Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Future of the EPO Does Not Look Encouraging as Injustice and Abuse Carry On While the Press Looks the Other Way

Media blackout
Media blackout



Summary: In the absence of justice and lack of people who truly care about justice inside and outside (e.g. ILO) the EPO, combined with lack of press coverage and zero accountability from politicians (facing a barrier of immunity), the EPO continues its downward trajectory

THE EPO has shown no signs of recovery. The latest meeting of the Administrative Council, preceding a very major strike, gave no reasons for optimism. The decisions from ILO, which almost coincided with the meeting, will be analysed by us shortly as our focus will shift somewhat to ILO injustice (tomorrow the USPTO will be our focus).



"Their method for getting rid of this allegedly whistleblowing judge is let his contract expire and not renew his position, having already halved his salary last year."As mentioned in several past articles, it looks as though the suspended judge, whom Battistelli put on "house ban" at the end of 2014 (before all hell broke loose), will be jobless soon. Their method for getting rid of this allegedly whistleblowing judge is let his contract expire and not renew his position, having already halved his salary last year.

Showing concern for this judge, whose fate may help indicate what will happen to other staff after Kongstad and Minnoye are gone, one person asked: "Are there any news of the suspended member of the BoA?"

There was only one detailed response to it (which IP Kat approved):

The fate of the suspended BoA member is only indirectly known. He's still suspended. His contract has not been renewed, like his colleagues contracts. He's on a disciplinary measure, without disciplinary procedure. Guess how ATILO will find that? But the contract has ended, and ATILO will be okay with the job loss.

I sincerely hope his mental health survives, because how the AC treats _their_ employee is mind-bogging.

Mr. Ernst is a lawyer, he should know better how to treat employees with a contract, even difficult employees. I hope once he's officially in charge, he'll have a good look at the case, and find a way out. This case is extremely disgraceful for all concerned, especially EPO management and the AC. But, seeing how the new Codexchanges were waved through ("to get it off the table"), and DE voting in favour (only four abstentions: NL, IT, IE, LI), I fear the constitutional court in Germany will finally say a word about a lack of independence and power abuse inside the EPO, and a lack of supervision...

This whole situation is like a fight: too many people are watching and waiting for someone else to step in.

The one advantage with FR and DE voting in favour is, that if their nationals get fired, tehy might have a chance with national courts and get a job in the national administration due to gross violation of their countries' law by the delegate, and the duty of care springing forth from this case. And if someone wins against their state, guess how the delegates will react next AC meeting?



An anonymous person, potentially an insider, said about the above: "There is no contract. And no loophole. [...] Appointment to an office for a term of years is not a contract. I think. [...] epo has to behave in ways that make the boards of appeals independence clear. Not doing it is illegal?"

It went on for a bit, but it's inconclusive.

The next comment spoke about Jesper Kongstad, whose role in this affair has been thoroughly documented throughout (he acted as Battistelli's courier, not boss):

This case is extremely disgraceful for all concerned, especially EPO management and the AC.

Would you care for another petit four or a pain au chocolat ... ? Time to crack open the champagne for Jesper's farewell party ... What is that rumbling I hear in the background ... must be another summer thunderstorm on the way ...



Willy Minnoye, whose last day at work was yesterday, was then mentioned in relation to the strike that took place yesterday:

...and Willy's... leaving party on a Friday night at an international organisation? In summer? (On a strike day??) How many people are even around. I'll let you know...


Incredible, but not too shockingly (to us), no publications wrote about the strike other than IP Watch and then WIPR, which yesterday published the article "EPO staff strike again" and said:

Staff members at the European Patent Office (EPO) are holding another demonstration today and Monday, July 3.

According to a document seen by WIPR, the Central Staff Committee (CSC) and local staff committees across the EPO’s sites informed EPO president Benoît Battistelli of the strike on May 22.

The strike will take place at the EPO’s offices in Munich, The Hague, Berlin and Vienna.

A spokesperson for the EPO said: “The EPO fully respects the right of its staff to strike.”


The media silence has been appalling. Someone called "IAMgettingsick" (clearly someone who is not happy with IAM 'magazine' facilitating Battistelli's regime in all sorts of ways) wrote about the latest suicide: "an examiner known to have experienced a burn out followed by depression, all this to end under the wheels of an S-Bahn. Meanwhile AC members enjoying their petits fours and nodding greedily, BB cozily hiding behind his bodyguards and devising yet more sadistic unilateral rule changes, attorneys and blogs looking somewhere else (but never missing an opportunity to take part in EPO staff bashing), hum, what, quality drop? haven't noticed anything, please do not cancel my authorization to represent..."

"The media silence has been appalling."SUEPO has meanwhile mentioned the latest article from Stefan Krempl (maybe a translation will come soon), covering a story which Techrights broke. It's about Mr. Ernst, who some claim showed no concerns at all for staff. Not those who commit suicide and certainly not the judge who was mishandled by Team Battistelli.

Thankfully, the UPC is stuck in Germany. As Benjamin Henrion from FFII put it: "We should have 28 constitutional complaints against UPC, but one in Germany will be enough to kill the monster..."

Mr. Ernst is in fact expected to push for the UPC (considering his other professional roles).

“We should have 28 constitutional complaints against UPC, but one in Germany will be enough to kill the monster...”
      --Benjamin Henrion
Kingsley Egbuonu, writing for a pro-UPC and Battistelli-friendly publication, has just published this "progress [sic] report" about the UPC, stating that "many feared the Brexit vote would scupper the UPC."

By "many” he means Team UPC, i.e. very few greedy people from London (where Egbuonu is based). He wrote about Germany at the very start as follows:

Legal challenge delays Germany’s UPC Agreement ratification progress...


Delays? It may actually kill it. But boosters of the UPC keep saying "delay" as if this thing is inevitable and everyone who dares suggest otherwise is a laughable fringe.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft 'Studies' Again? Leon Musolff is Writing Papers With Microsoft.
Even if one can see/find a link to "the study" (in the Bezos-controlled publication), most people won't look any further and just take everything at face value.
RMS is Done at KCL, Next Stop is Oxford
The message of RMS has long resonated well in India
US Government Already Bailing Out OpenAI/Microsoft With "Contracts", As Usual, Back Doors You Cannot Remove Becoming 'a Step Closer' on New PCs (Unless Everyone Acts ASAP)
The next "logical" step towards digital prisons
 
Towards GNU World Domination
The FSF led by Geoffrey S. Knauth with his friend Richard Stallman in the FSF's Board [...] Let's encourage people to adopt GNU/Linux. There has never been a better time.
statCounter Helps Visualise Just How Deep in Trouble Microsoft is (Especially in Africa)
Microsoft sabotaged efforts to connect Africans and equip them with GNU/Linux laptops
The Register is Using Linux-Hostile Clickbait in Articles of Linux Proponents
Don't be a "whore" to advertisers, team El Reg
Microsoft Windows in Cyprus Lacking a Future
Most people access the Web there from mobile
Matrix Has a Severe Problem With Illegal Images
If Matrix cannot get the CP problem under control, many projects and people will dump Matrix
Never Try to Justify Strangulation of Women (Not in the US and Not in the UK)
Joint post by Mrs. Rianne Schestowitz and Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Links 23/04/2025: Tesla Profits Plunge 71%, Intel Ready to Lay Off 20% of Staff, Microsoft and IBM Layoffs
Links for the day
Microsoft's Most Profound Issue is That People Moved to 'Mobile' and "App Stores" (Microsoft's Presence There is Negligible)
Expect a wild ride for Microsoft this year
Google News is Amplifying FUD and Lies About Linux (and OpenSSH/SSH) by Promoting Slopfarms With Machine-Generated FUD and Slop Images
Google should know better
Gemini Links 23/04/2025: Librarians, Anubis, and Refactoring a Gemini Capsule
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Links 22/04/2025: Ending DEI Policies at Adobe, FTC Sues Uber
Links for the day
Microsoft Devises PR Stunts to Distract From Impending Mass Layoffs and Likely Bad Results Preceding Those Mass Layoffs
A "voluntary exit plan"
Gemini Links 22/04/2025: Deaths, HamsterCMS, and More
Links for the day
Links 22/04/2025: FTC v. Meta Trial and Google Remedies
Links for the day
In Turkey, Windows Down Rapidly While GNU/Linux Grows
Although Turkey is in NATO (but not the EU), it cannot quite trust computer systems controlled by the United States
GNOME, Microsoft, and GitHub: The Lack of Reporting on Abusive Colleagues Contributed to Profound Media Vacuum (or Blackout), Now Resorting to SLAPPs
This lack of morality/courage has helped enable further abuse, lining up more victims
Richard Stallman Has Updated His Article on Why "Free Software Is Even More Important Now"
Richard Stallman is about to give a talk here in the UK in a few hours
Microsoft Already Attacks the BSDs as Well (the E.E.E. Way, as Usual)
Bearers of bad news
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is in Trouble, May Soon be Out of Business
Openwashing needs to end
Microsoft's Debt Grew Over 6 Billion Dollars in the Last Reporting Quarter (Before Inauguration), Expect Worse Next Week When 'Results' Are Disclosed and Mass Layoffs Resume
Microsoft is bleeding. It does not want people to notice.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, April 21, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, April 21, 2025
Richard Stallman Gives Public Talk in London in 7 Hours (Need to Register as Venue Limited to 150 Seats), Public Announcements Begin to Appear
These are not announced weeks or months in advance
Gemini Links 21/04/2025: Remembering Pope Francis, Crystal Simulation
Links for the day
Doing Microsoft's Job. On IBM's Payroll.
today's Red Hat cannot recognise threats even after a head-on collision
Google News is Rewarding Slopfarms, Not Journalism
Don't read junk from chatbots
Teaching GAFAM in Schools is Like Teaching Children to Smoke Tobacco
So suggests an FSF presentation
Richard Stallman, Whose Site is Trusted by Greater Manchester, Has Come to the United Kingdom
He doesn't suck up to the Crown, so he'll never be "knighted"
On Desktops/Laptops in Singapore Does a Fifth of Users Run GNU/Linux?
Probably not, but it's growing fast there
Links 21/04/2025: Fake Ceasefire and Software Patents (Fake Patents) Thrown Out
Links for the day
Companies With Fake Values and a Fake Economic/Financial State (Phony Valuations)
It'll all go up in smoke, eventually
Links 21/04/2025: Microsoft LLM Slop (Plagiarism) Going Out of Control, CT Scans' Cancer Problems Was Underrated
Links for the day
4 Years Ago Freenode Crumbled From Within
there are still hundreds of thousands of users online at any given time
GNOME Has a Long History (Over a Decade) Misusing the Code of Conduct (CoC) to Censor (Cull) Legitimate Technical Criticism
This has nothing to do with manners, it's about control (by cover-up)
Microsoft Has Tainted GNOME, Which Has Key People Acting as a SLAPP Front Against Techrights (Trying to Censor the Site by Extortion and Many Threats)
One common denominator (other than Microsoft salaries) is GNOME, which was led by an actual professional crank until she quit so suddenly months ago
Homeland of Linux Kernel Turning to GNU/Linux?
Adoption of Vista 11 has been relatively low
According to StatCounter, This is What Linux Adoption Looks Like (Based on Web Requests Visible to StatCounter)
How much worse will it get for Microsoft?
Gemini Capsules Still Outsourcing to Certificate Authority Let's Encrypt Now Measured at Less Than 10 (or Less Than 0.3%)
In Geminispace, Let's Encrypt is not commonly used
Twisting Microsoft's Failure (Transmitting Malware) as "SSH Backdoors" and a Linux Problem
Somehow we almost always find that those FUD pieces about "Linux" are based on obvious falsehoods
Vista 11 Has Burned OEMs and Some Move to GNU/Linux
When people can finally avoid Windows (there's no reason to attach it to new PCs) there will be a lot more GNU/Linux users out there
Remember That Microsoft Mass Layoffs Are Imminent Because Its 'Empire' is Falling Apart
European politicians take a long, hard look a Free software
Richard Stallman in the UK This Week, Scheduled to Give Two Public Talks (London and Oxford)
Those talks do not cover the same topics
Gemini Links 21/04/2025: April, Autism, and ASN
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 20, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 20, 2025