Bonum Certa Men Certa

Mafia Tactics in Team UPC and Battistelli's Circle

Battistelli is probably vacationing in Corsica where he came from (and where his name is associated with the Mafia)

The EPO mafia
Image source



Summary: Mafia-like behaviour at the EPO and the team responsible for the Unified Patent Court (UPC); appointments of loyal friends and family members have become common (nepotism and exchange of favours), as have threats made towards critics, authorities, and the press

LAST night we explained yet again why UPC is dead (or dying). Team UPC will never admit this because it still believes in miracles or in corrupt officials, who are actually not a miracle but a fact of life.



"Team UPC will never admit this because it still believes in miracles or in corrupt officials, who are actually not a miracle but a fact of life."An article by J A Kemp (a law firm) has just been published to deal with this subject. So was a paywalled article from IAM's network and another copy of the nonsense from Hogan Lovells. They keep paying to spread this. They won't want to say so publicly, but the UPC is going nowhere; they just waste their money reposting this crap, hoping perhaps that it can still occasionally attract some business (e.g. consultation about 'unitary' patents). Hogan Lovells is working with Managing IP (UPC booster) on this self-serving promotional event right now. Pure marketing!

"They won't want to say so publicly, but the UPC is going nowhere..."Do not expect anything 'unitary' to kick off any time soon; it's permanently stopped by abuses at the EPO among many other things, such as constitutional problems.

On June 21st Cohausz & Florack's Gottfried Schüll wrote about the EPO's attacks on judges. It's citing Cicero and we overlooked this at the time. To quote a portion:

In an interview with C&F, Prof. Dr. Siegfried Broß, a former judge at the Federal Constitutional Court, was critical of the European Patent Office (EPO) pointing out that major democratic constitutional deficits and human rights have occurred there. An recent article from the debate magazine Cicero published in March 2018 supports and underscores the expert's statement. The article looks at the consequences of international organizations having legal immunity and lists various cases of arbitrary actions and bullying. The author, Petra Sorge, describes in particular instances of misconduct ate the EPO. Among these is the case where a judge who worked for the EPO Board of Appeal for years fell under suspicion in December 2014 of having leaked internal information and having slandered top personnel at the Office. According to Cicero’s research, the Investigative Unit of the EPO, an intelligence-gathering bod, secretly monitored the judge’s e-mails and PCs and even included uninvolved persons. According to Sorge, the EPO's trace analysis concluded that "numerous e-mails to State officials, Government leaders, journalists or the European Parliament" had been written by the employee, apparently warning of "high-level corruption” and “nepotism”, and a “Balkan affair” involving Battistelli (the still acting EPO president) and Vice President Topic". The employee denied being the author of the mails – but was nevertheless ordered by Battistelli to be suspended on grounds of defamation. The judges of the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the EPO, who declared the orders for dismissal inadmissible, were subjected, according to the research, to massive pressure from Battistelli and threatened with disciplinary measures. "This undermines the basic principle of court independence'', the article quotes from the June 2016 decision of the Enlarged Board of Appeal. The Cicero author summarizes it as follows: "The drama is being played out on a stage without spotlights. A place outside the law, because the immunity of the supranational EPO circumvents any judicial supervision or control".

[...]

Cicero author Petra Sorge describes other disturbing events at the EPO in her article. It becomes clear that even the best research cannot reveal the whole truth in detail. What is certain, however, is that there have been and continue to be enormous distortions at the EPO. The dramatic effects, especially on a human level, put the globally outstanding image of an organization employing almost 7,000 people at risk.


The EPO generally does not want any press coverage like this. It's actively threatening those who write about EPO corruption, knowing perhaps that courts (like the German FCC) might take note and react. The EPO's management may be above the law, but it cannot force the initiation of UPC. Only national Parliaments and the European Parliament can. Will they? Doesn't look like it.

"The EPO generally does not want any press coverage like this. It's actively threatening those who write about EPO corruption, knowing perhaps that courts (like the German FCC) might take note and react."Battistelli has done everything within his power, including gross violations of the law, and left his friend António Campinos in charge. Moreover, Battistelli hired PR firms, paid a bunch of publishers and corrupted academics worldwide for UPC propaganda.

Mishcon de Reya, the thuggish law firm that corrupt Battistelli hired at the expense of the EPO to bully me, now advances the UPC agenda (see this new article by David Rose and Nina O'Sullivan).

"Mishcon de Reya, the thuggish law firm that corrupt Battistelli hired at the expense of the EPO to bully me, now advances the UPC agenda..."Each time the EPO hired a law firm to threaten me (it tried several) it later turned out that the legal team/firm had a stake in the UPC. In other words, those firms had personal interests in silencing me, not just the client's interests. One of those who repeatedly threatened me was called "Capone" (his real surname). They're acting like some kind of mafia, yet it's corrupt Battistelli having the audacity to call staff representatives (whom he defames and attacks) "mafia".

Also spotted this morning was this Lexology piece from Shrey Pathak, Sanam Habib and Leythem A. Wall (Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP). It's a firm which sponsors the patent trolls' lobby (also sponsored by the EPO for UPC lobbying). Here is what they said:

The document also re-affirms the UK’s intention to remain part of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and Unitary Patent system after the UK leaves the European Union (EU), and to “work with other contracting states to make sure the Unified Patent Court Agreement can continue on a firm legal basis”.


It does not speak of "intention" but about exploring the prospect, having already ruled that out.

"What we generally find is that not only Team Battistelli acts like a mafia; Team UPC does too."What we generally find interesting in the whole thing is the degree of coordination among Team Battistelli and Team UPC, which was even hired by Battistelli to SLAPP me, based on thin or invalid legal grounds. What we generally find is that not only Team Battistelli acts like a mafia; Team UPC does too.

Recent Techrights' Posts

When You're Evil and You're Publicly Attacking Something, That Something Will Become More Popular
when an oppressor becomes openly oppressive and does anything to squash/censor critics, the outcome will typically be detrimental to the oppressor
 
IBM's Age Discrimination Leads Workers to Contemplate Suicide While the CEO Becomes Billionaire for Lying to the Press and Faking Performance (Fraudulent Accounting)
IBM avoids issuing WARM notices
If Your Software Project Welcomes Bots, Then All You'll Have Left at the End Is Bots (Same for Sites Which Permit LLM Slop; They End up as Slopfarms and No Human Wants to Contribute Anymore)
A "slippery slop."
Clownflare Affirms Disturbing Trend of Web Monoculture (Which Extents to Clownflare Itself)
Clownflare itself is another layer of the same problem
The Open Web Is Not Coming Back
the open Web going out of control
Tell Me Something I Don't Know
Those who have a stake in the secrecy would do anything to maintain secrecy
Gemini Links 10/08/2026: Recollections and Washing Machine That Only Last a Few Years
Links for the day
Claims of Mass Layoffs at IBM (in Finance)
IBM tries hard to maintain an illusion of normality - to the point of viciously censoring critics and whistleblowers.
The Slop Bubble (Pyramid Scheme) is Becoming Bigger and Everyone Should be Terrified (Its Implosion Will Cause More Damage)
there's no plan for a turnaround
Microsoft and Apple Lose Ground to GNU/Linux in the United States
This contributes a lot to the international curve
Escaping Ads
When users do not want ads, then no ads should show up, period
For Second Year in a Row Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) Loses Money (Over $3,000,000 Lost in 2 Years), Bradley M Kuhn Steps Down as Treasurer
lost almost $600,000 last year
Microsoft/GAFAM Operating at a Loss
Microsoft has financial problems
Nigel Farage crisis: Taylor Swift & Jeffrey Epstein both shunned cryptocurrency bosses
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
statCounter Now Sees GNU/Linux "Market Share Worldwide" at 9.21%, Soon 10%
If this data is more or less accurate, it's time for panic at Microsoft
Rumours of Impending Mass Layoffs in IBM's Yorktown Office, Impacting the LLM (Slop) Staff
Bubbles never last forever, hence their name
Links 10/08/2026: "Long COVID Linked to Lasting Damage in The Brain's Dopamine System", Microsoft’s Weather App Uses Over 1,000 Megabytes of RAM
Links for the day
Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) Does Not Support Women, It Imitates Authentic Organisations, Embraces Misogynists, Then Projects
They try to monetise for personal gain at the expense of unpaid volunteers
Links 10/08/2026: "Against Oligarch" and "The Invisible Women"
Links for the day
Social Control Media Deathwatch: After Nearly a Million Posts Sent EchoFeed Shuts Down
EchoFeed is hardly unique
When the LLM Chatbots Industry (Trillions in the Red) Quits Paying the Media for FOMO
fear of missing out, or FOMO for short
Microsoft Killing Morale
branding the process “inhumane” and “demoralizing”
Google's "AI Overview" as Proprietary Censorship Engine and Gatekeeper
People do not choose to use this, Google is just shoving that in people's faces, encouraging laziness and misinformation
SLAPP Censorship - Part 145 Out of 200: They Tried Hard to Hide the Fact Their Client Had Been Sued, Twice Even
A month ago Brett Wilson LLP tried to take my wife "to the side" (in effect isolated) to make her an offer
statCounter: GNU/Linux Up to 8.95% Globally
So the estimates are being "corrected" upwards, not downwards
Explaining How Someone Attempted to Cancel RMS This Year (and Failed)
The process itself involved debunking some falsehoods
Microsoft's "XBOX Ranks Last", IBM is Headed for Extinction
If Microsoft cannot dominate its own "home turf", what prospects are there elsewhere?
DebConf6 fight denied by Google artificial intelligence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 09, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, August 09, 2026
Gemini Links 10/08/2026: A Mild Monday, Sleepy Saturday, OUYA, and Moving to GNU/Linux
Links for the day
Links 09/08/2026: US Blackouts (Energy Wasted), Slop to Evade Accountability, and Software Patents Framed as "Hey Hi"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/08/2026: Parakeets in Britain and Rant About 'Modern' Washing Machines
Links for the day
Links 09/08/2026: Social Control Media Weaponises Immigration, Europe Suffers Severe Drought, and "Internet of Stuff" Explained
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 144 Out of 200: The "Hired Guns" ("Media" at BW) Shrank Almost Three-Fold Since They Sued Us in 2024
No wonder they're so visibly outnumbered
10 Days Ago Red Hat Formally Terminated Employment of About 500 Technical Workers (the Media Didn't Mention This)
IBM has nothing left to do except fire people (in secret) whilst attacking sites that give these people a voice
Freenode Continues to Shed Off Servers and Users, Good Thing We Abandoned It
you cannot sell communities. It leads to chaos
Daniel Pocock in the Sunday Times (Today)
Expect the attacks (from Pocock's haters, motivated by envy) to intensify
Controlling One's Platform
We need to strive for or actively pursue a Web where everyone has their own platform/s and where censors ("moderators") have no direct control over these platforms
Improving the Static Site Generator (SSG), Fixing Bugs
Next month the site's SSG turns 3
Gemini Links 09/08/2026: Meatballs (1979), Gopher, RSS Experiment
Links for the day
2026: The Year Richard Stallman Came Back to American Campuses
There's more on the way
IBM's "Next Step" Program
Apparently close to 1,000 people being laid off by IBM wasn't worth reporting
XBox is Rotting Away, Technical Issues for Second Time in Two Weeks
XBox is dying
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 08, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, August 08, 2026
Red Hat is in Need of a 'Jolla', as an IBM-Controlled Red Hat is Becoming Like the Microsoft-Infiltrated Nokia
Dying fast, partly by design
Gemini Links 08/08/2026: Gigs, Poems, SREs, and Shared Passion
Links for the day
If GNU/Linux Rising is Just "Bots" (It's Not, Many Surveys Show the Same), Why Does Microsoft Rush to Lie About System Requirements of Vista 11?
The real reason is, GNU/Linux is rising
Kompromat Tactics in GNU and Linux
Kompromat as a concept was covered here in the past in relation to Microsoft
SLAPP Censorship - Part 143 Out of 200: After Nearly 10 Attempts to Settle With Us and Over a Million Pounds Spent on Lawyers and Barristers
We are in no particular hurry
20 Years and 43 Years
GNU/Linux is not just code, it's a philosophy, licence (copyleft), and community
GNU/Linux Turns 43 Next Month, Many Distros Actively Maintained
A lot of Debian-based distros are still actively maintained (we talk about this in IRC this evening), so the stability of the Debian Project is important
Links 08/08/2026: GAFAM Colonialism "Paved Over Protected Wetlands", Slop Companies Hoard Software Patents as Debt Soars to Trillions
Links for the day
Links 08/08/2026: "Palantir Paid No Federal Income Tax" and "Who's Responsible for This Mess?"
Links for the day
Retained: The Time IBM's Red Hat Tried to Hijack or Take Offline Site of Critics, Failed on All Grounds (Meritless Action Intended to Harass Critics)
Replicated from adrforum.com
IBM's 'Final Solution': Censor Sites Not Controlled by IBM, Sites Where Dissent is Expressed
IBM has no culture of free speech
More Mass Layoffs Coming IBM's Way (Ones IBM Cannot Hide, Cannot Convince Enough People to Leave or Unjustifiably PIP Them When They Say No)
The company that was like a "father of modern computing" is now stingy when it comes to travel. Not a good sign.
What Will it Take for Mainstream Media to Report Silent or Secret Layoffs at IBM?
"Silent" or "secret" sometimes because the media won't cover them
Is the Future of IBM Red Hat Temporary Staff, Contractors?
They want cheap, obedient lemmings
Gemini Links 08/08/2026: Tribute to Lloyd Center, Radio Amateurism, Homeworlds
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 07, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, August 07, 2026