Bonum Certa Men Certa

Too Much to Cover Up at the EPO, the UN, and UN Agencies

Cash cows to their host countries, so infringements of human rights are brushed aside

US Constitution



Summary: The post-Constitution, post-financial transparency, post-human rights phase that's sweeping across the EPO (and the UN) gives room for concern

THE EPO and USPTO coverage from Managing IP has always been biased. Probably intentionally and by design. They know what their target audience wishes to believe and that belief itself can lead to certain outcomes.

"The week in IP" by "Guest author" was published earlier today and spoke of "German organisations’ support for dismissing a UPC complaint," basically alluding to the patent microcosm. At Managing IP, as usual, the vast majority of the text is behind a paywall, so only the patent microcosm can see it and likely won't scrutinise it (preaching to the choir again). Whatever...

Meanwhile, there's this couple of new pages [1, 2] about a former judge at the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC). He doesn't think the UPC should even get off the ground and as someone put it earlier today or last night at IP Kat comments:

A speech and an article by Prof. Dr. Siegfried Broß, former judge at the German Federal Constitutional Court of Karlsruhe.

Both documents also deal with the employment situation of staff members of international organisations. They are a available in English and in German.

The speech: "European Patent Convention, Unified Patent Court and the German Basic Law" https://www.cohausz-florack.de/en/mehr/blog/article-en/news/detail/News/european-patent-convention-unified-patent-court-and-the-german-basic-law/

The article: "The modern constitutional state becomes a farce" https://www.cohausz-florack.de/en/mehr/blog/article-en/news/detail/News/the-modern-constitutional-state-becomes-a-farce/


We maintain our assertion that Team UPC is either totally deluded or deliberately lying. Whichever it is, that's bad. It harms their credibility and reputation.

There's another interesting new comment on an article we wrote about last night, having covered the matter twice about a month ago [1, 2]. Germany's cash cow at the EPO continues to raise questions.

Patently Transparent wrote:

There were some interesting comments about this matter in a publication issued by SUEPO in December 2017.

“To their credit, the German delegate (and Head of the German Patent Office) in the Budget & Finance Committee objected: “We have submitted the proposals to the Federal Court of Auditors. Their assessment is that the risk is too high. Capital preservation should be in the foreground. First, one should move closer to the RFPSS guidelines. Provision should be made for cumulative risk of default. Sanction mechanisms should be provided. Under g) in the RFPSS guidelines, there is a list of approved and unauthorized instruments of investment. We cannot agree today. If contracts with the fund managers existed, we may be able to decide otherwise, but not yet today.” (Translated from German, not verbatim)

Several Delegations (IE, IT, DK, UK, NO, CZ, HU, SI) and the staff representatives, too, voiced substantial concerns and called for prudence and strict governance. In the end, out of 32 delegations, 6 voted against, 2 courageously abstained – the rest (24) voted in favour (Italy requested a secret the vote with the apparent aim to prevent possible retaliation from Battistelli; So we do not know who voted what).

So much for transparency, prudence and financial accountability.

We wish Mr Ernst, the German Chair of the Administrative Council, good luck in explaining this fiasco to his own government and to the German Federal Court of Auditors.”

Those who are interested in following up the story could consider trying to obtain a copy of the opinion of the German Federal Court of Auditors, e.g. by making a freedom of information request.


Albertine replied: "Indeed, the question can also be summarized with “Cui bono?”. This is an eternally revolving question and will not be answered properly until the concept of “glasnost” is introduced in the operating rules of the EPO. Without transparency, operations involving billions in a context of a questionable governance will always give rise to suspicions."

We'll probably revisit it in the future. There seems to be more urgent matters where lives of people and entire families (not just money) are at stake.

Days ago we saw some coverage about the International Labour Organization’s Administrative Tribunal (ILOAT) protecting Battistelli, rendering itself almost complicit in alleged corruption (or coverup thereof) and violations of human rights. Earlier today WIPR wrote about that as well. To quote:

The International Labour Organization’s Administrative Tribunal (ILOAT) dismissed a series of complaints against the president of the European Patent Office (EPO), Benoît Battistelli, in its 125th session, held in October and November last year.

One of the dismissed complaints had been filed by Elizabeth Hardon, a former chairman of the Staff Union of the European Patent Office (SUEPO).

In May 2012, an EPO employee committed suicide. The Munich section of SUEPO sent a letter to Battistelli requesting an independent investigation into the circumstances that may have contributed to the suicide.


For ILOAT to become defensive of Battistelli's abuses makes sense. In a way...

I once received some UN leaks showing similar abuses inside the UN itself (not just WIPO, where Battistelli nearly became the chief). We might get around to releasing these one day (source protection is an issue as it would become perfectly obvious who it concerns). We have just made contact with the source, primarily in pursuit of approval (for publication). For the time being, think of ILO/UN to EPO accountability along the lines of Gurry (WIPO/UN) to Battistelli accountability. Oh wait...

Recent Techrights' Posts

How the SLAPPs From Microsoft Staff Are Connected to the Corrupt OSI, Whose Majority of Money Comes From Microsoft for Openwashing, LLM Hype, and Whitewashing GPL Violations During Class Action Trial
Let's explain how some of these things are connected
 
Red Hat's Owner is Called "America's Worst Tech Company" (IBM) and Microsoft's Liabilities Grow
Microsoft has about a quarter of a trillion (yes, trillion with a "T") in liabilities
If the Gossip is True, Today Microsoft Has "Large M1 Meetings" to Discuss Almost 30,000 More Microsoft Layoffs in 2025
the claim is that Microsoft is preparing to lay off 10% of its staff
Microsoft Has a Long and Proven History of Funding Meritless Lawsuits Against Rivals and Critics (It Always Backfires)
It also looks like the solicitor used by two Microsofters to SLAPP us is being urgently replaced
Links 12/05/2025: Gardens and Kitchens
Links for the day
Links 12/05/2025: Media Being Attacked (New Forms of Attack on the Press), Many Data Breaches
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, May 11, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, May 11, 2025
Links 11/05/2025: Pyotr Wrangel and Kubernetes With FreeBSD
Links for the day
What Happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Elections: A Moment of Silence and Revisionism Amid US Government Investigation and Community Uproar
Not a word this month
Microsoft Florian Becomes Patent Troll, Arranges to Sue Companies (Extorting Money Out of Them)
From campaigner against software patents to paid Microsoft shill to "FOSS patents" (actually attacking FOSS) to revisionism as "books" (for Microsoft)... and now this
Links 11/05/2025: China's Fentanylware (TikTok) Tells Kids to Vandalise Schools' Chromebooks and Increased Censorship in India
Links for the day
You Need Not Be a Big Company to Defeat Microsoft If You Can Successfully Challenge Its Core "Ideas"
Maybe that's just a sign that the ideas of RMS have become too effective and thus "dangerous"
Gemini Links 11/05/2025: Yeeting Oligarch Tech, Offline Browsing
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 10, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, May 10, 2025
One is Simply Doomed to Fail When Working for Violent Men From Microsoft and Attacking Women as Well as People Who Merely Expose Crimes or Report Real Crimes
Imagine saying to people that you "practice law" or "exercise law"
The Tariffs Are Accelerating Microsoft's Decline in China
Judging by the way things are going, there will be considerable adoption of GNU/Linux in years to come, China being one major contributing factor.
Control Your Systems, Control All Your Data
what does it take for us to control our own systems and data?
Misplacing Blame for Security Problems, Sometimes With LLM Slop That Blames "Linux" for Microsoft's Failures
Broken telephones and stochastic parrots beget plenty of Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)
Links 10/05/2025: WW2 Revisionism, Further Tit-for-tat in India-Pakistan Conflict
Links for the day
Links 10/05/2025: Germany Considers Smartphone Ban in Schools, Right to Repair Bills
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/05/2025: Git Server and Great LLM DDoS of 2025
Links for the day
Blizzard/Microsoft Unions Grow Ahead of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Apparently Starting Next Week (as Many as 30,000 Workers Laid Off by Year's End)
Microsoft already fired about 5,000-6,000 workers this year by our estimates; that's not counting resignations compelled through pressure (i.e. pushed, did not jump) and contractors
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 09, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, May 09, 2025