Bonum Certa Men Certa

Yesterday in EPOPIC Andrei Iancu and António Campinos Shared a Salad of Ridiculous Buzzwords

Abstract patents being justified in the most laughable ways by clueless individuals technically unfit for the job (which they got owing to nepotism/connections)

Do we promote software patents? 'Course not! We call it 'IP and the next Industrial Revolution'



Summary: EPOPIC, this year's 'patent circus' of Romania, featured two actors who pretended to know what they're talking about, instead delivering a mime show with more buzzwords than substance

THE tradition of buzzwords and other nonsense is not new. It has gone on at the European Patent Office (EPO) for at least a decade. We used to joke about "as such" before Battistelli became President and nowadays we mock António Campinos for all sorts of ridiculous mumbo-jumbo (remember he's not a technical person!). Our favourite nowadays is "hey hi" (AI) and blockchains -- typically masks for software patents being granted in Europe although they're legally invalid* -- all in the name of pseudo-'novelty' (novelty in buzzwords and hype waves for the most part; great marketing!). We wrote about that as recently as the past weekend (so-called 'machine learning' as something not being reducible to maths/stats?).



"Experienced patent examiners certainly know that those aren't properties and they're not rights; neither technically nor legally."Anyway, when dealing with the EPO in the management sense -- especially nowadays -- remember you deal with people who got the job because of people they knew rather than what they knew. This is embarrassing for Europe and embarrassing for the whole discipline. As recently as yesterday the patent trolls' front groups (LES/LESI) were boosted by some account and then retweeted by EPO. Here's what they said: "The High-Growth Technology Business Conference revolves around the importance of engaging Intellectual Property in your business. on the 5th November we are conducting IP and business track workshops..."

"Intellectual Property..."

"IP..."

All that nonsense. Experienced patent examiners certainly know that those aren't properties and they're not rights; neither technically nor legally. But these are the propagandists the EPO nowadays associates with, framing patents as "IP". Honesty is no more. It's like copyright giants calling people who share "pirates" (equating the act of sharing with murder).

"It's like copyright giants calling people who share "pirates" (equating the act of sharing with murder)."Yesterday the EPO boosted U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Andrei Iancu with his 'novel' buzzwords for invalid software patents. In his own words, as per EPO: "Andrei Iancu, Director @USPTO: “AI, Self-driving vehicles, biotech, personalised medicine, 5G communications. There will be technologies we cannot even imagine yet. Our IP system must be robust and flexible enough to accommodate and enable these technologies.”

So what have we got here?

"IP..."

"AI..."

All that usual nonsense.

Then came "the next Industrial Revolution", as per this tweet: "Next on the #EPOPIC stage: Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property & Director of the @USPTO will talk about #IntellectualProperty and the next Industrial Revolution..."

"They share the same nonsensical buzzwords, as we've been pointing out for a number of months."Say what?

"Intellectual Property?"

"Industrial Revolution?"

Then came Campinos with "IP and the next Industrial Revolution". In the EPO's own words: "EPO President António Campinos: “I’m delighted that today Andrei Iancu is here, as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property & Director of the @USPTO, to talk about the subject of ‘IP and the next Industrial Revolution’.”"

Notice the pattern. They share the same nonsensical buzzwords, as we've been pointing out for a number of months. Can anyone keep a straight face in this freak show? The EPO also used the hashtags #4IR #3Dprinting and #blockchain in here. To quote: "The EPO develops Patent Insight Reports in order to show the value of #patent information, but also to analyse future & emerging technologies #EPOPIC #4IR #3Dprinting #blockchain"

"Got to have "smart" there too. We're losing count of all these ridiculous acronyms/fluff (there's also "IoT", "cloud", "app" and "ICT")."They also spoke of: "enable technologies like #blockchain, #smarthome technologies..."

Got to have "smart" there too. We're losing count of all these ridiculous acronyms/fluff (there's also "IoT", "cloud", "app" and "ICT").

What ever happened to "CII"? Oh, look, as recently as yesterday Watchtroll's editor Eileen McDermott used the lie that is "CII". In her summary she spoke of "Federal Circuit holding that computer-implemented inventions that do not improve the basic functions of the computer..." (no link because we never link to Watchtroll anymore)

"Campinos has the audacity to speak of transparency? Because wrongly-granted patents can be opposed for a fee (for a limited timespan and no assurance of positive outcome)?"That "CII" nonsense has spread to the US, as did the "AI" hype. Campinos on "hey hi" in yesterday's tweets: "AI is impacting on the whole IP system, and even forcing us to question foundational concepts, such as the notion of ‘inventorship’, says the EPO President."

So if a computer can process an application or generate one, then you cannot do your work anymore? That capability has been around for like half a century! Why does this 'panic' become so 'trendy' all of a sudden? Oh my god! Computer algorithms... can do stuff!

"Anyone can oppose a European patent within a period of nine months," the EPO wrote, "from the mention of its grant. This kind of transparency can only help achieve converging views on quality & make our #patent system stronger, says EPO President António Campinos."

Campinos has the audacity to speak of transparency? Because wrongly-granted patents can be opposed for a fee (for a limited timespan and no assurance of positive outcome)?

This has nothing to do with transparency; just like "quality" at the EPO no longer means quality, instead it means speed (pendency).

Going back to Iancu, in the EPO's own words: "Andrei Iancu Director @USPTO: “ Our IP system creates a pro-competitive cycle. IP creates perceptual innovation at accelerating rates.”

"This has nothing to do with transparency; just like "quality" at the EPO no longer means quality, instead it means speed (pendency)."So says a man from the patent litigation industry, who got his job after he had worked for Donald Trump (nepotism likely). There's also this: "Society does not know progress without a robust patent system, says Andrei Iancu Director..."

So no progress before patents existed? Incredible statement! ______ * There's this new example of software patents being rejected in Europe and another new one in the US: (35 U.S.C. €§ 101 in Simio v Flexsim; more new examples are, as usual, in our Daily Links)

This summer, the District of Utah dismissed Simio’s lawsuit against Flexsim Software, finding that the asserted patent was not patent eligible under Section 101. Simio responded by asking the court to vacate its judgment or, alternatively, allow Simio leave to file an amended complaint based on the Federal Circuit’s Cellspin v. Fitbit decision. Simio argued that new factual allegations in its proposed amended complaint ought to prevent the court from dismissing the case. The court disagreed with Simio.

The court first noted that while it could allow Simio to amend its complaint, an amendment could not “transform the deficient patent claim from one drawn to an ineligible software system to one directed toward an eligible machine.”

The court then addressed Simio’s argument that, pursuant to the Federal Circuit’s recent Cellspin decision, factual allegations in the amended complaint preclude dismissal at the pleading stage. The court again disagreed. “The Federal Circuit made clear that its decision should not be interpreted to mean that any allegation about inventiveness, wholly divorced from the claims or the specification, defeats a motion to dismiss automatically ... Simio’s allegations of inventiveness are simply not plausible.”


Recent Techrights' Posts

Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, UbuntuPIT, and Google News
We've also just noticed more slop from UbuntuPIT
Microsoft Windows is No Longer an Operating System, It's Surveillance Project
Why is this even legal to preload on PCs outside the US?
 
The Slop Song
The train wreck marches on
LLM Slop/Advanced Plagiarism Flooding the Zone With Capital That Does Not Exist
Many publishers out there still participate in this bubble instead of calling it what it is
Links 09/10/2025: Sacked Microsoft Workers Make "Sackbird", IBM Taps CockroachDB for PostgreSQL
Links for the day
"Happy Hacking Day" Richard Stallman Talk This Afternoon (From 14:00 to 16:00) at Haaga-Helia University in Pasila
Richard Stallman in Helsinki, Finland
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 08, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 08, 2025
Links 09/10/2025: Impact of Microsoft Layoffs, More Data Breaches
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/10/2025: Autumn Blues and C IRC Bot
Links for the day
Slopwatch Appreciated by Real Authors of GNU/Linux Articles
We do try to keep on top of those things
Upgraded R.R.R.R.R.R. Today
The Web of 2025 is full of garbage, not limited to slopfarms
Freedom From Proprietary Prisons
Forking always an option
IBM's Watson Died in 1956, Now Watson Dies Again
IBM is becoming just a reseller of GAFAM and other stuff
Microsoft Says That Constant Mass Layoffs Are Success, the Media Isn't Buying This Microsoft Narrative Anymore
If people in the media feel an obligation to repeat whatever lies Microsoft tells, what point will there be to the media?
Links 08/10/2025: "Mali Puts Free Speech on Trial" And Apple Enforces Dictatorship
Links for the day
Links 08/10/2025: ‘Death to Spotify’ and Law to Ban Loud Commercials on Streaming (Dis)Services
Links for the day
Links 08/10/2025: Real Innovation and Nina.chat is Dead
Links for the day
Links 08/10/2025: Y2K38 Bug is a Vulnerability, Chat Control in Europe a Threat
Links for the day
How and Why Once-Legitimate Sites Turn Into Slopfarms
Many sites will go offline and many social control networks will shut down once they realise or even openly admit they spend money and time gardening a bunch of bots and slop
UbuntuPIT Became a Slopfarm and Gnoppix Tarnishes Its Own Brand With Slop
It fits all the characteristics of mildly-edited (if at all) slop
Slopwatch: Linux Journal and Other Slopfarms
GAFAM needs to go the way of the dodo
Gemini Links 08/10/2025: "Seek Seek Revolution" and Gradient Backgrounds
Links for the day
Qualcomm Arduino Takes Aim at Raspberry Pi
Qualcomm is a Microsoft partner
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 07, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 07, 2025
Stagnation of the Economy and What Free Software Can (or Could) Do For It
If your economic model is based on a pyramid of lies, it won't last very long
Social Control Media is Sinking
it would rightly seem like the era of centralised "social" sites (they're not social, they're about controlling the users) is ending, not overnight but gradually
Participation in Cancel Culture Detrimental to One's Career
A cautionary tale
Passion Wins
we've increased the number of birds we feed to 100+
How Solderpunk and Sean Conner Started Gemini Protocol (and, Collectively, Geminispace) Back in 2019
Based on the "official" history
Arduino is Now a Patent Bully (Qualcomm)
Qualcomm has just bought Arduino
Many Years of Microsoft Cancellations and Faked (Acquired) Revenue "Growth"
XBox is basically the "next Skype"
The Comment TheLayoff.com Has Just Censored for Criticising a Ridiculous Puff Piece of IBM Management
If comments get censored for their "style" rather than their substance, then society will be worse off
The Power of Writing Down Facts
The more we write and publish, the more people will know what happened
Microsoft's Non-Denying Denial About XBox's Death is Already Being Shattered to Pieces
Like Microsoft's 'open' 'hey hi', heralding meaningless non-committing agreements with AMD is little more than vapourware
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT Joins the Slopfarms Club
Slopfarms gonna slop
Links 07/10/2025: Privacy at Risk, GAFAM Remains Off the Hook
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/10/2025: Modern Retro Console Idea and Batch vs Bash
Links for the day
Links 07/10/2025: International Criminal Court (ICC) Convicts Ali Kushayb; Moroccan Imprisoned for 'Offensive' Shirt
Links for the day
Links 07/10/2025: EU' Chat Control is Back, US Cracks Down on Democracy
Links for the day
Techrights Pursues Justice and Truth Because, Without Those, Society Descends Into Chaos
most people reject dogma and pseudoscience
Upcoming Talks by Richard Stallman in Helsinki, Göteborg, and Rome
Join with him and share the software
Something Bad is Happening in the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
The latest OSI blog post is from a Microsoft operative and a few weeks ago the Executive Director left
TLS 1.3 Dominates Geminispace (99% of Known Capsules)
it's nowadays safe to assume almost every capsule can handle TLS 1.3
Why soylentnews.org Has Been Having Technical Difficulties Lately
The network has been going up and down quite a lot this past week
A Statement Against Violence
The facts are on our side
They've Run Out of Things to Rebrand or Label as "AI"
The next few years will be interesting because if Microsoft lays off tens of thousands of workers each year, there won't be much left except mountains of debt and dying brands
The Register MS is Still Being Paid to Participate in the "AI" Ponzi Scheme Which Will Crash the Economy
The Register MS is hoping to get lucky by tricking people into a scam
Richard Stallman Confirms His Talk in Göteborg This Coming Friday
"The hosts say that the list will not be given to the state"
Most of the "Linux" Results This Morning in Google News Are LLM Slop From the Same Slopfarm, Plagiarising Phoronix
The main question is, does Google even care at this point?
Gemini Links 07/10/2025: Civil War and "Goodbye Web"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 06, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 06, 2025