Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Quality of European Patents Likely Declined Even Further in 2018

The EPO saw change of President, but patent examination continues to exacerbate in Europe (and it's not examiners' fault)

Reference (Wikipedia): Human capital flight



Summary: Bad leadership and loss of talent are dooming the European patent system, where the sole goal right now seems to be granting as many patents as possible, irrespective of underlying rules and economic analyses

THE American patent system (especially the courts) seems to have improved in the sense that it becomes a lot stricter; patents on software, for example, are harder to get/enforce in the US, but the system in Europe is all backwards. The European Patent Office (EPO) changed a lot -- obviously for the worse -- after 8 years of Battistelli; we aren't even talking about all the abuses and corruption but about purely technical things. Examiners and stakeholders both complain -- something that has not happened at any moment in history. The EPO makes the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) look like a model organisation.



"The EPO makes the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) look like a model organisation."The year is about to end and we want to minimise writing while we migrate to another datacentre (data synchronisation being of concern); but before Christmas kicks in (marking about a month since SUEPO last said anything) let's quickly look at what the patent trolls' lobby wrote some days ago. Adam Houldsworth, promoter of patents on life, spoke about the EPO's opening to patents on life again:

EPO announcement signals prohibited plant patents may be back on the cards – The EPO’s Technical Board of Appeal stated that a recently adopted rule of not granting rights for plants produced exclusively by an essentially biological process contradicts the European Patent Convention, suggesting that the office will now begin to grant patents for such inventions again. Following years of uncertainty about the patentability of the products of essentially biological processes under Article 53(b) of the EPC, the EPO Administrative Council provided clarification in 2017 by amending the Implementing Regulations to include Rule 28(2): “Under Article 53(b) European patents shall not be granted in respect of plants or animals exclusively obtained by means of an essentially biological process.” However, in early December the Technical Board of Appeal issued a notice saying that: “At the oral proceedings, which took place on 5 December 2018, Technical Board of Appeal 3304, in an enlarged composition consisting of three technically and two legally qualified members, held that Rule 28(2) EPC (see OJ 2017, A56) is in conflict with Article 53(b) EPC as interpreted by the Enlarged Board of Appeal in decisions G 2/12 and G 2/13. The Board referred to Article 164(2) EPC, according to which the provisions of the Convention prevail in case of conflict with the Implementing Regulations, and decided to set the decision under appeal aside and to remit the case to the examining division for further prosecution.”


Cooley LLP's Colm Murphy and Steve Cuss [1, 2] and HGF Ltd's Ellie Purnell also wrote about it some days ago. The latter was titled "EPO Technical Board Of Appeal Considers Plants Produced By Essentially Biological Process Are In Fact Patentable," but it's likely far from over. The management of the EPO is acting in violation of directives and the EPC, i.e. both the authorities and its founding 'constitution'. There's likely parliamentary (or public interests' groups) opposition on the way, but it's too near to Christmas, so none has been waged yet. Wolters Kluwer has meanwhile announced this new (2018) edition of "Visser's Annotated European Patent Convention" [1, 2, 3]. Those are paid press releases (or copies thereof). Does the EPC even matter anymore? It certainly isn't being respected.

As always, what worries us most is software patenting in Europe; seeing that the EPO is willing to even grant patents on life/nature is a very bad sign. Consider this new article (Dentons' Sara Massalongo and Giangiacomo Olivi) that says "Artificial intelligence mainly consists of software—that is why it is also referred to as “super software”—which is typically protected by copyright."

So stop right there. Stop promoting "AI" patents or calling it "IP" (even in the headline). Here's the part about the EPO:

Programs for computers and mathematical methods as such are excluded from patentability; however, it is possible to patent the so-called “computer-implemented inventions” (CII), i.e. the inventions that have features realized wholly or in part by means of a computer program and which provide a technical effect.

Therefore core-AI, e.g. the algorithm as such, is not patentable, whereas only AI-related inventions which have a technical character are eligible for patent protection.

The European Patent Office has recently issued guidelines on the patentability of AI-related inventions, moving from the discussions carried out during the EPO conference on “Patenting Artificial Intelligence” held on May 30, 2018.


The EPO just ignores the EPC. It is violating basic rules in order to fake 'growth' and this inspires some others. DANIEL Legal & IP Strategy's Gustavo Sartori Guimarães and Rana Gosain, for example, have just published this article about Brazil and it mentions EPO programmes like PACE, Early Certainty, PPH and other accelerators. They may be missing the point that speed must never be the goal of patent offices but accuracy or validity only. "Despite a reputation for being slow to grant patents, Brazil’s IP office has introduced a number of programmes to expedite examination," they said. Even the EPO's applicants have complained about too fast a process, seeing this was sometimes done hastily, sloppily, and shoddily. Speeding up the process and then conflating speed with "quality" is a hallmark of the EPO's deception. The price for this will be paid over the years (the long run) as the certainty associated with European Patents is diminishing, defeating the purpose of examination.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Serial Sloppers Are Killing the Web (They Probably Don't Care, Either)
Slop is a disease on the Web
IBM's Debt Ballooned by 8.5 Billion Dollars in Just 3 Months!
Hallmark of a company in a state of disarray, trying to spend its way out of trouble
Big Trouble in GNOME
even GNOME people admit the CoC went wrong
New Article Explains How the GPL Came About and WordPress Having Copyleft Obligations
Having been involved in the WordPress development community since almost the beginning, I know why it chose the GPL and how it restricts abuse by Automattic
Dr Richard Stallman (RMS) Gives Talk in Oxford University in 4 Hours
If you live nearby, go there (it's free as in gratis)
 
Get Rid of Back Doors, Don't Obsess Over Bounties and Other Corporate PR Stunts (or Needless Reboot Rituals)
Security as a term has mostly lost its meaning due to repeated misuse for many years
Streaming Apps Are “Investor Fraud” That Kills the Planet
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Things Get Increasingly Nasty at Microsoft Ahead of the Fake Results and May's Mass Layoffs Wave
They try to get people to 'resign' so that they won't count as layoffs and the company's 'wellbeing' will seem better
Slopping the Trough: Disney Plus Loses Billions and the Decline of Physical Media in America
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 24, 2025
Links 24/04/2025: GAFAM Problems and No Peace (or Ceasefire) in Sight
Links for the day
Slopfarms on the Web Almost Always Generate Anti-Linux FUD When They Produce "Linux" Output
Welcome to the dying Web
Richard Stallman's Oxford Talk Has Just Ended, Here Are Some Photos
he might hop over to another European country
Gemini Links 24/04/2025: Birthday and Good Work of Academia in Esotericism
Links for the day
Links 24/04/2025: EU fines Apple and Facebook, Another Microsoft GitHub Security Blunder
Links for the day
IBM Gained Almost 6 Billion Dollars in "Goodwill" Value in Just 3 Months, According to IBM
Congrats to the management!
In Belarus, Yandex is Now Measured as 50 Times More 'Popular' (by Usage) Than Microsoft
Yandex continues to gain, whereas Bing cannot even register at 1%. Last month it was registered or measured at a measly 0.65%.
IBM Cannot Lie to Shareholders Anymore
"I would not be surprised if we see a layoff every quarter this year."
Using a Law Firm's Licence to Exercise Politics Through Frivolous SLAPPs and Nastygrams (to Silence People, Remove Pages, Demand Fake or Forced 'Apologies')
Things must be getting really bad when lawyers act for raving antisemites
We're Working to Make Full-Site Search Available
This site has over 1,000 'wiki' pages, many thousands of documents, several thousands of videos, and about 50,000 blog posts or articles. We need to make them easier to find/navigate.
Links 24/04/2025: IBM Loses Many Contracts, Intel to Lay Off Over 20% (Not Counting Those Who Leave 'Voluntarily')
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Can Explain to Oxford Artificial Intelligence Society Why LLM Slop is Not Artificial Intelligence and Why It Hurts Society
another 'crop' of LLM slop that damages GNU/Linux and facts
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 23, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Promoting Microsoft and Proprietary Software Using Microsoft Operatives
Because nothing says "Open Source" like GPL violations facilitated by Microsoft
Another Site Bites the Dust: "Open Source For You" Becoming a Slopfarm (LLM Slop)
What a shame. Another dead site.
Links 23/04/2025: Crackdowns on Dissent, Palin Loses Libel Retrial Against New York Times
Links for the day
Links 23/04/2025: Hard Times and Digital Amnesia
Links for the day
The GNU/Linux Site Formerly Known as "linoxide.com" is Back... as an LLM Slopfarm!
Better for linoxide.com to go offline than to do this
Richard Stallman to Speak in Oxford University Exactly a Day From Now
outsourced to GAFAM
Links 23/04/2025: "Hiding Corruption" and "The Cost of Defunding Harvard"
Links for the day
Microsoft 'Studies' Again? Leon Musolff is Writing Papers With Microsoft.
Even if one can see/find a link to "the study" (in the Bezos-controlled publication), most people won't look any further and just take everything at face value.
Towards GNU World Domination
The FSF led by Geoffrey S. Knauth with his friend Richard Stallman in the FSF's Board [...] Let's encourage people to adopt GNU/Linux. There has never been a better time.
statCounter Helps Visualise Just How Deep in Trouble Microsoft is (Especially in Africa)
Microsoft sabotaged efforts to connect Africans and equip them with GNU/Linux laptops
The Register is Using Linux-Hostile Clickbait in Articles of Linux Proponents
Don't be a "whore" to advertisers, team El Reg
Microsoft Windows in Cyprus Lacking a Future
Most people access the Web there from mobile
Matrix Has a Severe Problem With Illegal Images
If Matrix cannot get the CP problem under control, many projects and people will dump Matrix
Never Try to Justify Strangulation of Women (Not in the US and Not in the UK)
Joint post by Mrs. Rianne Schestowitz and Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Links 23/04/2025: Tesla Profits Plunge 71%, Intel Ready to Lay Off 20% of Staff, Microsoft and IBM Layoffs
Links for the day
Microsoft's Most Profound Issue is That People Moved to 'Mobile' and "App Stores" (Microsoft's Presence There is Negligible)
Expect a wild ride for Microsoft this year
Google News is Amplifying FUD and Lies About Linux (and OpenSSH/SSH) by Promoting Slopfarms With Machine-Generated FUD and Slop Images
Google should know better
Gemini Links 23/04/2025: Librarians, Anubis, and Refactoring a Gemini Capsule
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 22, 2025