Bonum Certa Men Certa

SUEPO Seems to be Disappointed by António Campinos as His First Month in Office Comes to an End

Calendar



Summary: The European Patent Office (EPO) continues its ride into a wall; Campinos shows no interest whatsoever in changing course and he's not even meeting staff representatives (breaking a promise he made months ago)

WE DID not expect the change of a single person to undo the EPO scandals, especially as that person was chosen by Battistelli. Well, António Campinos turns out to be just another Battistelli. As expected, he does absolutely nothing differently from Battistelli; he's just a lot quieter, that's all. He keeps a lower profile and visibility.



Hours ago we saw further evidence of what we wrote about last night. There's not much hope among staff. Not even the staff union and those close to it. To quote:

New European Patent Office (EPO) president, António Campinos, was “very impressed” with production increases over the last few years, according to an email sent to all line managers at the office.

Despite mounting dissent from the Staff Union of the EPO (SUEPO) and ”great concern” from four German law firms over the work targets, Campinos said that each of the three Directorates-General are “progressing with ambitious production targets this year”.

He said that the office’s Early Certainty Initiative has “helped achieve further reductions in our stock” and that this is “acknowledged throughout the patent community, earning the EPO and its staff great respect”.

Campinos became president of the EPO on 1 July, taking over from controversial past-president Benoît Battistelli.

[...]

However, a source close to SUEPO said that while Campinos was picked “for his good social record” in his previous job at the EU Intellectual Property Office, and that SUEPO expected him to “meet first thing with elected staff representatives soon after his arrival”, it had taken him “17 days since he chose to act as his predecessor did, namely, ‘meeting the staff directly’ (read circumventing the statutory staff reps) instead of meeting with those selected by their peers to defend their rights”.

The source also mentioned that Campinos had yet to meet with SUEPO, the largest union representing half of the entire EPO workforce.

The source said: “This after the EPO suffered until recently several (never officially investigated) suicides of staff members, hundreds of depressions, burnouts, resignations, numerous abusive disciplinary sanctions targeting staff and their representatives—even SUEPO officials (one is still dismissed his case pending at ATILO in Geneva).”

The source added: “It is a very negative signal that Mr Campinos chose to send, and maintaining the top managers responsible for the social mess at their positions is not sending a positive signal to staff that things will change.”


SUEPO has not been saying anything for quite some time. The EPO must be enjoying this silence as work runs out (gradually) and recruitment has halted while many leave. Remember what Campinos did months before he left EUIPO; he destroyed a lot of jobs. With a smile? Maybe. That's just his style. What a gentleman! Unlike Battistelli...

He then gagged his critics. "Like a boss..."

Much of the above reaffirms our belief, based upon underlying evidence, that Campinos would not change a thing when it comes to patent quality. In fact, he further accelerates examination while human 'resources' decline. So he is, in some sense, worse than Battistelli.

Hours ago this new press release was published; it's entitled "European Patent Office to Grant ToolGen, Inc. a patent on CRISPR-Cas9 system for genome editing" and it shows that after the EPO's Oppositions folks said no to CRISPR patents (monopolies on life itself) the persistence from Korea may be paying off. Is the Campinos-led Office changing this? This happened only days ago:

ToolGen, Inc. (KONEX 199800) announced today that on July 26, 2018 the European Patent Office (EPO) issued a Decision to Grant to ToolGen a European patent covering a CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing system adapted for mammalian cells.

CRISPR-Cas9 is a cutting-edge tool for genome editing in human cells, animals, and plants, widely used in biomedical research and biotechnology. CRISPR technology enables targeted genetic modifications in cells and whole organisms, which can lead to development of novel therapies and value-added crops and livestock.


It's just a race to the bottom of patent quality. Campinos is fine with it. Team UPC is also fine with it. Earlier today Robert Burrows of Bristows, recognising that they have been silent on Unitary Patent for nearly a month (no progress), returned to his blurbs about Bulgaria which is irrelevant to the UPC (barely any EPs).

There are even worse things to be said about Campinos (than his disregard for patent quality). He continues to defy court orders. It has been over a month now. There is still no transparency either; if anything, Campinos has been even more secretive than Battistelli, which is a negative, not a positive (harder to hold the management accountable).

One reader of ours heard that the EPO is now publishing disciplinary decisions, but nobody is able to verify this. Is there anything at all that Campinos does better than Battistelli?

Recent Techrights' Posts

Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
 
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025
Microsoft - Like IBM - Does the "Relocation" Tricks (Start Over Elsewhere, Then Get Sacked by Microsoft)
It is a "low blow" or a "dick move"
After the Free Software Foundation's Campaign to Raise Money Let's See Campaigns to Finish Off Microsoft (Vista 11, GitHub etc.)
Microsoft is in effect collapsing
Your Publications Have No Major Impact Unless or Until You "Get Some Heat"
we're on the right track
Slopwatch: A Cause for Hope, the Hype is Dying
For about a month we showed that becoming a slopfarm - for several weeks - resulted in utter failure and ruin for BetaNews
Links 11/07/2025: Censorship Worsening, 3D Printing Success Stories, UK and France Unite Around Nukes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Zorin OS and Scriptonite Updates
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Hardware, Russia, and China
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Intel Collapsing and Microsoft Resorts to Bribery to Push Slop Via Obligatory Education
Links for the day
The EFF Sided With the Team That Strangles Women and Tells Women to Kill Themselves
They say that apathy and inaction are a form of a "stance"
"Nat [Friedman] and [the Serial Strangler From Microsoft] Were Always Exceptionally Close," Says Former Housemate and Colleague
Now Alex (hiding behind another name when that suits him) not only attacks women but also people who merely report what he did to women
Exemplary List of Things That Are Not Artificial Intelligence or Even Intelligence
The "age of AI" or "era of AI" or "AI revolution" mostly boils down to rebranding, just like "the cloud"
New Letter From the European Patent Office Explains How the Office Plots to Grant Many Illegal Patents, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of 'Growth'
Open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) and Mr Aledo Lopez (COO)
Abuse of Process
5RB is employing people who help violent men
What Microsoft's Nat Friedman and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
"Get in da car; No time to explain, loser"
Microsoft and IBM Don't Have Much of a Future (They Mostly Pretend at This Point)
IBM and Microsoft are in some ways alike but in many ways different
It's Not Just Twitter (or X.com) That's Dying, Microsoft's Equivalent is Dying Also
Unable to find a business model
GitHub Copilot Can Cause the Bankruptcy of GitHub to Come Sooner and GitHub to be Shut Down Just Like Skype
Some publicly available information suggests that even for each paid subscriber for plagiarism (LLM 'coding') GitHub Copilot still loses more money than it makes
Wayland is Bad for the Planet
If you use Wayland, it'll take you longer to accomplish tasks and you will consume more energy (or battery life)
Legitimising Those Who Sabotage You
Microsoft is a very malicious company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 10, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 10, 2025
On Microsoft Layoffs
we might be looking at about 60,000 Microsoft layoffs since 2023
EPO Management Already Breaks Its Own Promise (Lie) on "Bringing Teams Together"
This gut-punching move happened just 2 days ago
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Occupation of 2025 and "Old Man Yells At Soundcloud"
Links for the day
Our Lawsuits Against the 'Cancel Mob' (Ringleaders) Helped Reduce Anti-Free Software Online Abuse
That's not to say that lawsuits are the best way to handle terrible people. But that can help.