Bonum Certa Men Certa

Patent Justice Deficit Disorder

Justice



Summary: Commentary about the perversion of patent systems and the worrying situation at the EPO, where patent justice is being replaced by sloppy examination (in hope of shifting all judgment to a UPC-type system which is not Constitutional)

THE questions of ethics in the patent system, often explored by this blogger in Patently-O (not Crouch), are definitely worth entertaining. The patent microcosm does not like to bring these up as that damages its reputation. The latest example:



You get sued and you’re thinking you’ll ultimately win big. Exceptional case. Fees shifted. And you do, and you get an award of $3 million in your favor. But, the patentee is basically a shell and so after a year of trying, you decide to go after its owners, allegedly its alter ego.


Patent shells are a subject we explore quite a lot. Quite a few large companies now operate through patent shells, sometimes patent trolls. When will this problem be tackled? Too many loopholes. We have been writing about this for over a decade.

People are led to believe that the patent system is as simple as an antiquated mythology: a classic inventor coming up with an idea, pursuing a patent, receiving protection from giants etc. The reality is quite different, however, as the lion's share of patents (overwhelming majority in fact) gets granted to giants which then use these patents against rivals (or to cross-license with other giants). As for that "classic inventor"? That's long gone. Nowadays those are mostly patent trolls; they either apply for some trivial patent (on a trivial idea) or buy a patent from a failing inventor/dying company, often in bulk. The sole purpose is thereafter extortion, not production.

Justice in today's system is elusive. It seems like those with deeper pockets will almost always win at the end. They can just endlessly appeal a decision... until their opponent runs out of money. The system has evolved along those lines (facilitating endless disputes which typically benefit the rich, irrespective of guilt/innocence).

The EPO goes along similar trajectories, with overstressed examiners doing all the job and technical judges (with examination experience) being pushed to the brink. Is there even much left for examiners to enjoy in life? They recently lost 3 more holidays (not for the first time) and even though the EPO's official account said that the Office would close until next year, it has just published some tweets; yes, on Christmas Day [1, 2]. These aren't scheduled posts but actual staff that's working on Christmas Day!

Meanwhile, over at IP Kat, various comments have surfaced which speak about the appeal boards (EPO judges). It's self-explanatory:

a published decision of the Enlarged Board!

I haven't come across any in the Official Journal in the last couple of years ... :-)


But instead the Enlarged Board declined to hear the case at all.

And how exactly were they supposed to "hear the case" when the President stated that he was not prepared to countenance the hearing of witnesses from the IU ... ???




But instead the Enlarged Board declined to hear the case at all.

And under threat of disciplinary proceedings if doing a fact finding and deciding on facts... After specific asking the AC, the chair of the AC did not give a guarantee to the independence of th EBA members for this case... And they had a case right before them indicating that the AC has no interest in protecting the BA members from disciplinary measure by the president.


...I was using "published" in the sense of made available to the public - not officially published by the EPO (unless you count a brief mention in the White Book).

I'm not sure if the EPC says what happens if the President disobeys an order (eg to publish a decision) from the Enlarged Board. I doubt that the founding fathers of the EPC ever contemplated that this might happen.


Well, any founding fathers (of the EPC) who are still alive would probably say nothing. The EPO is now facing an existential threat. One reader told us this morning that the "EPO is problem that is really dragging on and on without corrective actions from the EU. I'm not sure but it may look like the whole EPO has become unsalvageable and ought to be dismantled. It is rather redundant with the national offices anyway. Is there really and value added by even having an EPO?"

I don't share that sentiment, but this remark shows the sort of damage caused by Battistelli. People increasingly question the very existence of the EPO, which Europeans used to take pride in. There's a legitimacy and public consent crisis.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Pushers of systemd Rewrite History (Richard Stallman Said UNIX "Was Portable and Seemed Fairly Clean")
Unlike systemd
Trajectory of The Register: From News Site/s Into "B2B"... and Into Microsoft Salespeople
Something isn't right at The Register
Doing My Share to Tackle Online Slop and SPAM
Trying my best to 'fix' the Web
 
Links 27/07/2025: FSF Hackathon and "Hulk Hogan Was a Very Bad Man"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: DAW Mixer Chains and Simple Software
Links for the day
The Register MS is Inventing or Giving Air Time to New Conspiracy Theories so as to Distort the Narrative As High-Profile Agencies Fall Prey to Microsoft Holes
But the problem is holes, i.e. Microsoft making bad products; the problem is Microsoft
When You Tell You It's Free, Does That Mean No Charges (If So, Who's Paying and Why)?
there's "no free lunch"
Most Editors at The Register Are American, Including the Editor in Chief, a Decade-Long Microsoft Stenographer (Writing Prose to Sell Microsoft)
It's not easy to tell where the site is based (we tried) because it's hiding behind ClownFlare and CrimeFlare hasn't been well lately
"New Techrights" Soon Turns 2 (A Few Days Before the FSF Turns 40)
We have a lot more to say about LLM bots
When Silence Says So Much
Garrett, a 'secure' boot pusher, will need to defend himself in the UK High Court
The Register in Trouble
There is not much that can be done at this point
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 26, 2025
Misinformation in Social Control Media
Social control media passes around all sorts of tropes
Slopwatch: Fake Linux 'Articles' and Slopfarms With "Linux" in Their Names/Domains
throwing bots at "Linux" to make some fake articles
Links 26/07/2025: Amazon Shutdown in China, Russian Economy Slows
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: History of Time (1988) and Gemini Games
Links for the day
Links 26/07/2025: 50 Percent Tariffs in Amazon, Dying Intel Offloads Network and Edge Group (NEX)
Links for the day
Blaming Programming Languages for Users' and Developers' Bad Practices
That's like blaming cars for drivers who crash into things
Slopwatch: Fakes, FUD, Duplicates, and Charlatans Galore
The Web as we once know it is collapsing. Some opportunists try to replace it with low-quality slop.
The Register UK Seems to Have Become American and Management is Changing (Microsofter as Editor in Chief)
The Register 'UK' is now controlled by the Directions on Microsoft guy
Many People Still Read Techrights Because It Says the Truth, Produces Evidence, and Does Not Self-Censor
Unlike so many other sites
The Register is Desperate for Money, According to The Register
I decided to check how they're doing as a business
Microsoft Finally Finds a Use Case for Slop?
Create low-quality chaff to shift the media's attention?
Microsoft Windows Lost 400 Million Users in a Few Years, Why Does The Register Double Down on Windows With New US Editor?
days ago they hired a new US editor
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 25, 2025
For Libel Reform One Must First Bring (or Raise) Awareness to the Issues and Their Magnitude
I myself know, from personal experience
Links 26/07/2025: Rationed Meals in the US and TikTok Repels Investments (Too Toxic)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: "Bloody Google" and New People in Geminispace
Links for the day
Response to Solderpunk (Father of Gemini Protocol) About the Gemini Community
Solderpunk responds to non-sequitur
HTML and the Web Used to be Something a Child Could Learn, "Modern" Web is a Puzzle of Frameworks, Bloat, and Worse
When the Web was more like Gemini Protocol
New US Editor in The Register is 84% Microsoft/Windows Booster
It'll be worrying if it carries on like this
Links 25/07/2025: Slop Blunders and China Has Code of Conduct for Lawmakers in HK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Some Books and Babies and Capital
Links for the day
Links 25/07/2025: NOAA Cuts Endanger Lives, "Europe's Self Inflicted Cloud Crisis"
Links for the day
They Try to Lecture Us on Ethics
They even removed "master" from Microsoft GitHub
The Future of the Web is One Rendering Engine or 'Flavours' of Chrome
The future of the Web does not look bright at all
Best Sites Are Not Optimised for Any Browser, They Work Equally Well With All of Them
Red Hat (IBM) is making rubbish sites
YouTube is a Spamfarm, Slopfarm, and Clickfarm (a Lot of Numbers There Are Fake)
Those who don't fake look unpopular and unimportant
We Don't Do JavaScript and Pages Are Small
Thankfully Gemini Protocol has nothing like JavaScript
'Tech' is Not Technology
Some people use terms like 'Old Tech'
IBM's Debt Rose by Almost 10 Billion Dollars in the Past 6 Months Alone
The "hey hi" circus is coming to an end
Yes, Master
Gaslighting by actual racists
Microsoft Bribes and Buys Politicians to Tell Europe What to Do About Free Software (Which It's Attacking)
Microsoft: we speak for the thing that we are attacking! Follow the money...
Making Backups Quickly and Reliably
Backups are imperative, more so in an age of uncertainty, unpredictable weather, and worsening standards (quality of products going down while prices go up)
Techrights Investigation: Estimating the Point in Time LinuxIac Turned Into LLM Slop (Part of the Time)
Bobby Borisov got lazy
10th Month, Ten Weeks From Now, at Ten AM
In Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 24, 2025
A Nadella Memo Distracts From Microsoft's Cheapening Of the Workforce
Right now the "MSM" (mainstream media) is flooded/overwhelmed by garbage pieces that relay lies for Nadella
Vanishing Faces of GNU/Linux
Free software projects do not depend on any one person or company to still exist
Microsoft Says It Lost 400 Million Windows Users, Now It's Waiting for GNU/Linux to Stop Booting on 'Old' PCs
When it comes to Windows, Microsoft is fully aware of the issue and statements it made earlier this summer suggest it lost 400 million Windows users
Slopwatch: LinuxTechLab, linuxsecurity.com, LinuxIac, and More
Also: The Register's Microsoft agenda (new editor)
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Gemtext Aware Titan Editor and Gemini Protocol Comeback
Links for the day