Bonum Certa Men Certa

The EPO's 'Expert' Georg Weber is Still Advocating Software Patents in Europe (But He Disguises Them Using Buzzwords)

Georg Weber
Photo source



Summary: The EPO's overzealous support for software patents continues unabated while the European Parliament looks the other way; this is part of the plan to expand patent scope in Europe and flood the continent with low-quality patents (causing a ruinous litigation boom like in China)

THE MANAGEMENT of the EPO does not obey very basic laws, so why obey patent law? Or honour European Parliament? Or even the German parliament (or Bavarian authorities) for that matter?



"As long as one works for Battistelli, one will never be punished or held accountable for anything."This core problem, which is lawlessness, prevails and runs deep inside the EPO these days. As long as one works for Battistelli, one will never be punished or held accountable for anything. Extrapolated immunity? These people just protect one another and if one snitches on a colleague in management there's risk of retaliation; sooner or later, like in the Mafia, people start hiring from their own family to assure blind loyalty or sometimes hire famous criminals whom they have moral leverage over. This is today's EPO.

Just like last year (and later in the same year), in the very same event, Georg Weber promotes software patents. He knows the law and he understands the problem, but using new buzzwords Georg Weber is promoting the same abomination again. As the EPO put it a few hours ago: "EPO expert Georg Weber is speaking at #CEBIT18 about patents for #Industry40."

"...like in the Mafia, people start hiring from their own family to assure blind loyalty or sometimes hire famous criminals whom they have moral leverage over. This is today's EPO."Industry 4.0, ICT, CII, 4IR and other marketing nonsense can be viewed as surrogates for software patents. The EPO recently organised a conference using the "AI" buzzword; it was all about software patents. Google is filing software patent applications aplenty, even on other people's work as we noted yesterday. There's this new article titled "Google's DeepMind Files AI Patents," which reminds us that "AI" is growingly becoming a loophole of choice by which to patent software. Also see yesterday's article about "AI", pushing that same old software patents agenda using the "AI" buzzword, courtesy of the man behind Microsoft's (and prior to that IBM's) patent blackmail strategy, Marshall Phelps.

"Industry 4.0, ICT, CII, 4IR and other marketing nonsense can be viewed as surrogates for software patents."The EPO keeps shuffling between buzzwords. The EPO now links to this page (warning: epo.org link) in which the EPO is (as usual) avoiding the word "software" when it comes to patents (but it still grants 'algorithm monopolies' which go well beyond copyrights).

To quote that page about Weber's talk:

Patents are a controversial topic in ICT, but they play an important role. Whatever your views on patents, if you work in an innovative field, you need to know about them.

If you can understand the pros and cons about patenting versus secrecy or an open-source approach, or the interaction between standards and patents, you will be in a better position to take the right strategic decisions for your innovations. And if you know where to find information on other people's patents, you will be able to use that information to your advantage.


He (or they, i.e. the EPO collectively) says "controversial topic" because he knows that he's referring to software patents when he says "ICT". Don't fall for the buzzwords because several times last year he explicitly said that he supported software patents and insisted on it. The thinly-veiled spin won't work anymore.

"Don't fall for the buzzwords because several times last year he explicitly said that he supported software patents and insisted on it."This is really dangerous because EPO patent maximalists/extremists like Battistelli are using UPC as a Trojan horse by which to bring software patents to every nation in Europe (bypassing the national patent laws). They want to impose a 'unitary' patent on algorithms, which bypasses several burdens, such as litigation in the actual target's (accused party's) country; that also leaps past the national laws/restrictions. Why would that ever be allowed? Who even decided on this? Short-sighted or corrupt politicians (or clueless, having never bothered to even read what they vote on) allow a bunch of law firms, notably Team UPC, to write their law in another country.

The Dennemeyer Group has just published this promotional piece titled "The Validation Of European Patents Can Be Very Expensive." To quote:

The validation of European patents can be very expensive. Budgetary constraints may hinder, limit or influence the selection of the different states where a user may wish to secure protection. The lack of visibility over the applicable translation regimes and procedural requirements often makes it difficult to reach a cost effective, tactical and strategic decision.

The Dennemeyer validation web application offers you access to a method for validating a European patent in your preferred states based on a given budget.

By relying on different parameters, for example, the geographical location, and/or the applicable translation regimes and indicators such as gross domestic product or most frequently designated countries, you can speed up the decision making process, reduce the likelihood of errors and align the costs with your planned budget.


Further down there it says (quotes) "notably in view of the forthcoming unitary patent system."

"To recapitulate, what these people hope to accomplish/obtain here is a 'unitary' law that throws out all those laws in pertinent nations that disallow software patents, among other 'pesky' (to litigation) things."Really? Who says forthcoming? The UPC is very much stuck and has been stuck for about a year with no impending resolution, just lockdown/lockout at the FCC.

To recapitulate, what these people hope to accomplish/obtain here is a 'unitary' law that throws out all those laws in pertinent nations that disallow software patents, among other 'pesky' (to litigation) things. The EPO is a very potent threat to technology all across Europe. Cui bono? A bunch of law firms of course...

Recent Techrights' Posts

Azure is Turning 17 This Year, Still Losing Money and Staff
Hallmark of pyramid schemes, deriving "value" out of things that do not really exist?
Richard Stallman on RISC-V and Free Hardware
Invidious is under attack by Google
IDG 'Reviews' of GNU/Linux Now Contain LLM Slop
It's typically ads or commercials... or sometimes spin disguised as news
In Gopher and Gemini Protocol People Abandon Services Based in the United States
There's no resistance whatsoever
Python and Microsoft: Pandas Should Have Known OpenDocument Format (ODF) and Microsoft Excel Are Different and Competing Things
now we're meant to think that in order to open ODF files we need some functions with "Excel" in their name
Not Only Windows, Surface, and "Hey Hi" PCs; Microsoft's Hardware Ventures Are a Dumpster Fire; HoloLens Mixed Reality Hardware Now Axed Altogether and Staff is Miserable
Microsoft is in a terrible state
Links 15/02/2025: University Price Hikes and Copyright Action Against Slop Companies
Links for the day
Slopwatch: All Those New 'Articles' Are Fake and Crafted by Chatbots (LLM Slop)
Google News is promoting these as "Linux" news; they're not even made by humans
 
Alex Oliva, the Potential 'Successor' of RMS, Has a New Web Site
More freedom for Alex Oliva
Gemini Links 15/02/2025: On Autistic People, AuraGem Over HTTPS
Links for the day
The Cyber Show (C|S) Speaks of the "Rise of the Nerd Reich."
This 'Valentine Episode' is quite good
Strong Momentum for the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as Winter Approaches Its End in Boston or in the Northern Hemisphere
FSF's founder, Richard Stallman, gives another talk in Italy in 9 days from now
The 'Drunken Plagiarists' Are Harming Journalism About GNU/Linux
They lessen the incentive to do real journalism abut GNU/Linux
Female Nazis and racist Swiss women
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 15/02/2025: Erasing of American Science and Tesla SLAPPing Critics
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/02/2025: Spectacles and "Before Sunset", Moving Domains Out of the US
Links for the day
Microsoft Has Only $17,482 Million Left, "Cash on Hand" Sank 40 Billion Dollars in 2 Years
Microsoft runs low on money in the bank
YouTube Layoffs Mean That YouTube is Still Losing a Lot of Money (Net Income or Profit Almost Definitely Negative)
In more recent years Google defunded many vloggers
Certificate Authority (CA) Let's Encrypt Now Down to TEN (0.3% of the Whole) in Geminispace
The number of capsules that use Let's Encrypt is, according to Lupa, about to fall to single-digit figures
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, February 14, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, February 14, 2025
Gemini Links 14/02/2025: Mysterious Friend and "Eight by Eight"
Links for the day
They Will Never Leave Linus Torvalds Alone, Rust is Just Another Way to Cause Instability and Infighting in Linux
We already identified the Rust "community" as troublemakers more than 5 years ago and we wrote about the evidence
Apple: Social Justice or Social Nationalism?
Remember to buy Apple, folks
Links 14/02/2025: Mass Layoffs at Sophos, Chatbots Failing Very Badly, "DOGE as a National Cyberattack"
Links for the day
Moving Away From Certificate Authorities (CAs) Like Let's Encrypt Means Taking Away From the US Government the Power to 'Censor' Sites by Revoking Certificates
Gemini capsule is cheap to run and easy (easier than a Web site) to maintain. More people disillusioned and frustrated with social control media flock to it.
BetaNews' Managing Editor Wayne William Took Charge of GNU/Linux Articles and His Articles Are Real (He Actually Wrote Them)
We are frankly relieved to see that Wayne William recognised the problem and did something about it
Links 14/02/2025: Publicity Rights Violated (ByteDance), Bribes to Trump Passed via Social Control Media 'Settlements' Again
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/02/2025: Constitution, Cosmic DE, and More
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Articles Published by Bots, Dominating Google News
So a lot of the Web is Microsoft chatbot-generated anti-Linux FUD
Links 14/02/2025: Measles Outbreak in Texas, Zelensky Warns Russia Will Attack a NATO Country
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, February 13, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, February 13, 2025
Gemini Links 13/02/2025: gwit and Restart
Links for the day
Links 13/02/2025: Algorithm Bots and 'Teleport' Breakthrough
Links for the day
EPO Staff Representatives Confront the President Who Says 'F--king' in Front of Female Workers Over Measurable Discrimination Against Female Colleagues
Central Staff Committee versus Lukashenko's sponsor
IBM Layoffs in 'RTO' Clothing Reported by Thomas Claburn
This "hey hi" (AI) nonsense is just a go-to excuse that IBM and GAFAM (and many others) use
Still Waiting for the EU to Abolish the Illegal and Unconstitutional Court Linked to EPO Corruption and Lobbyism by the Patent Litigation Industry
Sadly, all the blogs that used to talk about those issues have been infiltrated and then completely hijacked by the very perpetrators of the illegality
Social Engineering of the Free Software Movement is a Corporate Takeover With Code of Conduct (CoC) to Drive Out or Expel Dissent
Richard Stallman (RMS) covered "cancel culture"
Links 13/02/2025: Mass Layoffs at Google (Disguised as "Buyouts"), Telecoms Price Hikes as Collusion/Price-Fixing
Links for the day
[Video] Richard Stallman Questions and Answers Session in Google's YouTube or Invidious
From last night
Gemini Links 13/02/2025: Broken Watches and Naming Types
Links for the day
Corrupt Bill Gates Worming His Way Into Richard Stallman Videos in Google's YouTube
Reputation laundering riding other people's names?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, February 12, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, February 12, 2025