Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Will Need a Lot More Than Photo Ops and Hoax 'Studies' to Restore the Perception of Lawfulness

At the EPO people are rewarded for breaking the law and punished for protecting the law

Sebastian Bauer in an EPO protest



Summary: Battistelli's illegal attacks on European Patent Office (EPO) judges have tarnished any impression that the EPO serves justice and the current regime torpedoes an assessment of these attacks; EPO workers understand that to follow guidelines from the management may be a breach of the EPC

THE EPO's staff is going to demonstrate tomorrow, as we reported yesterday (just short of a strike which takes longer to prepare because of obnoxious rules requiring authorisaion and a voting process). It has become pretty clear that EPO workers are willing to put their career at risk just to ensure that the EPO starts obeying the law. That takes courage and we respect those who will attend. I myself sometimes protest at work (at great risk to myself) and sometimes it works. Don't fall for the illusion that you're powerless and protests have no impact. They certainly do, especially when they become 'contagious' (coworkers/colleagues join in).



"Examiners of the EPO are meanwhile being manipulated into granting such patents in defiance of the law (EPC) that governs the Office."As longtime readers are aware, our original problem with the EPO concerned software patents (going back to articles we wrote more than 12 years ago). The issue has not been tackled at all! Since the Parliamentarians voted against such patents (2005) things have only gotten worse and yesterday we saw Bardehle Pagenberg once again pushing this agenda. In the media even. Surely they know these are not legal and they spend their money on software patents advocacy. Examiners of the EPO are meanwhile being manipulated into granting such patents in defiance of the law (EPC) that governs the Office. Impending guidelines (in effect within days) misuse buzzwords and compel examiners to grant. This is illegal. Workers of the EPO are, in effect, pressured to break the law or risk unemployment -- a position I'm well familiar with having confronted some managers on privacy and security issues in the recent past.

"Well, it's plausible that the EPO just breaks the law in pursuit of endless 'growth' (a growth in easily-granted monopolies)."It's very clear that the EPO's management dislikes patent quality. It sees real quality (not pendency) as an obstacle, so it does not do proper patent examination anymore. It limits what examiners are allowed to do in preparation of a rejection. So anything that supports a grant (the number of grants nearly doubled in just a few years) is seen as "OK". Yesterday the EPO tweeted: "What's the EPO's practice when it comes to plausibility?"

Well, it's plausible that the EPO just breaks the law in pursuit of endless 'growth' (a growth in easily-granted monopolies).

The EPO then tweeted: "Ever wondered what the #blockchain patenting landscape looks like in China?"

"The EPO's top-level management invited serial extortionists from another continent to promote this sham. What does that say about the EPO? It's a fiasco."Remember that EPO management invited notorious patent trolls with these software patents ("blockchain") to EPO panels. The EPO's top-level management invited serial extortionists from another continent to promote this sham. What does that say about the EPO? It's a fiasco.

Having just posted more photo ops of António Campinos, the EPO thinks it can magically sidestep all these scandals. "Look, our president shook hands with someone! And we took a photo! Hence success!!"

"EPO staff has a moral dilemma; what to protect? One's career or the law? By protecting the latter they can also protect the former, but it won't be easy. There are risks to be taken and compromises to be made."As usual, for 4 weeks now (today marks exactly four week), the EPO still promotes that same sham (lying) 'study' it paid for. Who does the EPO try to impress? Who even believes this nonsense? Certainly not the EPO's own workers.

It ought to have become apparent that nothing at all has changed under Campinos. It's Battistelli by another name with seemingly -- on the surface at least -- different temperament.

EPO staff has a moral dilemma; what to protect? One's career or the law? By protecting the latter they can also protect the former, but it won't be easy. There are risks to be taken and compromises to be made.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Reboots Should Never be Necessary
"BUT WHAT ABOUT SECURITY!!"
There's Still Hope for the World Wide Web
Let's hope that the trajectory of the Web won't be leading us to over-reliance on Google, nor will it reward worthless slopfarms
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: Smolweb and Alhena 5.1.7
Links for the day
XBox is Rapidly Turned Into a Slopfarm by Microsoft
Slop isn't about efficiency and saving money
Microsoft's Halloween Documents and systemd, Wayland, Etc.
Maybe one day Wayland will be widespread. Or maybe not.
 
Links 15/07/2025: LLM Pollution and Pushback in Ukraine
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: xkcd, New Cert, and Alhena Gemlog
Links for the day
Links 15/07/2025: Press Freedom at Risk and New Facebook Blunders
Links for the day
The Danes Want GNU/Linux
David Heinemeier Hansson recently moved to GNU/Linux
Cory Doctorow Explains Why Software Freedom Matters, Whereas "Open Source" Misses the Point and Helps Monopolies
It's a very long article
BillPR (EpsteinGate-Bribed NPR) is Turning Into a Partial Slopfarm that Promotes Slop
"I went on a date with a chatbot!"
Two Weeks Passed Since Latest Large Wave of Microsoft Layoffs, More Expected Next Month
Blaming the debt on "AI" is just self-serving storytelling
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 14, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 14, 2025
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: Gemini "Style Sheets" and Switching From Microsoft GitHub to Codeberg
Links for the day
Coming Soon: Another OSI Scandal, This One Implicating Molly de Blanc
OSI has been fairly quiet lately
Outreachy & Debian pregnancy cluster, Meike Reichle evidence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Again, "Lunduke is Actually Sending His Audience to Attack People"
Microsoft Lunduke is not trying to "protect" Linux
One of the Most Hilarious Things About the Microsoft SLAPPs
It's so ridiculous
Financial Support for the Free Software Foundation or the GNU Project
The FSF has extended until Friday its fund-raising campaign
Illegally Hiding (or Demanding Secrecy Around) Illegal Requests or Attempts at Extortion
unlawful communications like threats
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: BOFH Archive, Updating Old Palm PDAS, and Nginx vs Slop Bots
Links for the day
Ubuntu is Becoming GAFAM-Like
What does that say about Canonical and Ubuntu?
Slopfarms Which Take Real Articles About GNU/Linux and Turn Them Into Copycats Which Are False
Even before the LLM hype those were quite common
The Firm That Picks on Techrights is Accustomed to Working With Criminals
Techrights never did anything illegal. So why is it being picked on by people who work with criminals?
Microsoft Said the Mass Layoffs Were for "Investment" in "AI", But It's Also Laying Off the "AI" and "Copilot" Staff
Months ago we showed many so-called "AI" people were getting the boot and this time it's the same
DryDeadFish is Dead, Long Live DryDeadFish
We kept checking, hoping it can recover from some temporary technical issue
For Quite Some Time Already Microsoft Attracts Crackpots, Scams, and More
Occasionally we talk about the situation at IBM as there are many parallels
Links 14/07/2025: Chatbots Broken Again, McHire LLM Shows Limits of the Hype
Links for the day
Changing One's Name Won't Change One's Past
People who have earned a bad reputation are not magically "entitled" to reset
People Who Assault Women Are Not Victims of "Distress"
It seems like an American tradition. In a country with almost 50 presidents, not even one was a female.
Slashdot Media Turned Linux Journal Into a Slopfarm and Now Slashdot Actively Promotes Anti-Linux Slopfarms
Yes, "no-nonsense" apparently means actual nonsense
Adoption of Gemini Protocol Still Growing
Gemini Protocol is being obscured by the media - it doesn't help that Google 'hijacked' the word "Gemini" - but people still manage to find out about it, download a client, and use it
Links 14/07/2025: Arresting Photographers, Threats to Revoke US Citizenship Over Criticism
Links for the day
More EPO Leaks on the Way
We hope that Mr. Rowan will actually try to refute what we say and show, not merely point the finger at the messengers
Decommodification is a Corporate Strategy Against Communities
systemd is led by Microsoft and hosted by Microsoft
copyleft.org 'Hijacked' by the People Who Attack the Person Who Created Copyleft
So far there's nothing "tasteless" in copyleft.org, but that can change at any time in the future
Asking People to Take Down Articles and Videos Only Makes These More Popular and "Viral"
If you do something bad, one of the worst things you can possibly do it try to silence those who speak about it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 13, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 13, 2025
Two-Thirds Towards FSF Goal, Richard Stallman to Give Talks in Europe
There are 67 left before reaching the target
Brett Wilson LLP "Takes it Personal" (Character Assassination, Not Professionalism). Everybody Can See That.
On behalf of violent men
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: Politicised Tech and "Leaving GitHub"
Links for the day
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
Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
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