Bonum Certa Men Certa

Missing in Action: Investigative Reporting About the European Patent Office

Recent: Journalism in the Area of Patents and the Domain of Patent Litigation is Dead

Leaves



Summary: It's difficult to see any effort whatsoever going into investigation of EPO affairs, including the recent vote for a strike; EPO payments and threats may have played a big role in this apparent indifference

THE YEAR has barely started for the European Patent Office (EPO). No press releases, only rather mindless and unoriginal 'tweets', no press articles...



We suppose that António Campinos prefers it that way. Battistelli failed to duck negative press quite to the same extent (even if nothing has changed since!).

"Patents aren't a physical thing but a monopoly, granted temporarily in exchange for publication/disclosure."This does not mean that the EPO is no longer mentioned anywhere. It's just that nothing at all is mentioned about internal affairs and scandals. They pretend it's all "business as usual". Even IP Kat does that. AIPPI's and patent maximalists' event has just been promoted by Bristows (one of the IP Kat editors now, after the 'great shuffle') and by other patent zealots. There are also some press releases such as "Cellmid (ASX:CDY) midkine patents granted in the U.S. and Europe" and "Cellect Biotechnology Strengthens IP Portfolio; Receives "Intention to Grant" Patents from European and Israeli Patent Offices" [1] ('Intention to Grant').

There's also this article (self-promotional) [2] about "Protecting AI at the EPO – Two dimensions of technical character" and it's about getting software patents in Europe by disguising them or their true nature with buzzwords.

This is the kind of thing we've been seeing lately; there's also this widely-circulated press release [3,4] about EPs. It uses lots of misleading propaganda terms such as “property” and “assets”; they’re lying even to themselves. Patents aren't a physical thing but a monopoly, granted temporarily in exchange for publication/disclosure.

Is there not a single journalist in Europe interested in EPO scandals? Have they all been muzzled? The EPO is Europe's second-largest institution.

Related/contextual items from the news:



  1. Cellect Biotechnology Strengthens IP Portfolio; Receives "Intention to Grant" Patents from European and Israeli Patent Offices

    Cellect Biotechnology Ltd. (Nasdaq: APOP), a developer of innovative technology which enables the functional selection of stem cells, received official communication from two jurisdictions, the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Israeli Intellectual Property Office, regarding their intention to grant European Patent Application No. 14851547.1 and Israeli Patent Application No. 244982, respectively. These patent applications include a cell-based product and a method of manufacturing a stem and progenitor cell population with enhanced activity by short incubation with an apoptotic ligand.



  2. Electronics Newsletter – December 2019

    Many users of the European patent system rarely use the appeals procedure. However, a recent revision of the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal ("the RoP") that comes into effect on 1 January 2020 has implications which extend beyond the appeals procedure into examination and opposition proceedings, and therefore is of importance to all users.

    [...]

    The European patent office (EPO) is keen to let applicants know that it is open for business when it comes to protecting inventions around AI. This may at first sight seem surprising: much of AI can be considered to be solutions to problems embodied in mathematical models, and Article 52 of the European Patent Convention tells us that mathematical methods are not patentable, at least to the extent that a European patent application relates to the mathematical model as such. So, how can you prevent your AI invention being considered as a mathematical method as such?



  3. Microbot Medical Receives Intention to Grant from European Patent Office for a Patent Application Covering its Self-Cleaning Shunt

    Microbot Medical Inc. (MBOT) has received an official communication from the European Patent Office (EPO) regarding its intention to grant European Patent Application No. 11795301, covering the Company’s Self-Cleaning Shunt (SCS™). Globally, the Company now has 36 patents issued/allowed and 16 patent applications pending worldwide.



  4. Microbot Medical (MBOT) Receives Intention to Grant from European Patent Office for Patent Application Covering its Self-Cleaning Shunt

    “We have always maintained that a strong and growing intellectual property portfolio is one of our strongest assets and will enable us to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage while establishing barriers of entry to future competitors” said Harel Gadot, Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman. “We will continue to expand and seek protection for our unique innovative platforms. This provides the foundation for the establishment of a multi-generation product portfolio, including our latest introduction of the LIBERTY™ Robotic System, the world’s first fully disposable robotic system for use in neurovascular, cardiovascular and peripheral vascular procedures.”



Recent Techrights' Posts

When the Microsoft Aggressors Rely on Several Law Firms ('Attack Dogs', 'Guns for Hire'), Not Just One, Lawyering Up Against Techrights (Acting on Behalf of Americans Against UK Publishers)
From serving customers at some restaurant he has moved on to bullying people with demand letters
Polygamy, from Catholic Synod on Synodality to Social Control Media & Debian CyberPolygamy
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Only a Third of or 1 in 3 Web-Connected Devices is a Desktop or Laptop, According to statCounter
we can expect Android to widen its lead
 
statCounter Estimates Only 1 in 300 Iranians Would Use Microsoft for Search
Iranians don't quite trust Microsoft
Gemini Links 24/06/2025: ftpd on FreeBSD and Online Small Web Magazine
Links for the day
Google News Does Great Harm by Promoting Slopfarms as Legitimate News Sites
Slopfarms are sites which are 100% LLM slop
Links 24/06/2025: Trouble at "Open" "AI" and ‘Siarhei is Free’
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/06/2025: Stimulants and Subscription Costs for DRM
Links for the day
Links 24/06/2025: OpenAI [sic] May Soon Die (Too Much Debt) and Social Control Media Accused of Being Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda Amplifier
Links for the day
Nirbheek Chauhan in Planet GNOME Explains Why Wayland Pushers Are Losing
"A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."
The Days Are Getting Shorter, the First Half of 2025 is Almost Over
We're gratified to see significant increase in traffic and also positive feedback on the work we do
Turning GNU/Linux Into a Political Football
X (not the site) is Free software
X Server Still Works for Many People
A lot of people will grow suspicious of Wayland boosters/pushers if they persist and insist on using these tactics
Exactly a Week Ago "BetaNews Staff" Said "Betanews Is Growing Alongside You". Since Then Every Article (All by "Camila Nogueira") Has Been LLM Slop.
BetaNews is basically a slopfarm
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 23, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 23, 2025
The "Tarzan Effect" in Compilers and Software
What happens when you forcibly make things 'work', either by hacks or by disregarding warnings (like those that compilers tend to issue)?
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: Mass Tourism, Hair Love, and Google Gemini as a Googlebomb
Links for the day
Law Firm Burgess Mee Does Not Fully Deny Participating in Abusive Litigation for Serial Strangler From Microsoft
I am not unfamiliar with these tactics
The Modus Operandi of Wayland Pushers: Make It Political
do what I say or you're a nazi...
Links 23/06/2025: RFE/RL Contributor Vladyslav Yesypenko Released, Recording Industry Cutbacks
Links for the day
Brett Wilson LLP Solicitors (M): Over 99.9% of Our E-mail is Self-Marketing, We Send You 3.5MB E-mails for Less Than 1KB of Text
Why would tech people entrust legal matters to such people?
Peter Moon's (Computerworld) Interview With Richard Stallman
Stallman: If you want freedom don't follow Linus Torvalds
At What Point Does Outsourcing Constitute Malpractice?
Brett Wilson LLP's new staff page is misleading
United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sailing to GNU/Linux, According to statCounter
countries in that region will quickly learn the price of neglecting digital sovereignty
From Do Your Own Research to Do Your Own Search
The Web is full of garbage; search engines amplify this garbage
More People Moving to Geminispace?
at age 6+ Gemini Protocol seems to have gained some maturity and it seems like more people use it
Permutation in LLMs Does, Inevitably, Change Meanings and Therefore LLMs Cannot Properly Rephrase or Summarise Texts
LLMs lack actual grasp or comprehension of what they spew out
Links 23/06/2025: Many Security Breaches, Population Declines
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: "America at the Crossroads" and OpenWRT Surgery
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 22, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 22, 2025
Pure Dove
Different means different, and sometimes those who "deviate" from "the norm" have a point
Censorship is a Sign of Weakness Which Invites More Censorship Attempts
revolutionaries don't succumb to pressure from bullies
Why It's Unlikely That LLM Slop Will Dominate the Web in the Long Run
Slopfarms will eventually perish (they have no actual value) and "survivors" on the Web will be sites that never depended on search engines and social control media
GNU/Linux in Argentina Now Measured Near 5%
Like in central Europe, they must be seeing an increasingly hostile US
BetaNews is Fake News, Composed by LLM Slop
nothing in BetaNews is written by humans anymore
Links 22/06/2025: Giving Up on Smartphones and 'Jaws' at 50
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/06/2025: Furniture Construction and Bubble for Comments
Links for the day
Links 22/06/2025: Windows TCO Tales and YouTube Getting More Hostile to Users
Links for the day
The FSF Board and FSF Beard
So the FSF's Board has grown
Law Firms Facing the Consequences for Patently Abusive Litigation on Behalf of Microsoft Employees Who Got Arrested for Strangulation and Had Done Even Worse Things
Having spent 1.5 years bullying me with patronising letters on behalf of Microsofters, last week they got served a massive bill and, in effect, lost the Hearing
New Report From the EPO's Staff Representatives in The Hague (LSCTH) Reveals Many Unsolved Issues
Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) wrote to staff just before the weekend
LLMs Breaking Everything
Computing and the Net became a playground for scammers and "bros", like people who "invented" fake currencies and also try to tell us that LLMs spewing out things will have some real value
Links 22/06/2025: More Slop Lawsuits (Copyrights) and "America’s Oligarch Problem"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/06/2025: Gigantic Toolchest and Annoying Bots
Links for the day