Bonum Certa Men Certa

The UPC/SEP/FRAND Lobby Has Resorted to Just Insulting the Opposition

Related: The SEP/Patent Trolls' Lobby Insults the Victims, Calling Them “Free Riders”

Alex Robinson
He was talking about readers of Kluwer Patent Blog (because they don't agree with him about UPC)



Summary: Team UPC proudly shuts opposing views out of the debate and then brags about it, in order for a legislation that benefits patent trolls to slide through like a Trojan horse, without resistance from the 'wrong' people (like scientists and technologists) or a 'nuisance' like facts, constitutions, laws and so on

THE distinguished lack of manners in EPO management extends to its loud supporters from Team UPC. There's barely even room for a rational debate anymore. Here we see Team UPC, after it increased censorship (it promotes patent trolls' agenda while blocking critics) saying: #NowWithReducedTrolling

"There's barely even room for a rational debate anymore."As if UPC critics are "trolls" and "idiots". This one particular individual is calling people whom he doesn't agree with (because they threaten his financial interests as well as patent trolls') "trolls". The irony...

A fellow Team UPCer, Brian Cordery from Bristows, wrote this misleading blog post earlier this week while making these extraordinary claims about UPC: "UK is expected to be ready in February (see here) and the German parliament has passed a draft law (see here) with promulgation on hold due to the case pending in the German Federal Constitutional Court."

"It's worth noting that Team UPC is also pushing SEP/FRAND (there's a correlation there, especially among the motivations of their large clients)."Team UPC has basically just lied (yet again) about the situation/process in both Britain and Germany. Cordery makes the UPC sound so inevitable. So he is either deluded or intentionally lying (neither is particularly flattering a possibility). Team UPC has become like a demented person; no matter how many times you remind them of something obvious (facts), they 'forget' it, resort to their "alternative facts", then claim innocence. It's pretty worrying to think that these people provide professional legal advice to firms and people, and charge for it at extortionate rates.

It's worth noting that Team UPC is also pushing SEP/FRAND (there's a correlation there, especially among the motivations of their large clients). Managing IP, which pushes hard for the UPC, as recently as days ago amplified the notorious SEP/FRAND lobby (basically a hefty patent tax that helps exclude from the market small/new companies). It first wrote about SEP in Europe (authored by Battistelli's old friend James Nurton, who quotes the patent microcosm and not actual technologies impacted by SEP). From the outline:

Both patent owners and implementers have welcomed the European Commission’s communication on standard essential patents. Does that mean it has successfully balanced competing interests or merely dodged the difficult questions? James Nurton investigates


A second article about SEP is centered around Ericsson's troll (called Unwired Planet):

The fourth US bench trial to determine a FRAND royalty is the first to use a top-down approach, and has parallels to the UK’s Unwired Planet decision. Managing IP also reports on a possible change in the Department of Justice's approach to SEPS and analyses Huawei's win over Samsung in China


We are sadly seeing coverage about these matters (FRAND, SEP, UPC) mostly coming from people who stand to profit from these. They're not journalists but lawyers and/or their front groups. Watch what IAM has just said: "It’s not just wicked foreigners that undermine US IP. Someone should tell the president that American patent owners are likely to have more success enforcing their rights in countries like Germany and China than they are at home. twitter.com/commercegov/st… [...] China’s a big market for Apple. Talk of IP trade wars may make them a touch nervous down Cupertino way! Chinese mobile companies, on the other hand, have only a tiny footfall in the US. twitter.com/iam_magazine/s… [...] Top 10 smartphone sellers in China for 2017: 1. Huawei (102 million) 2. Oppo (78) 3. Vivo (72) 4. Apple (51) 5. Xiaomi (51) 6. Meizu (17) 7. Gionee (15) 8. Samsung (12) 9. Lephone (5) 10. Lenovo (2) Source: GfK chinadaily.com.cn/a/201801/31/WS…"

"Those who don't agree with them are being framed as some sort of a "foreign plot" and there's nothing they won't do to demonise voices of reason..."This was said in a slightly different context than SEP, but the message is the same. Those who don't agree with them are being framed as some sort of a "foreign plot" and there's nothing they won't do to demonise voices of reason (they've already attempted to call me a Russian stooge).

Be careful of Team UPC; they rarely if ever argue from reason, they just argue for money (theirs).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Ubuntu Started as Free With ShipIt, Now It Becomes Payware That Exploits Debian Volunteers (Slaves)
"Ubuntu" the distro now replaces the GNU components inherited from Debian with a bunch of Microsoft GitHub (proprietary) things that reject reciprocal licences
Last Night The Register MS Published a Fake Article. It Mentioned "AI" 27 Times.
Paid-for nonsense! [...] What's left of once-respectable news sites actively harms society
Links 27/03/2026: Google Executive (GAFAM, US, Surveillance) "Named the New BBC Head", Prominent Climate Scientist Resigns From NASA
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/03/2026: "Being Busy" and "Posting Again"
Links for the day
GNOME Has No "Real" Executive Director, Only an IBM (Perma)'Interim' One With No Openings in Sight
GNOME is having financial problems
Microsoft Experiencing "Leadership Exodus"
Microsoft's current position is no better than Meta's (Facebook)
GNU/Linux Distros Should Reject "Age Verification" and Uphold Software Freedom for Users
It's not about protecting children
Slop Plunge
we can already "smell the blood" of the so-called 'AI industry'
IBM Media Puff Pieces While Layoffs Go On and On
Has the PR industry absorbed the press?
Media Says Microsoft Hiring Freezes, But There Are Already Microsoft Layoffs
They want the public to talk about Microsoft as if it's just not hiring when it is actually firing
Richard Stallman lynchings: Sruthi Chandran splitting Debian
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 26, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, March 26, 2026
Links 26/03/2026: Tor Relay at National Taiwan Normal University, Copyright Hammers Fall
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/03/2026: "The War of the Worlds" and "sometimes science is just the dumbest thing"
Links for the day
The World Wide Bots
The shape of the Web is so bad that bots exceed humans in some places
Links 26/03/2026: Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Closes 101 Law Firms in 2 Years, "Please Compensate the Work You Appreciate"
Links for the day
Regaining Software Freedom Means Regaining Control Over Programs That Run on Our Devices
Richard Stallman will speak in Italy
Microsoft Secure Boot Removes Users' Choice
Has Greenland banned Microsoft and 'secure' boot yet?
IBM Pushes Workers Out, It Does Not Count Them as "Layoffs"
The number of IBM layoffs can be as large as tens of thousands per year
Hard to Find a Job After Working for Microsoft (Back Doors Giant, Bribery Hub)
It generally looks like people who chose to serve Microsoft's agenda don't end up too well
Microsoft Lost 31% Of Its Alleged "Value" in Five Months, Then It Got Downgraded
In 2026 Microsoft focuses on keeping the layoffs silent
Altering Perceived Reality to Make It Seem Like Microsoft is Thriving, Not Failing
pretend XBox did not die
SLAPP Censorship - Part 24 Out of 200: The Failed Effort by Brett Wilson LLP to Strike Out My Lawsuit and My Wife's Lawsuit Against Garrett (the Master Allowed Our Lawsuits to Proceed)
This is lawfare
Official New Figures Show That Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Sees Rise in Dishonesty Among Law Firms Forcibly Shut Down ('Euthanised' Due to Misconduct)
It's rather if in our little country as many as 16 law firms were found to be so dishonest that they needed to be shut down
Back to Normalcy
In our datacentre at least
IBM is "Increasing Its Temporary and Part-time Headcount" While Net Headcount Falls (Despite Buying Many Companies and Their Workforce)
Headcount is a rather superficial yardstick.
Confluent Insiders: IBM Laid Off Over 800 at Confluent, Not Just 800
For the record, the layoffs at Confluent won't be over. After the bluewashing there will be "IBM RAs" impacting Confluent folks, aside from PIPs
EPO Union Decides to Continue Industrial Actions, Next Strike in Four Days
The latest strike had the highest participation rate
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 25, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Microsoft's "Silent Layoffs" in Slop Clothing
"AI-powered transformation" is just a euphemism for mass layoffs
Where and How to Spot LLM Slop
Many people correctly perceive LLMs as a site's downfall, a step towards the abyss
Public Talk by Richard Stallman in Half a Day "at the Engineering and Architecture Campus of Cesena of the University of Bologna"
He'll probably attract a fairly large crowd
Gemini Links 26/03/2026: Buying a House, Stargazing, OFFLFIRSOCH 2026
Links for the day
Links 25/03/2026: Nations Return to Russian Oil and Burning Wood
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/03/2026: Resisting Authoritarianism and Why Slop Needs to Go Away
Links for the day
Fedora Maintainer-ship Using Slop (Mistakes) Would Make Fedora Less Reliable
It won't produce reliable code or stable systems one can rely upon
IBM's "Legacy Employees" (Experienced Workers, IBM Management Dubs Them 'Dinobabies')
This notion of "legacy employees" seems like something overlapping with "expensive" (well paid) staff, even if not entirely equivalent
EPO's "Current Industrial Actions Are Likely to Intensify Further."
There is another strike in 5 days
This Morning The Register MS Published Slop Promotion With the Term "AI" 15 Times In It. The Register MS Was (As Usual) Paid to Do This
This is not a serious publisher
SLAPP Censorship - Part 23 Out of 200: We Were Right All Along (for 2 Years) About Third Party Funding and Willingness to 'Break the Bank' in Pursuit of "Revenge"
How much damage can a person do to oneself in pursuit of cover-up of legitimate technical concerns?
Gnome Foundation Inc is in Trouble
the agenda is set GAFAM and IBM rather than donors
Links 25/03/2026: Airports Further Militarised, "Slopification and Its Discontents", Microsoft 'Open' 'Hey Hi' Shutting Things Down
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/03/2026: Blogging Fright and Absolutely Useless 'Apps' Made by Slop Machines
Links for the day
Rise in Energy Prices Will Significantly Accelerate the Death of So-called "AI Companies"
It should be noted that fake news about Microsoft OpenAI doubling workforce (mere words, not actions) can serve as a nice distraction from the death of Sora due to divestment
It's Always a Question of Trust
There's a widespread stigma of lawyers being manipulative and chronically dishonest
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Must More Carefully Investigate or Assess the Financial State of Law Firms in the UK
We'll cover this in depth in the future
GAFAM Mozilla Removes Theora Support, Now GNU Needs to Re-encode Videos
Mozilla used to mean something to Free software advocates
An Open Admission Profits Depend on Addiction
Proprietary software tends to be like this
IBM Americas President Ayman Antoun Comes to OpenText, Weeks Ahead the Mass Layoffs Begin
Is that what IBM will be good at?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 24, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 24, 2026