Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Management Wastes Millions of Euros on a Silly, Gratuitous, Self-Serving Festival While EPO Staff is Planning Another Strike

EPO strike



Summary: Unrest at the European Patent Office (EPO) is growing again, with plans of a strike resulting in a formal vote for a strike next week

THE EPO has once again wasted a fortune on some razzle-dazzle distraction whose early outcomes we leaked. The latest (earlier today at epo.org) puff piece from the EPO would want us to look away from the many scandals, but behind the paid-for hype and gloss there is deepening rot and growing unrest.

"Things must change and a strike shows that Battistelli's bogus narratives (e.g. that of "vocal minority") are, if anything, symptomatic of his dubious mental state."With another strike call in the making there is now some progress report, which one reader sent to us. It speaks of a "[p]aper ballot on strike on 22 June (2 days after the Staff Committees elections)," adding that "Mr Topic informed the Staff Representation that management has decided that the vote on the call for strike "Respect Staff" launched by all Staff Committees (CSC and LSCs) will take place on Thursday 22 June in the form of a paper ballot, i.e. two days after the vote (also on paper) for the Staff Committee elections on Tuesday 20 June. There will be thus two important paper ballots next week."

We are pretty certain, knowing staff hasn't got much to lose anymore, that enough people will in fact vote and vote for a strike. The timing is strategic because with the meeting of the Council approaching and Battistelli about to receive marching orders (even if deferred, until next year) it's imperative that all staff demonstrates disdain and displeasure. Things must change and a strike shows that Battistelli's bogus narratives (e.g. that of "vocal minority") are, if anything, symptomatic of his dubious mental state. Today, in paid media, he dared compare his paid-for lobbying event to Nobel prizes. He clearly has delusions of grandeur and the cost of this God complex of his is the very survival of the Office... after half a century of enviable success.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 09/05/2026: "Grand Theft Oil Futures" and Mass Layoffs at Verizon
Links for the day
 
Microsoft XBox Staff Know They're in Trouble, They Try to Unionise Ahead of Mass Layoffs
As the slang goes, it's going to be a "bloodbath"
Gemini Links 09/05/2026: Liberation, The Nocturnals, Rediscovering Internet Radio, and More
Links for the day
Links 09/05/2026: Kremlin’s Biggest Day of the Year and FBI's Attack on the Media (to Save Face)
Links for the day
Google is "Bullshit"
Fix your slop, Google. It's broken.
SLAPP Censorship - Part 71 Out of 200: 5RB Barristers Made Tens of Thousands of Pounds by Changing From Plural to Singular for Microsoft's Graveley and Garrett
Could not even get the client's name right
Gemini Links 09/05/2026: Inkscape "Copy Text Style" and NomadNet
Links for the day
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XVII - European Patent Office (EPO) Management Not Sharing Responsibility for Financial Resources
For those who wonder, EPO strikes are still going on
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 08, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, May 08, 2026
Gemini Links 08/05/2026: Slop Falsely Marketed to Greedy Administrators and New Official Maintainer of Antenna Confirmed
Links for the day
Links 08/05/2026: French Prosecutors Seek Charges Against MElon, Europe Wants Young People Without Skinnerboxes (Smartphones)
Links for the day
2,000-4,000 More Layoffs Expected at IBM's Kyndryl, Some Say Over 10,000 Layoffs
They use euphemisms like "restructuring" or "rebalancing"
Social Control Media and GAFAM as National Security Threats (Domestically and More So Abroad)
"Algorithms control messages, swayed 2024 presidential election"
Gemini Links 08/05/2026: Dissociated Pride and Prejudice, Smallnet Protocols Roundup
Links for the day
Links 08/05/2026: Slop Profiteer NVIDIA (and Circular Financing/Accounting Fraud Leader) May Be Liable for Mass Copyright Infringement, Kyndryl (IBM) Layoffs
Links for the day
Outgoing OSI Chief Was Paid by Microsoft to Advocate for GPL Violations (Using the OSI's Name). Now, Inside OIN, He Says GPL Violations Are 'Freedom'.
It seems like only compromised people can be "allowed" to run today's OSI
SLAPP Censorship - Part 70 Out of 200: Microsoft's Graveley Injunction Request 100% the Same as Garrett's (Pure 'Copy-paste', Not Even a Word or Single Character Changed!)
Not so funny at all
Over 97% of the 'Linux' Foundation's Budget Goes Not to Linux
There is a term for this: mission creep
Cloudflare is a Giant Pile of Debt, Now There Are Mass Layoffs and Media Coverage About This is Churnalism, Sometimes by Slopfarms (False Excuses)
If Cloudflare goes under, it'll be great news
NDAs as a Price Tag on Criticism (or Honest Expressions of Opinion)
What ever happened to accountability? Suppressed by reverse bribes (via NDAs)?
Internal Microsoft Communications Confirm: "Buyout" Offer Worse Than a Year's Salary and Microsoft Offers "Retirement" to Young People Who Cannot Retire
Does that sound like a good offer or marching orders?
It's Not a GAFAM World Anymore and There Are Far More Operating Systems Than Google's, Apple's, and Microsoft's
we're not getting the full picture of what's happening
Site Overhauls at Cybershow and at analognowhere.com (Less is More!)
They seem to be replacing the heavy PHP backend with static HTML pages
Microsoft's XBox is Going Away Like Microsoft's Skype (Slowly But Surely, Then All at Once)
XBox is dying rapidly
Codecs and Software Patents - Part IV - Things Got So Bad That Some Laptop Sales Got Banned in the EU (Over Software Patents!)
If software patents lead to such severe outcomes, shouldn't the media pay closer attention to the problem?
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XVI - EPO Had Data Breaches, Covered Them Up, Now Lectures Staff That Didn't Do It and Didn't Cover It Up
Imagine what would happen to staff if (non-anonymously) blowing the whistle on management leaking and then covering up EPO data breaches
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 07, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, May 07, 2026
Mass Layoffs at IBM's Kyndryl, Slop Won't Save Kyndryl
Kyndryl is a "done deal". It's done. It's finished.
Kyndryl Holdings Inc Falls Almost 15% in 2 Days, What Does That Tell Us About IBM?
The "Big Blue" 'shell game' isn't working
Companies That Say They Are "Hey Hi" (AI) Leaders Don't Really Do Well, They Have Mass Layoffs Because Hype and Storytelling Won't Live Up to Shareholders' Expectations
Microsoft's investment in slop is not going well
Gemini Links 07/05/2026: Unicode and "RSS 4 Noobs (Getting Started)"
Links for the day
During IBM's Annual Event/Bash IBM's Stock Fell to (Almost) Lowest Level in a Year, Insiders Explain "IBM is on the Brink of Collapse."
Anthropic - like IBM - pays the media for puff pieces, exaggerations, and obvious vapourware
Servers Became "Cloud", VR Became "Metaverse", Now Bots Become "Agents" (of Slop)
Changing the name of things won't prevent rejection, only delay the negative reaction some more
Links 07/05/2026: "The ‘Perfect Storm’ Hanging Over Britain’s Public Debt" and "Internet Shutdowns Spread in Africa"
Links for the day
OSI Partners With Microsoft to Help Pretend Proprietary (GitHub) 'Celebrates' Open Source
And a Microsoft operative announced this as well
Links 07/05/2026: "Most Vibe-coded (Slop) Tools Are Not for You" and "Prepare for the PCB Shortage"
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 69 Out of 200: Microsoft's Graveley Strangles, Gets Arrested, Charged, Then Asks for Apology From Those Who Reported It by Recycling Garrett's Plea for Apology
Garrett realised that his "funny" lawsuit wasn't so funny anymore
Codecs and Software Patents - Part III - AOMedia Video 1 (AV1) and Antitrust Issues
As we'll show in later parts, this already results in bans of some hardware sales in Europe
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XV - Talking About Responsibility and Accountability While Failing to Hold Themselves Accountable
what outlet is there for justice or for the Rule of Law?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 06, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 06, 2026
Gemini Links 07/05/2026: Dissociated Jekyll And Hyde, New Antenna 2.0.0
Links for the day