Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Media is Not Observing But Actively Participating in Patent Lies of the EPO and Self-Serving Law Firms

What good is media that either isn't covering news or simply repeating press releases and marketing pitch?

White tower



Summary: Criticism of the shallow coverage (if any) regarding patents in Europe and elsewhere; the patent 'industry' seems to be totally dominating the 'debate' in the media because investigative, independent journalism perished (or committed suicide)

THE overall strategy of the European Patent Office (EPO) has generally been shallow, misguided and even illegal. Battistelli sought new ways to undermine oversight, attack judges, lower patent quality and promote new buzzwords that correspond to software patents that are illegal in Europe. António Campinos implements deep cuts that further harm quality or intimidate staff into increased 'production' (i.e. decreased quality) whilst also lowering salaries, pensions and even outsourcing key jobs.



"The overall strategy of the European Patent Office (EPO) has generally been shallow, misguided and even illegal."To distract from all the above the EPO has already ensured media remains on its side, either by silence (complicity) or cheerleading. The EPO did so by intimidation and bribery -- examples of which were covered here before. Before the weekend the EPO issued this ridiculous statement (warning: epo.org link). The latest EPO "press release" is gross and embarrassing greenwashing; it's hardly the first time these corrupt people try to come across as environmentalists. In Twitter they wrote: "European Patent Office joins City of Munich @muenchen ’s #climatepact to cut CO2 emissions..."

"To distract from all the above the EPO has already ensured media remains on its side, either by silence (complicity) or cheerleading."Munich is happy to have these EPO abuses on its soil in Bavaria. After all, that can generate income (circulation of money) in the city, but what's in it for all the other cities in Europe?

The EPO has also just tweeted: "How do you make the best use of patent documents as a source of information for developing new #climatechange mitigation technologies?"

"These are patent monopolies," I responded, "so when the EPO grants these it actually reduces the availability is new-developed solutions by which to tackle the climate crisis..."

All these greenwashing tweets and press releases are old distraction tactics. Sometimes they talk about stuff like social responsibility, SMEs, ethics, innovation and so on. In other words, the very same things the EPO fights against.

"All these greenwashing tweets and press releases are old distraction tactics. Sometimes they talk about stuff like social responsibility, SMEs, ethics, innovation and so on. In other words, the very same things the EPO fights against."The EPO may be impressing itself (not the staff but the administration); it's not fooling judges and the media is hardly fooled, it's just being bribed for puff pieces and threatened for silence. It's very gross abuse.

What we've mostly been left with is so-called 'news' sites that are actually lobbying platforms of law firms. That's not journalism. Lawyer Monthly Magazine, for instance, has just said (earlier this week) that "it is highly likely that Brexit will impact on the implementation of the proposed (EU) unitary patent and the Unified Patent Court in London."

There's no UPC. It's dead. It is not a matter of London or not, not even Brexit or not. There are many reasons UPC failed, irrespective of Brexit.

From France/Paris we have this new nonsense about "IP [sic] Regime" (the misleading language of patent maximalists).

"There are many reasons UPC failed, irrespective of Brexit.""Dan Prud’homme is a professor of innovation, strategy and international business at the EMLV Business School in Paris," it says at the bottom and over at Harvard Business Review he promotes the myth (lie) of "IP" and says the following about China (the focus of his article): "There is faster invention patent pendency (time to grant patents) in China than at the European Patent Office (EPO) and US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), and invention patent examination is widely accepted to be of higher quality in China than at some national offices in Europe. [...] potential discrimination against foreigners during the patent examination processes at the EPO, Japanese Patent Office, and in other liberal democracies; and, more generally, the US and EU are the world’s leading defendants in WTO cases and have the worst records in terms of timely and full compliance with WTO judgments."

While there's no disputing EPO patent quality became low this article fails to explain that China has "faster invention patent pendency" because patent quality is totally awful. Examination not being done means 'optimal' pendency!

These people don't care. All they care about is litigation. Money. Money, money and money. Legal bills.

"All they care about is litigation."Suffice to say, lots of Chinese software patents would hardly survive courts; but China doesn't care because to thwart sanctions they need to create this illusion of innovation rather than copycats; they game the patent systems nowadays... and WIPO could not be happier!

Here's a new article from a law firm (FB Rice's Paul Whenman and Mary Turonek), promoted through Lexology just a few days ago. This one is about Singapore which has a large Chinese community and far too many software patents. Notice how patent litigation firms paint as "stars" countries that just grant lots of patents i.e. monopolies, to sue over. All about money and monopolies (rich clients), right?

As we've noted here many times in the past, Singapore grants loads of software patents the rest of the world (courts) would reject. In that regard, IPOS is a POS. To quote Whenman and Turonek:

To foster innovative growth in its already strong financial sector, a Fintech Fast Track initiative has been in place since April 2018. This program is designed expedite the patent application to patent grant process as a means to support commercialisation of underlying financial technology. This initiative was recently complemented with the launch in April 2019 of the Accelerated Initiative for Artificial Intelligence.


See what they do there? "This initiative was recently complemented with the launch in April 2019 of the Accelerated Initiative for Artificial Intelligence," i.e. granting software patents disguised as "hey hi!" even faster. And there's also the buzzword "FinTech" -- a nonsensical term that Singapore treats similarly because the country's economy is all about finance and trade.

"Many software patents are nowadays being painted as "hey hi" and so-called law firms encourage this dodge (because they're dishonest and all they care about is robbing clients and defendants)."As Henrion put it the other day, the EPO does the same thing. "EPO says AI do not need a change of the EPC, I say otherwise. Especially when their "technical" swpat doctrine is not a solid foundation."

Many software patents are nowadays being painted as "hey hi" and so-called law firms encourage this dodge (because they're dishonest and all they care about is robbing clients and defendants). Watch this newly-promoted article from Gowling WLG's Shahrzad Esmaili and Roch J. Ripley who say:

Artificial intelligence (AI)—the use of various methods and algorithms to simulate cognitive functions in machines—has its origins dating back to the 1950s. In recent years, the confluence of advancements in computational power and the abundance of rich data sets has led to a surge in the number of practical applications for AI. The time and money required to properly train, test, and deploy AI in these applications makes protecting them using patents a crucial consideration in any business plan.


So they're using these same semantic tricks even in Canada. Buzzwords spread fast. What will happen when all these patents perish in courts, by means of precedents at least? Choose between an avalanche and bubble metaphor...

"What will happen when all these patents perish in courts, by means of precedents at least?"Bardehle Pagenberg, the software patents zealots, publicly admit some of these patents turn out to be bogus ("There's a new entry in the EUROPEAN SOFTWARE PATENTS knowledge base: De-identifying data for privacy reasons: non-technical") and Axel B. Berger and Nils J. Lindenmaier (Bardehle Pagenberg) have begun comparing courts' assessments to the EPO's only outside the realm of software! They openly say that the "European Patent Office (EPO) applies the enablement regulations in a more stringent manner in this regard." This is what the German Federal Patent Court -- not the EPO -- has decided about a patent covering a physical thing:

The subject matter of the patent-in-suit is an apparatus for the drying of particulate material of a type known as such in which the drying takes place in superheated steam in a closed container, in the upper part of which a dust-separation cyclone is arranged.

According to the patent-in-suit, a disadvantage of the known apparatus type is to be eliminated by means of the claimed apparatus, namely the fact that the steam flow and, thus, the drying capacity cannot be increased without an unacceptably great amount of particulate material simultaneously being swept into the dust separation cyclone together with the steam.

Specifically, the patent-in-suit defines that the problem to be solved by the invention is the provision of an apparatus which has a greater drying capacity than the known types of apparatus, without this giving rise to an increase in the cost of the apparatus, and without any reduction in the quality of the finished product.

To solve the problem, the patent-in-suit provides that at least a half part of the steam is fed into the upper part of the cyclone through corresponding openings instead of not feeding the steam into the bottom part of the dust separation cyclone, or only feeding the steam into said bottom part to a small extent, as was the case in the known types of apparatus.

[...]

The German Federal Patent Court dismissed the nullity complaint as unfounded and, in particular, affirmed the enabling disclosure of the invention. In its statements of grounds, the German Federal Patent Court also made reference to the worked example described in the patent-in-suit, according to which all of the steam and dust is fed through openings in the upper part.

[...]

The European Patent Office (EPO) applies the enablement regulations in a more stringent manner in this regard. While disclosing a way in which the person skilled in the art may carry out the invention is usually sufficient, even in the practice of the EPO, this only applies if the invention may also be realized in the whole area claimed on this basis. Therefore, in the present case, the EPO could conceivably have considered the provision of only one enabling way of the claimed invention in the form of the threshold value of 100:0% not sufficient regarding the distribution of 50:50% to 100:0% of the steam and the dust in the upper part claimed by means of feature 5.1. This would have been conceivable at least if the person skilled in the art had not been able to realize the full range up to a distribution of 50:50% on this basis without undue burden.


Why doesn't Bardehle Pagenberg speak about all those European Patents which cover software and that the courts in Germany throw out? Why focus on drying machines all of a sudden? These should be legitimate concerns. Bardehle Pagenberg is, in our experience, one of the least credible firms in Germany. They openly and repeatedly advocate patents which are likely illegal and which would be thrown out by courts (i.e. be a waste of time and money for applicants/clients).

"Bardehle Pagenberg is, in our experience, one of the least credible firms in Germany."Here in the UK, according to this new press release, there's an upcoming seminar teaching people how to overcome the EPC (patent law) by tricking EPO examiners. They conveniently target a patent office where patents are nowadays granted easily, only due to corrupt management that consciously violates the law in order to fake so-called 'production'.

Henrion has meanwhile noted, using about half a dozen tweets, the latest scandal implicating Thierry Breton. Here he focused on patent aspects, noting that "Thierry Breton nomination is bad news for software freedom, ex-CEO of Technicolor/Thomson who was collecting royalties over MP3. Plus he seems to be in the Batistelli/EPO sphere https://www.francophonie.org/Discours-SG-prix-inventeur-europeen-2018-48929.html …"

He also noticed that "Juve awards people like "Arnold Ruess" for defending patent trolls like Sisvel https://www.juve-patent.com/news-and-stories/people-and-business/juve-awards-names-arnold-ruess-and-thyssenkrupp-ip-teams-of-the-year/ …"

JUVE has awarded even worse and pushed UPC all along.

What happened to media which is actually objective and actually investigates facts?

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Right to Punch People (Apparently)
At Brett Wilson, Brett's job title is "Head of Crime" and Wilson normalises calls for violence
Brett Wilson LLP Seem to Have Had Only One Litigation Client in 2025, He Was Previously Charged, Just Like the Serial Strangler From Microsoft (Whom They Now Represent)
Karma is superstition, regulators are not
Project 2030 to Cover How "Project 2025"-Styled Anti-Media Zealots From America Targeted Techrights and Tux Machines
The common denominator is also their attacks on women
Brett Wilson LLP Failed to Meet Deadlines Set by Judge 7 Months Earlier, Tried to Ruin Our Holiday, Then Had the Audacity to Ask Us for Over 3,000 Pounds for Its Own Lateness
As a matter of principle we will never respond to assassin while we are on holiday
Americans Attacking British Sites Only Months After They Leave America
We find it kind of funny if not ironic that this site, originally an American site, got legal harassment only from Americans and only months after it had moved to the UK
Despite Losing Over a Quarter Million Dollars a Year Software in the Public Interest (SPI) Gives Helping Hand to Libreboot
SPI's financial state depends a lot on its public image or its reputation
If You Want to Know the Future, Listen to the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and Andy Farnell
We're sure the FSF will have plenty of its own output
 
Links 19/09/2025: Lobbying of American GAFAM Becomes Data Protection Commissioner in Europe
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Media Freedom Ceases to Exist in US, "Consider Dropping Twitter/X"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/09/2025: Thinking and Insect Bites
Links for the day
Microsoft E.E.E.: Git Will Now (or Very Soon) Fully Depend on Rust, Which is Controlled by Microsoft
Microsoft now makes Git dependent on Rust, or making Git dependent on GitHub, which is proprietary
Slop or Fake Articles Have Turned Linux Journal From a Pioneering/Trailblazing "Linux" Magazine Into a Nuisance
some sites with former reputation - good reputation - turn into cesspools
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 18, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 18, 2025
On Claims That After Bluewashing Red Hat Will Increasingly Become an Indian Company
Discussed this week (long and detailed)
Slopwatch: Google Helps Plagiarism and Sends Traffic to Ripoff Artists
That Google as a company helps spamfarms is noteworthy
Links 18/09/2025: A Taliban Ban on Internet Access and Troubled US Job Market
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/09/2025: Computer Literacy and Accessing Alhena's Database
Links for the day
Links 18/09/2025: US War on Media (Truth Banned, Cancel Culture by the Hard Right), NYT Chief Executive Warns Cheeto is Deploying ‘Anti-press Playbook'
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, September 17, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Slopwatch: Fake Articles, Fake Text, Fake Images, Negative Slant on "Linux"
Google News has lost its value; the signal-to-noise ratio has fallen off a cliff
Gemini Links 17/09/2025: Relax-and-Recover on Proxmox and New Smolweb File Transfer Service
Links for the day
Fact: EFF Got Corrupted by Corporate Money. Microsoft Lunduke (Political Noise): The Issue With EFF is, It Kills Babies.
Microsoft Lunduke - as usual - finds a way to make it about abortions
Pacing Publication Up a Bit
The news cycles have gotten rather light and slow
Links 17/09/2025: Power Outages, Digital Controls, and Attacks on the Mainstream Media (by Insecure and Corrupt Dictators)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/09/2025: Flashing LineageOS and ROOPHLOCH
Links for the day
Links 17/09/2025: Long COVID Study, "Exposing Pegasus", and Chatbots Exposing Sensitive Data
Links for the day
Links 17/09/2025: Secret Settlement for Internet Archive and Google’s LLM Slop Summaries Attracting Lawsuits
Links for the day
The True Cost of 'Generative Models'
Funded and promoted by the companies that profit from the waste
'Big Slop' Attacks Contemporary Information/Knowledge and Creative Works, 'Big Copyright' (Cartel) Attacks the Old
Someone at IA will hopefully "blow the whistle" on what they actually agreed
Why We Find It Difficult to Trust Rust
A comparison between C/C++ and Rust
Slop Nihilism is Funded by Big Oil
Eventually human civilisation will destroy itself
Watching the OSI: Our Series Will Carry on Irrespective of the Chief's 'Resignation'
the OSI isn't even the real guardian of the term "Open Source"
Professor Eben Moglen Recovering From Open Heart Surgery
From his public pages (this is not secret)
Just What LibreOffice Needs? Another Language? (Rust)
what's all this concern about memory safety?
Many Microsoft Managers Are Leaving
"Hey hi" chaff or chaff about "hey hi" cannot eternally distract from the difficulties inside the company
There Are Red Hat (IBM) Layoffs, But Google News is Infested With Slopfarms
It contributes a lot to misinformation and it encourages plagiarism
Tomorrow, Microsoft's Tim Anderson's 'The Register MS' Offshoot Will Have Been Inactive for 2 Months (There's Also a Slop Problem)
We've already caught The Register MS using LLM slop for articles
Microsoft's Chief Legal Officer Leaves Microsoft After Nearly 30 Years
And not retiring
Even Windows Users Are Having Problems With "Secure Boot"
When it comes to security - Microsoft strives for the very opposite
Another Competition Crime of Microsoft, Long Facilitated and Advocated by a Bad Actor, Who is Funded by a Third Party to Commit Extortion Against People Who Have Correctly and Repeatedly Warned About It for Over 13 Year
We must always go back to the core issues
3 More Reasons to Replace Mozilla Firefox With LibreWolf
Thankfully there are de-enshittified versions of Firefox
USA Not a Place for Free Speech
In America, as in the US, the attacks seem more enhanced or advanced these days
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 16, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Links 17/09/2025: Google Layoffs in "Hey Hi" (AI), Perplexity Hit With More "Hey Hi" (Plagiarism) Lawsuits
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/09/2025: Reclaiming Things in a Digital Age and Moon Phases in CGI
Links for the day