
Omarchy is Already Dying
Same as the life cycle of slopfarms
Slop's Achilles Heel: It Increases the Workload, Not Just Costs
Set aside its inability to scale well
Improving techrights.org
Technical debt (like 17 years with WordPress) is something that's better to address early, not later
 
Gemini Links 19/08/2026: "Big Boost in Autonomy" and "Answer of E-Mail"
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 154 Out of 200: Computer-Generated Legal Filings From Men Who Are Salaried by Mass Plagiarism Companies in Another Continent (America)
This isn't the behaviour of a moral person but of some sort of "crypto bro" or "slop bro"
Fired by IBM for Medical Leave, Rampant Censorship of IBM Critics Explained
We've already caught and showed many cases where thelayoff.com deleted comments that were not even remotely racist
Links 19/08/2026: First Amendment Under Fire by White House of Cards, "Universities Were Forced to Pay Up" for Not Censoring
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/08/2026: What Friendship Means, Sm0lNet/SmolNet, and New Feeds
Links for the day
No, WSL (Windows With Fake 'Linux') Isn't Growing Faster Than Ubuntu, This Was Disinformation Spread by a Microsoft Propaganda Site, Then Spread by Slopfarms
Be sceptical; Microsoft is truly desperate for anti-Linux spin right now, seeing that Windows is in a freefall
Microsoft's Mass Layoffs Impact the Ability to Run Microsoft
Can Microsoft still run Microsoft?
Microsoft's Active Directory ("AD") and "Entra" Are National Security Threats
Even the US government concluded Microsoft could not be trusted for security; it issued a formal report about it in April 2024
Instant Impact: GNU/Linux Skyrockets to 10% in China Days After Policy Changes
Let's see what the 'aftermath' looks like by year's end
Links 19/08/2026: Timothy James King (AmigaDOS) Dies, GitHub Goes Offline, Finland Wants to Shun Social Control Media
Links for the day
Mass Layoffs at Dropbox, Blame the Debt, Not Slop Hype
The debt of Dropbox Inc., which isn't an imaginary (estimated) thing, is over 4 billion dollars
Microsoft is 'Angel of Death' to Developers (Even Its Own), 'Voluntary' Layoffs Happening Again
From what we are hearing and reading, there are 'voluntary' layoffs again
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 18, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Gemini Links 19/08/2026: Shirts, Handwriting, and Fights in Geminispace
Links for the day
Laos Leaving GAFAM Behind, Gradually
Yesterday evening it was measured at 10% for GNU/Linux at one point
They Were Wrong All Along
Two women combined won't deliver a healthy baby in just 4.5 months
A "Tech Journalist" Would Not Cover Vote on LLMs as a Sex Issue
For a moment there you have to pause and wonder, is this a "Tech Journalist" or the Daily Stormer?
20,000 by Year's End
The "New Techrights" will have 20,000 pages by year's end
Last Night GNU/Linux Measured at 9% in Africa
Nighttimes in Africa are times when GNU/Linux usage on desktop/laptop devices typically surges, based on Clownflare [...] It changes in favour of GNU/Linux
Gemini Links 18/08/2026: Google Bait and Switch (Getting College People 'Hooked' on 'Cheap' Storage, Then Backups Gone), a "Question of E-mail"
Links for the day
Bluesky is in Trouble
Bluesky is a private company (unlike Bluesky Digital Assets Corp. in Toronto, that one runs a pyramid scheme!), so it's hard to know for sure just how much money it is losing
China Says Goodbye to Microsoft
It is hardly surprising that Windows is shedding off userbase all around the world
Links 18/08/2026: US Abandons South Korea, New Legal Disputes Over Slop Plagiarism in the Music Scene
Links for the day
Linux Losing Interest in Users' Freedom, Pursues DRM Instead
"Linux" is (or was, as GNU/Linux) meant to empower - not artificially restrict - the users
GNU/Linux in Ecuador and Colombia: Growing, Still Below International Average
locals turn away from Windows and try GNU/Linux instead
IBM is Dead or Dying. Now It Asks Workers to 'Resign' Voluntarily.
To save face, to pretend no layoffs are happening (as it might alarm shareholders) [...] We keep hearing more and more stories like that
Links 18/08/2026: Sergey Brin Controlling State Policies, "Dario Amodei's (Anthropic) Wife Is Closely Linked to Jeffrey Epstein"
Links for the day
SBS News Interviews Daniel Pocock
The locals say this PR stunt (by the bigot, Farage) was a waste of money
Clownflare Sees One in 7 Web Requests in Libya Originating From GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux has taken a (foot)hold there
Openwashing and Manifestos Composed in Private by Dictators With Deliberately Addictive (and Subsidised, Bundled) 'Tech'
It's long, so make a cuppa first
SLAPP Censorship - Part 153 Out of 200: Decades of Debt, Weaponising Borrowed Money to Try to Put Their Critics in Debt
they've always had a financial report by now
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 17, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, August 17, 2026
Gemini Links 18/08/2026: Solar Power, Kipple and Impermanence, Catastrophe Ethics
Links for the day
Evri (HermesUK) is Now Run by Bots and Hallucinating Scammers
Years ago they virtually removed support and tried chatbots instead
Less Technology, More Life
Technology is being associated (sometimes rightly) with physical and mental problems
Google Search Has Gotten Worse (a Lot Worse)
getting worse
Birthday in 80 Days
we'll start decorating and party online with our community
Loans and Massive Debt at Microsoft, This Won't End Well.
Microsoft running out of money to pay salaries (to the point of paying people for 'voluntary' layoffs) is a positive sign?
Gemini Links 17/08/2026: Life in Plain Text, Mimicking KARL, Release of Jugulans, Avoiding Slop
Links for the day
Clown Storage Without Backups
Setting up several reliable copies of the data, plus several off-site backups (this data is nowhere as sensitive as medical data), should only cost a few grand
FreeCAD is Becoming Slop-ware, Use LibreCAD Instead
It has regular releases and "Qt5 is mandatory" now [...] they at least audit what they add
Cuba and Venezuela High in Adoption of GNU/Linux
some of the "communist" nations
Links 17/08/2026: Myanmar’s Cholera Outbreak, China Sends Commercial Vessels Through Arctic
Links for the day
GAFAM Loyalty Has Come to an End, Morale Low, People Whose Future is Uncertain Choose to Become "Lifers"
morale is low and there's no loyalty anymore
SLAPP Censorship - Part 152 Out of 200: Injunctions Do Not Cover Criticism, They Have Scope
self-incriminating communications
Clownflare Sees About Quarter of Web Requests in Ireland Coming From GNU/Linux
Well, in Ireland it seems like many people adopted GNU/Linux
Clownflare: In Australia and New Zealand GNU/Linux Peaks at Over 10% During Working Hours
That right there is interesting in its own right
Slowing Down by Intention
At the moment we have 6 or 7 ongoing series
Gemini Links 17/08/2026: Chamboree, Partial Solar Eclipse, Lady Macbeth
Links for the day
Links 17/08/2026: "Bluesky Is Down Again!" and "Anti-Social Media"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 16, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, August 16, 2026