Bonum Certa Men Certa

Nepotism at the EPO Has Reached Truly Toxic Levels

One last 'gift' from Battistelli?

French EPO



Summary: President Benoît Battistelli's coup d'état at the EPO has left the institution looking like a sultanate or monarchy rife with corruption and immune from prosecution

THERE'S no level too low for the EPO to sink to. After many scandals and virtually no intervention from the outside Battistelli must be feeling invincible. He's willing to even destroy the entire office, after about half a century of operation, just to promote UPC in Paris. Battistelli seems to be working to ensure that the next EPO President is also French and no doubt much of the management will remain French regardless. It's quite a comprehensive coup. It's imperialism with kangaroo courts and mafia tactics, not with swords and armour.



"Battistelli seems to be working to ensure that the next EPO President is also French and no doubt much of the management will remain French regardless."The EPO's validation agreement with Tunisia, a former French colony, is a Battistelli project. We mentioned it last month because after Tunisia we expect the same from Angola and the EPO has just published this "news" titled "Brevets européens en Tunisie : L’accord de validation entre l’OEB et la Tunisie entrera en vigueur le 1er décembre" with the obligatory photo op. "Sorry," it says, "this page is currently not available in English." So one needs to understand French to know what Battistelli is up to at the EPO.

"Is the EPO just a French institution now?""EPO," one reader joked to us about it, "a world IP player among his pairs."

Well, even the tweet is not in English. Is the EPO just a French institution now? Well, not far from it. We may soon find out if 3 out of 4 consecutive EPO Presidents are French.

Today we also received the following message:



EUROPEAN INVENTOR AWARD 2018

According to some sources:

THE EUROPEAN INVENTOR AWARD 2018 LOCATION IS TO BE ANNOUNCED ANY MOMENT NOW

Guess which city in France (yes FR again after Paris in 2015) is now awaiting to be confirmed as the likely host of the 2018 edition of the EIA (big waste of applicants' money) :

SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE

Le hasard fait vraiment bien les choses: this is the city of which Battistelli was during years an elected City Council member (Maire Adjoint à la Culture).



Why are we not surprised?

Wait until we continue our series about Portugal and Angola. The EPO wrote today that "Portugal joins the Federated European Patent Register" and mentioned another former Portugese colony in this tweet. It said: "Register for the "Patent information from BRICS countries: Brazil" webinar. It's free of charge & starts in 2 hrs..." (right about now)

"Anyone who looks at all this evidence will quickly realise that the EPO has been reduced to a laughing stock. It's corrupt."They have also just called for nominations. What for? Battistelli's last lobbying event in his home town.

Anyone who looks at all this evidence will quickly realise that the EPO has been reduced to a laughing stock. It's corrupt. The management is mostly French, many are former colleagues of Battistelli, some are even relatives. Battistelli holds professional EPO meetings in his home town in France while building himself quite an expensive 'wine cellar' at the top floors of the EPO (using secret budget, causing massive losses for Dutch contractors). Professional investigators are denied access to the EPO and bailiffs turned away by Battistelli's goons.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Men Who Abuse Women Should Never Spend Over 3 Years of the UK High Court's Time
This demonstrates that we need a reform in the UK
The UEFI Restricted Boot 'Time Bomb' is About to Go Off in a Few Weeks
Garrett was the first person to face sanctions (like muting) in our IRC channels because of his abuse; worse yet, he hijacked other people's names and then locked them out of their own accounts
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 24, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 24, 2025
Gemini Links 24/08/2025: Signal on OpenBSD and Keyboard Layouts Compared
Links for the day
Links 24/08/2025: Microsoft Settles Data Breach Lawsuits and Climate Change Causes Heatwaves, Water Shortages
Links for the day
CachyOS is Rising Fast, But Slopfarms Are 'Googlebombing' It
CachyOS receives more media attention
No Reason for Red Hat Relief Yet (Layoff Rumours)
the execution could be stalled, delayed, or scheduled for some time after people come back from holiday
GNU/Linux 6%, Windows 60% in Venezuela, Suggests statCounter
The cash cows are dying
Mass Layoffs Continue at Microsoft This Month (Remaining Workers See Conditions That Deteriorate)
So far this month (one week remaining) we saw at least two waves of layoffs at Microsoft
How SPAM E-mails With Windows-Centric Files Get Twisted as Linux Threats, Then Slopfarms Spread the Word
Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/Dramatisation
Links 24/08/2025: Heatwaves Threaten Workers, Maldives Versus Press freedom
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/08/2025: Digital Cameras and Printers
Links for the day
Links 24/08/2025: GAFAM Lie About Pollution and Slop's Carbon Footprint, The Guardian Says Slop ("Hey Hi") is a Bubble That Will Send Stock Markets Into a Freefall
Links for the day
80% of the Sponsored (Fake) Articles in The Register MS Are Promotions of Ponzi Schemes (Unethical Money), the Rest is Banned Chinese Business
Is that an ethical way to make money? No.
Should Currys PCWorld Start Voiding Warranties of Users of Vista 11?
If a person's laptop has a mechanical issue, should this person replace GNU/Linux with Vista 11 for the repair shop? Only to damage the SSD?
Newer is Not Always Better, and It's Possible That 'Peak' is the Past
People creating their own platforms means progress, whereas centralisation (like moving from blogs to social control media) is the opposite of progress
LLM Hype is Sowing Destruction: It Contributes to DDoS Attacks and Makes the Web Less Accessible (JavaScript "R U Human?" Tests)
If it was googlebot, it would be possible to argue that you'd at least then get referral traffic from Google Search. With LLMs, all you get is plagiarised.
Links 24/08/2025: New York Times Talks About Hey Hi (AI) Bubble
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/08/2025: Upgrading Debian and Mobile-indifferent Design
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 23, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 23, 2025
Richard Stallman's Talk in Buenos Aires Scheduled for 16 November 2025 (a Month After FSF Turns 40)
they've just updated their site and Stallman is listed first
Nobody is "Replaced by AI", It's Just a Smokescreen for Jobs Being Eliminated by Lack of Money (Too Much Debt) and Offshoring
It's also why many make the jokes about the "I" in "AI" being "India" or "Indians"
Slopwatch: Linux Journal, WebProNews, LinuxSecurity, and the Serial Slopper
The bubble needs to burst, but even then the Web will be left with residues of these slopfarms
Links 23/08/2025: Science, War, and Important Win for the British Media Against SLAPPers Who Abuse Women
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/08/2025: BaseLibre Numerical System and Back to Oldschool
Links for the day
"Deserved Victory" for "Women That Suffered"
"GNM defended its reporting as being both true and in the public interest and in a judgment on Friday"
The US Government is Now in the Business (Literally!) of Saving Microsoft and Intel
This means that President TACO/Cheeto now has greater financial incentive to also prop up Microsoft and Windows
Links 23/08/2025: onmicrosoft.com as Spam Cannon, The Cheeto-Intel Deal Is Official
Links for the day
Wired Complained About LLM Slop Only Days Before It Got Caught Doing That Itself
Never throw stones in a glass house
IBM "Value" Down 14.16% in a Month, Red Hat Layoffs Allegedly Discussed 12 Days Ago
"IBM is a dinosaur. Dinosaurs get extinct when the don't keep up."
We're Seeing More Countries Where Windows Isn't Even in Second Place Anymore (Third or Worse)
In a way, Microsoft can barely even hold onto second place anymore
Microsoft Workers on Canonical's Payroll
If you want something that's sort of like Ubuntu but is not controlled by Canonical, then look into Linux Mint, Debian, or LMDE
GNU/Linux Climbs to 4% in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone isn't a very rich country (to say the least), but it's better off than some of its neighbours
The SLAPPS Run Out of Oxygen Because They're Abuse of Process
At the end of the day we plan to publish over 1,000 articles explaining what happened
The Register MS Gets Paid by the Employer of the Previous Editor in Chief to Promote the "AI" Ponzi Scheme, Which Does Considerable Damage to the Web and to Online Journalists
The Register MS can 'badmouth' slop all it wants; it gets paid to inflate this bubble. It's actively participating in it.
Soon It'll be Autumn, Time to Repair Things
Where they don't charge an arm and a leg
Doing Our Best to Cover Software Patents When the Mainstream Media Does Not
Even the FSF has its limits
Gemini Links 23/08/2025: August Questions and Network Solutions
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 22, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 22, 2025