Bonum Certa Men Certa

The EPO (European Patent Office) Under António Campinos is Just Another Battistelli EPO; Still UPC and Software Patents Lobbying

While staff representatives are hung out to dry, judges enjoy no real independence, corruption isn't being tackled, and patent quality isn't cared about

Campinos in the penthouse



Summary: Campinos has done pretty much nothing but a single blog post since taking Office; it makes one wonder what he's doing all day and whether he ever intends to tackle all the abuses that compelled the Council to replace Battistelli

THE EPO scandals aren't over. In fact, none has been addressed, not to mention resolved (the new President just ignores virtually all of these scandals). His first step as President was UPC promotion (on his second day on the job). A new article by Shrey Pathak and Sanam Habib (Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP) and another by George Tebbutt (Haseltine Lake LLP) shows that Team UPC hasn't grown tired of lying. They're both wrong about Brexit and what the government says about UPC; it's merely "exploring", which is a polite way of saying "we can't quite promise anything" (because it's an untenable situation, legally speaking).

"For those who aren't aware, the UPC is also -- inter alia -- a Trojan horse for software patents in Europe. They're trying to cement what they already do illegally, namely the granting of software patents."IAM, a UPC lobbyist on the payroll of the EPO's PR firm, has just begun advertising this event for software patents. It's a Trojan horse for software patents lobbying in the US -- the same sort of thing Battistelli did with IAM on their tour of horror back in June. For those who aren't aware, the UPC is also -- inter alia -- a Trojan horse for software patents in Europe. They're trying to cement what they already do illegally, namely the granting of software patents.

The António Campinos-led EPO is still promoting software patents. The verified account of the EPO (European Patent Office but with "Org" in its username, creating an ambiguity) wrote: "Innovation using #artificialintelligence is eminently patentable at the EPO - find out how from EPO experts at this event in Chicago."

The page even uses the term "CII", which is just software patents, as noted by us in this recent post and also many others about software patents in Europe. We wrote about this in relation to IBM's latest campaign of patent blackmail (this time Groupon is in the firing line). Groupon fires back, supported by new articles such as this one: (titled "Groupon accuses IBM of patent shake-down")

A lawyer for discount e-commerce company Groupon this week told a court in Delaware that International Business Machines Corp has shaken down practically every large tech firm for patent fees.

IBM is suing Groupon for US$167 million, accusing it of infringing four basic internet technology patents, in a case that is being closely watched by the tech industry.

Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM has portrayed itself as an innovator whose licensing fee requests are reasonable in light of its research and development costs. But Groupon is defending itself by trying to portray IBM as using outdated patents to squeeze money out of other tech companies with threats of litigation.


Those are software patents and we hope that Groupon will have these sent to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) for invalidation. The inter partes reviews (IPRs) of IBM patents almost always result in invalidation. What would be the fate of similar European Patents if the appeal boards of the EPO actually enjoyed independence and sufficient capacity (staff for starters)?

Recent Techrights' Posts

There's Nothing "Funny" About Attacking Free Speech and Software Freedom
persistent focus on the principal issues is very important
GNU/Linux Adoption in Africa, a Passageway Towards Freedom From Neo-Colonialism
Digi(tal)-Colonialism and/or Techolonialism are a thing. Can Africa flee the trap?
 
Links 06/12/2023: Many More December Layoffs
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, December 05, 2023
IRC logs for Tuesday, December 05, 2023
PipeWire 1.0: Linux audio comes of age
Once upon a time, serious audio users like musicians and audio engineers had real trouble with Linux
This is How 'Linux' Foundation Presents Linux to the World
Right now it even picks Windows over Linux in some cases
Links 05/12/2023: Microsoft's Chatbot as Health Hazard
Links for the day
Professor Eben Moglen Explained How Software Patent Threats Had Changed Around 2014 (Alice Case) and What Would Happen Till 2025
clip aged reasonably well
CNN Contributes to Demolition of the Open Web
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Eben Moglen on Encryption and Anonymity
The alternate net we need, and how we can build it ourselves
Yet More Microsofters Inside the Board of Mozilla (Which Has Just Outsourced Firefox Development to Microsoft's Proprietary Prison)
Do you want a browser controlled (and spied on) by such a company?
IRC Proceedings: Monday, December 04, 2023
IRC logs for Monday, December 04, 2023
GNU/Linux Now Exceeds 3.6% Market Share on Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
things have changed for Windows in China
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news
Links 05/12/2023: Debt Brake in Germany and Layoffs at Condé Nast (Reddit, Wired, Ars Technica and More)
Links for the day
[Meme] Social Control Media Giants Shaping Debates on BSDs and GNU/Linux
listening to random people in Social Control Media
Reddit (Condé Nast), Which Has Another Round of Layoffs This Month, Incited People Against GNU/Linux Users (Divide and Rule, It's 2003 All Over Again!)
Does somebody (perhaps a third party) fan the flames?
Who Will Hold the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Accountable for Taking Bribes From Microsoft and Selling Out to Enable/Endorse Massive Copyright Infringement?
it does Microsoft advocacy
Using Gemini to Moan About Linux and Spread .NET
Toxic, acidic post in Gemini
Web Monopolist, Google, 'Pulls a Microsoft' by Hijacking/Overriding the Name of Competitor and Alternative to the Web
Gulag 'hijacking' 'Gemini'
Links 04/12/2023: Mass Layoffs at Spotify (Debt, Losses, Bubble) Once Again
Links for the day
ChatGPT Hype/Vapourware (and 'Bing') Has Failed, Google Maintains Dominance in Search
a growing mountain of debt and crises
[Meme] Every Real Paralegal Knows This
how copyright law works
Forging IRC Logs and Impersonating Professors: the Lengths to Which Anti-Free Software Militants Would Go
Impersonating people in IRC, too
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, December 03, 2023
IRC logs for Sunday, December 03, 2023
GNU/Linux Popularity Surging, So Why Did MakeUseOf Quit Covering It About 10 Days Ago?
It's particularly sad because some of the best articles about GNU/Linux came from that site, both technical articles and advocacy-centric pieces
Links 04/12/2023: COVID-19 Data Misused Again, Anti-Consumerism Activism
Links for the day