Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Directors Would be Wise to Rebel Against Team Campinos While They Still Have the Job

Everybody demoted and disempowered except Team Campinos (below)

Team Campinos



Summary: As the EPO continues its bold journey towards dictatorship (where presidencies are passed between friends and 'circles' are former colleagues or close confidants) Techrights urges those who have power to speak out -- e.g. EPO judges and Directors -- to do something before it's too late

THE European Patent Office's (EPO) Presidency, Team Campinos/Battistelli (more or less the same people, same views, similar policies and identical nationality) is expanding with friends and family (some of the above are spouses and grossly under-qualified). Meanwhile, as a direct result of this institutional corruption, everybody else suffers.



A decade and a half ago I merely protested against software patents in Europe; I was a Computer Science graduate at the time and was working on software (computer vision) towards a doctorate degree. Even back then I argued with some professors about software patents, which they insisted were possible to obtain in the UK (contrary to the EPC). The EPO no longer cares what the EPC says; it grants patents on algorithms based on semantic nonsense like "technical effect" and buzzwords like "AI" (hey hi). It's also granting patents on life/nature in defiance of Parliament (as if the EPO is positioned above the EU itself and decides European policies behind closed doors, based on autocrats and their friends, recruited based on connections/nepotism). This utterly sick situation severely harms Europe's competitiveness. Even the US is already leaving software patents behind (USPTO grapples with 35 U.S.C. €§ 101).

As recently as yesterday Kluwer Patent Blog, a major patent maximalist, published yet another article about European Patents that perish. Litigation by American giants, using European Patents, turns out to be abusive, thuggish, frivolous. What do their lawsuits target? Generics, i.e. life savers. And "the District Court decided there was no infringement, not even by equivalence." Here's more:

Pemetrexed, yet again: last Wednesday the District Court of The Hague decided on Eli Lilly’s claim that Fresenius infringed its ‘pemetrexed disodium’ patent with a generic product that does not contain pemetrexed disodium. Going against the current, and after a deep diver in the prosecution file, the District Court decided there was no infringement, not even by equivalence.

The basic facts of the widespread Pemetrexed litigation will be well-known to most readers by now. Eli Lilly’s patent (EP 1 313 508) has a Swiss form claim relating to the “use of pemetrexed disodium” in combination with vitamin B12 for inhibiting tumor growth. Different generic companies do not use pemetrexed disodium in their product, but another form of pemetrexed (e.g. pemetrexed diacid, as in Fresenius’ product). Do these generic products fall within the scope of Lilly’s ‘pemetrexed disodium’ claim?

That question was put before numerous European patent judges over the past years.


This attack on a generic product is one of many; the UPC would only exacerbate things (if anything like it ever became a reality, which we doubt). There are lives at stake here. Yes, people would die if these generics were removed from the market and producers of such generic medicine already lose a lot of money in these failed court battles; intimidating and weakening them with weak 'cases' is perhaps the goal as Eli Lilly has very deep pockets, unlike theirs. This isn't about justice; it's bullying.

EPO managers with consciousness ought to do something about it. Attending protests, which will probably come soon, is one option. Leaking material to us is another. Following our latest EPO leak one reader noted, "what a coincidence BIT also means Bureau International du Travail, in other words ILO. You may want to see the scrubbed names [and] therefore here [is] a complete version..."

ILO might receive some appeals from them one day (e.g. if they get laid off* without actually committing any offense).

"I need to carefully think if (or when) these names become relevant," I responded to this reader. "Their subordinates might not like them, but they can form an alliance of convenience against the bad direction the Office has taken. Many would be former examiners."

I've compared the names listed at the top (Team Campinos) to the ones below; spectacularly there's no overlap, so in other words the people who are in effect being cautioned (or pushed one foot out the door) are those not in the 'circle' of Campinos. Coincidence? It's hard not to compare this to Donald Trump's self-assimilation tactics in the White House. Here's the full letter:

New BIT organisation and staff changes

02.05.2019

Implementation of new BIT organisation - several changes of PDs and Directors

Dear colleagues,

The new Business IT organisation came into life on 1 May 2019. BIT comes with a very different structure, a new leadership team and a very ambitious plan, as reflected in the draft SP2023 that you may have had the opportunity to browse. A leadership team, however, is only the tip of the iceberg: a fully functional BIT requires everyone's contribution and engagement. As we said at the beginning of the year, we will leave nobody behind on this journey.

With the implementation of the new BIT organisation as of 1 May, we would like to inform you about the following staff changes:

Under the direct responsibility of PD 4.6 Diego Eguidazu Alonso (CIO):

Mr Alain Lambert as Principal Advisor; Mr John Selkirk as Director IT Operations; Ms Catherine Eder as Director ad personam in charge of Change Management.

Under the direct responsibility of PD 4.5 Angel Aledo Lopez (CTO):

Mr John Bambridge as Principal Advisor; Mr Jean-Marc Janyszek as Director IT Architecture; Mr Yvan de la Fuente as Director IT Patent Granting Process; Mr Domenico Golzio as Director ad personam.

In the Directorate IT Operations (D 4.6.3):

Mr Michel Fombellida Lopez as Director ad personam in the Dept End User Computing (Dept 4.6.3.4); Mr Ian Wood as Director ad personam in the Dept Change and Release Management (Dept 4.6.3.2).

In the Directorate IT Search and Patent Granting Process (D 4.5.3):

Mr Miguel Albrecht as Director in charge of his current directorate (Dept 4.5.3.8); Mr Aloïse Fuchs as Director ad personam in the Dept Business Partners (Dept 4 .5.3.1); Mr Sytse De Jonge as Director ad personam in the Dept Business Partners; Mr Salvatore Chiarizia as Director ad personam in the Dept Business Partners; Mr Auke Hoekstra as Director ad personam in the Dept Patent Grant Products (Dept 4 .5.3.6); Mr Graham Day as Director ad personam in the Dept Patent Grant Products.

In the Directorate IT Architecture (D 4.5.1):

Mr Marc Guilleaume as Director ad personam in the Dept Business Analysis (Dept 4.5.1.1); Mr Giovanni Calamida as Director ad personam in the Dept Business Analysis.

In the Directorate IT Cooperation (D 4.5.2):

Mr Robert Gemmell as Director ad personam in the Dept National Patent Offices Business Partners (Dept 4.5.2.1); Mr Yves Grandjean as Director ad personam in the Dept National Patent Offices Business Partners; Mr Paul Schwander as Director ad personam in the Dept National Patent Offices Business Partners.

In the Directorate Corporate IT (D 4.6.1):

Mr Christian Baetzner as Director ad personam in the Dept Document and Content Management (Dept 4.6.1.3); Mr Giuseppe Falco as Director ad personam in the Dept SAP Centre of Excellence (Dept 4.6.1.1).

In the Directorate IT Planning (D 4.6.2):

Mr Lodewijk De Kock as Director ad personam in the Dept Risk Management (Dept 4.6.2.2); Mr Christophe Lintz as Director ad personam in the Dept IT Budgeting and Controlling (Dept 4.6.2.5).

The ad interim for the Director IT Cooperation (D 4.5.2) will be covered by the Chief Technology Officer until further notice.

The Chief Information Officer will ensure the ad interim function for the Director IT Planning (D 4.6.2) and the Director Corporate IT (D 4.6.1) until further notice.

We would like to thank all of our colleagues mentioned above for having accepted these new challenges and wish them all the best in their new functions.

Nellie Simon Vice-President DG 4

Steve Rowan Vice-President DG 1

Back

02.05.19 | Author: Nellie Simon - Vice-President DG 4, Steve Rowan - Vice-President DG 1



The above people are in effect being demoted; in Zagreb we saw Battistelli's 'bulldog' using similar tactics. He had assigned/relocated people whom he did not like to imaginary/temporary/volatile positions with questionable job titles before rendering them obsolete (making the redundancy seem impersonal). Battistelli later used the same tactics to drive out people inside the EPO (people who opposed him). Recall Lionel Baranes and others. Remember how Battistelli rigged the presidency's succession process against Cuno Tarfusser. The EPO of the past decade or so makes Europe look just about as corrupt as China or Russia (which are notorious for similar things). ____ * The "hoax" financial study (the CSC called it that) suggests they plan major cuts -- and ones that aren't needed. They even hire lawyers in preparation for something to that effect. It certainly looks like the EPO is nowadays preparing to lay off staff, maybe even sympathetic (to examiners' gripes) Directors.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Representing and Speaking for Animals
If I ever choose to take this matter to tribunal with animals-centric NGOs on my side, it'll get some press coverage for sure
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Slop Images in VentureBeat, Linux Foundation Spam Made With LLM Slop and Slop Images
The only relief or upside - if any exists - is that the pace of slop was down a bit this week
 
Financiers and Sponsors of the Slop Hype (Pyramid Scheme Waiting to End, Bubble That Will Inevitably Implode)
It's also burning the planet
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Google Helps Ponzi Schemes and Slopfarms in Google News
Slopfarms are a real pain
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Retiring at 62 and URL Filtering HTTP(S) Proxy on Qubes OS
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Lisa Cook Sues Convicted Felon and Backdoor Mandate in UK Resisted
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Arti 1.5.0, War on Public Health (CDC), and Slop 'Bros' Made to Pay for Their Mass Plagiarism
Links for the day
No, 4Chan is Not Fighting for You by Lawyering Up Against Ofcom (UK)
Don't mistake proto-fascists for people who "fight for you". They don't.
Downlplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
In Many Places in the World Vista 11 "Market Share" is Going Down, Not Up
In some countries Windows is already down to third place or lower
More Microsoft-Connected Layoffs, at Least Third Time This Month! (Also Another Death on Campus)
Microsoft as a "gaming" company is where studios, projects, games, and even developers come to die
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 28, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 28, 2025
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Poems, Games, and Java 25 Performance
Links for the day
Links 28/08/2025: Greenland 'Interferences' by US and Skinnerboxes to Get Banned in Korean Schools
Links for the day
Richard Stallman (RMS) Talk in Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress Will be Remote
This past week RMS received lots of accolades online
The Register MS (Run by Microsoft Operatives): Free Software is Putin, Hence Evil and Dangerous
The current editor in chief is an American Microsofter, the previous one went to work for Google (US)
Links 28/08/2025: Chatbots Distorting/Fabricating History and Also Driving Suicide
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/08/2025: Back in Japan and Why "Hacker News" Sucks
Links for the day
A Much-Needed Wake-up Call to Users of Wordpress.com, Blogspot, Substack and All Those Other Outsourced (and Centralised) Platforms
There are several lessons in there
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Resists Software Freedom, Even by Attacking Its Own
The OSI is compromised
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 27, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Slopwatch: linuxsecurity.com, Slopfarms in Google News, and More
Some readers of ours end up sending us links that are from slopfarms, not realising those are slopfarms
Gemini Links 27/08/2025: Katrina Memories and Google Versus Software Freedom
Links for the day
Links 27/08/2025: Police Against Media Freedom in the UK, Energy-Hungry Countries Targeted by China
Links for the day
Microsoft Windows Fell to All-Time Lows in Egypt This Summer, Vista 11 Adoption Decreases While GNU/Linux Increases
Vista 11 is going down rather than up
Links 27/08/2025: Microsoft Demoralises Staff With Slop Demands, Leaving Mastodon Explained
Links for the day
12 Hours Ago The Register MS Published a Fake (Paid-for) Article, But This One for a Change Did Not Promote a Ponzi Scheme
There are also Free software alternatives, but they don't pay The Register MS for "synthetic" so-called 'journalism'
More People Need to Call Out and Put a Stop to Serial Sloppers
Unless slopfarms are stopped, people will read and share Microsoft propaganda made by chatbots
Gemini Links 27/08/2025: Headphones and Tartarus
Links for the day
Morale at Microsoft is Terrible (Proprietary Plagiarism Machines Have No Future, LLM Slop is a Bubble)
The slop sceptics/critics are going to have lots of "told you so" moments
GNOME "governance issues, staff reduction, etc." amidst Albanian whistleblowing and women trafficking
Notice the connection to Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) and GNOME
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 26, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 26, 2025