Bonum Certa Men Certa

Greenwashing the Corruption of the European Patent Office

Leslie Byrne, a Democrat from Virginia, was told by a colleague, “Always lean to the green. … He was not an environmentalist”Lawrence Lessig

Greenwashing definition



Summary: The greenwashing agenda of the EPO is rather revealing; we're supposed to respect the EPO as if it's a saviour of the planet whilst it's crushing its staff, breaking the law, stealing money and so on

Corrupt EPO management carries on with truly ridiculous greenwashing for the third time in September. The majority of September "news" in the EPO's site can be described as 100% greenwashing. Team Campinos, covering up for Battistelli and actively participating in more of the same corruption, is trying to play the "good citizen" card.



"The EPO is trying to champion PR tactics while its crimes are being investigated to some degree."This tactic isn't unique to the EPO. That's why it already has a widely used term, namely "greenwashing" (we did not make up the word). Days ago there was "EPO marks EMAS 25th anniversary" (warning: epo.org link) and shortly afterwards "EPO and IEA team up to shed light on trends in sustainable energy technologies" (warning: epo.org link) -- basically repetition of the old nonsense that the EPO's PR people used to plant a bunch of puff pieces in the press throughout September.

The EPO is trying to champion PR tactics while its crimes are being investigated to some degree. There are inquires.

The first one says:

The Office today celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). The EPO is one of thousands of organisations worldwide registered for the scheme, highlighting the importance of corporate environmental and climate protection initiatives.


So they celebrate something of somebody else, predating by 1.5 decades the Battistelli/Campinos regime. More of that greenwashing propaganda said that the "IEA is supporting clean energy transitions all over the world in order to help achieve global sustainability goals."

"So they celebrate something of somebody else, predating by 1.5 decades the Battistelli/Campinos regime."Again, this is pride by association. The opening sentence says: "The EPO and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral co-operation with the aim of promoting innovation in sustainable energy technologies. Under the MoU, the two organisations will publish a series of joint studies over the next three years to inform policymakers and the public about technology trends in areas that are critical for the energy transition and climate change mitigation."

Man's faceBut the EPO actually grants monopolies of these things, hence discouraging their widespread use. We wrote about this before. In that sense, EPO does the exact opposite of "climate change mitigation."

"And this is basically what today's EPO boils down to: PR and crime. The former helps distract from the latter."Separately, on the same say, the EPO said it had signed a "Memorandum of Co-operation" over webchat (no photo ops, obviously, as that would show how ridiculous the whole thing is). No flight then, eh? One passenger fewer is green enough... and whether Mr. Campinos can board a plane without getting drunk out of his mind may forever remain a mystery (it's hard to rely only on an eyewitness testimony on planes). The EPO says (warning: epo.org link) that "[o]n Friday 25 September EPO President António Campinos met [sic] with the Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office (JPO), Toshihide Kasutani, who took office on 20 July 2020. In their video conference, the two Heads of Office agreed to further strengthen their co-operation, which is based on a comprehensive Memorandum of Co-operation concluded in 2019."

Another bunch of fluff, this time sans the handshakes and photo ops. No substance to it, just pure PR. And this is basically what today's EPO boils down to: PR and crime. The former helps distract from the latter.

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