Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Management Exacerbates Its Patent Invalidity Crisis by Rushing Examination Even Further in New Pilots

Justice doesn't matter. The only thing that matters now is speed and volume of patent "delivery" (grant).

A sick EPO
A morbidly sick kakistocracy is what the EPO turned into (in less than a decade)



Summary: The printing/litigation machine that the Office has devolved into is certainly good for patent trolls, but not for anybody else; those who don't play along are sooner or later ousted (for caring about proper examination and underlying justice)

IN THE PREVIOUS EPO post we spoke about the collapse in patent quality and silencing of all sources of criticism. Team Campinos/Battistelli has long been more interested in squashing and muzzling media/bloggers than it was in solving the stated (by media/bloggers) problems. Last week's leak (a program euphemistically-named “Collaborative Quality Improvements”) shows that collapse in patent quality is now branded “Collaborative" and "Quality Improvements”. More marketing than substance. More PR than science.



"More marketing than substance. More PR than science."Our newly-published leaks are obviously ignored by the European media (don't even bother trying to get the media interested), which the EPO gives money to (it helps keep it silent). We get some truly explosive material about the EPO published almost each and every week. The corporate media refuses to even touch it. They stonewall. They'd rather not say why the issues aren't being covered. Such is the impact of the officials buying silence from this media (at our expense). It's corruption that in effect extends to the media. It's disturbing and troubling to me, both as a European citizen and one who spent decades writing about injustices. I've never seen anything like that (when covering Microsoft abuses the media at least showed interest). Days ago we added another leak about mass-demoted Directors. Media response? Nothing! They didn't even tweet about this. Nothing. What ought to have been front page news in some circles (e.g. sites about patent 'news'*) was simply ignored. As someone put it this morning: "Meanwhile, Angel Aledo and Diego Eguidazu (http://techrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/DEA-LinkedIn.pdf …), having destroyed many people€´s careers, enjoy a huge salary at @EPOorg without ever passing an #epso @EU_Careers competition, just because they are under the Campino€´s Mafia http://techrights.org/2019/06/01/antonio-campinos-isnt-change/ … #EqualRights"

Donald Zuhn has meanwhile been spreading to syndicated 'news' sites (actually, lawyers' sites treated by Google News as "news") this latest post of his from Patent Docs, a patent maximalists' site. It's about another pilot (notorious like all the rest). Can we call it "globalisation" wherein the goal is lowering labour standards, examination thresholds/practices, and patent quality (e.g. calling bunk software patents "hey hi")? In his own words (notice the recurring theme, words like "Cooperation" and "Collaboration" again):

In a Patent Alert e-mail distributed last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that beginning July 1, 2019, the Office would once again be accepting new International applications to the IP5 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Collaboration Search and Examination (CS&E) pilot program. In a notice published in the Federal Register last year (83 Fed. Reg. 30147), the Office announced its first year of participation in the pilot program, which ran from July 1, 2018 until June 30, 2019. The second year of the Office's participation in the program begins tomorrow and runs through June 30, 2020. The pilot program was initiated to assess user interest for a CS&E product (i.e., an International search report and written opinion prepared by collaborating examiners from the IP5 Offices), as well as whether the collaboration results in efficiency gains by the IP5 Offices.


And here comes yet another pilot, belatedly posted with an older date (probably a CMS/editing error) (warning: epo.org link) to show how the EPO prioritises patent trolls and/or presumption of guilt (leapfrogging justice). What an awful strategy which values/favours parasites and litigators, not innovation.

So the EPO says it wants patent trolls et al "obtaining patents more quickly and efficiently" irrespective of underlying facts, legal validity etc. In its own words:

With effect from 1 July 2019, the European Patent Office (EPO) will be extending its PPH pilot programme with IP Australia, thus enabling applicants at both offices to continue obtaining patents more quickly and efficiently.

The PPH pilot programme is being extended for three years until 30 June 2022, and the current conditions and requirements for participation will continue to apply.


Anyone who thought that Campinos might be "hope" or "change" or "improving things" must rethink things quickly. He's already deranking/demoting dozens of Directors he does not like (replacing them with his minions) and planning to fire a lot of people, under the guise of "sustainability" or "efficiency" or "agility" (like he did at his former employer). It's quickly escalating and it will inevitably become a dictatorship (or takeover) of patent maximalists like never seen elsewhere (not even in China). ____ * We don't really cover these matters as closely as before anymore, but the good news is that patent maximalists' sites/blogs are deteriorating and perishing.

Managing IP is deteriorating along with Patent Docs, Watchtroll (back to ranting about very old 35 U.S.C. ۤ 101 cases in "Federal Circuit Cellspin Ruling Provides Important Clarifications on Aatrix and Berkheimer"), IAM and Patently-O. They lost many of their key writers and don't have much to write, so they yank out 'meta' articles like this one instead. Managing IP -- a de facto think tank of patent maximalists and Battistelli -- is stacking panels again in order to stage bogus debates where one side of the debate is excluded, as usual.

Recent Techrights' Posts

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Hijacked Again by Patent Litigation Industry, as President Cheeto Prioritises Aggressors
The "mafia" has taken over the "industry" and the Federal system (justice and constitutions trampled upon)
Ubuntu Slop and FUD Manufactured With LLMs and Funded (by Oneself) 'Studies'
Slop and FUD are ruining the Web
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: Games and More
Links for the day
Why We're Reporting Brett Wilson LLP for Apparently Misusing Their Licence to Protect American Microsofters Who Attack Women
For those who have not been keeping abreast
Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
 
Gemini Protocol Has Growing Appeal (the Web Got Too Bloated and Full of LLM Slop)
For any "data plan" with bandwidth limits or "tiers" it would be cheaper to use/browse Geminispace
The Web Can Survive LLM Slop, But Only If We Collectively Shun and Discourage Serial Sloppers
Doing nothing ought not be a possibility
Amid Secret Shut-downs and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (4 Waves of Layoffs in 3 Months of 2025) Some Microsoft Staff Expected to Go On Strike
workers going on strike
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: No more on Mastodon and Gemini Mention Script in Go
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 01, 2025
My Motion Disbarring or “Striking Off” Brett Wilson LLP for Enabling Violent Americans Who Try to Crush Microsoft Critics in the United Kingdom by Multiple SLAPPs
"Guns for hire" (for Microsoft people who received Microsoft salaries)
Links 01/04/2025: Apple Fined $162M for Privacy Abuses, Disinformation Online a Growing Concern
Links for the day
Newer Press Reports Confirm That Microsoft Shuts Down 'Hey Hi' (AI) Labs Despite All the Hype
The "hey hi" (AI) bubble is not sustainable
Links 01/04/2025: Mass Layoffs at Eidos and "Microsoft Pulls Back on Data Centers" (Demand Lacking); "Racist and Sexist" Slop From Microsoft
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: XKCDpunk and worldclock.py
Links for the day
50 Years of Sabotage and a Gut Punch to Computer Science (and Science in General)
Will we get back to science-based computing rather than cult-like following?
3 Months in 2025, 4 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Now Offices Shut Down Permanently
"A recent visit by the South China Morning Post confirmed that the office was dark, unoccupied, and had its logo removed."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 31, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 31, 2025
Links 31/03/2025: China Tensions, Bombs Falling in Myanmar After Earthquake
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: Falling Out of Love With Tech, Sunsetting openSNP
Links for the day
R.T.O. at IBM in Texas and Atlanta (State of Georgia) Expected as "Soft Layoffs" Catalyst This Coming Year
It also sounds like more IBM layoffs are in the making
Law Firms Can Also Lose Their Licence for Clearly Misusing It
The bottom line is, never made the false assumption that because you can pile up SLAPPs in a docket you will not suffer from bad reputation or even get disbarred
Link between institutional abuse, Swiss jurists, Debianism and FSFE
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
LLM Slop Piggybacking News About GNU/Linux and Distorting It
new examples
Links 31/03/2025: Press and Democracy Under Further Attacks in the US, Attitudes Towards Slop Sour
Links for the day
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: The OSI Does Not Respect Anybody's Privacy
The surveillance mafia that bans dissent or key people (even co-founders) with dissenting views
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: More X-Filesposting and Dreaming in Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 30, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 30, 2025