Bonum Certa Men Certa

2020: The Year the Patent System Converged With Naked Fascism

Innovation or pure corruption? Science abandoned in favour of rich class warriors.

Risiko!



Summary: The worldwide system of patents, administered in part by WIPO (fronting for the super-rich), is losing the argument and instead -- nowadays more than ever before -- it is resorting to authoritarianism (the kids' gloves are off)

THE EPO hasn't been mentioned here quite so much lately (not as recently as weeks ago). That's because little is known to us. One thing that António Campinos (equipped with COVID-19) has done is increased silencing of staff. They cannot publicly organise -- something that Benoît Battistelli could only pray for!



Perceived Calm (COVID-19 Effect) is Not Peace



The little that's known to us (and is also new) isn't particularly interesting. We've had some of it included already in our Daily Links (while we lacked time to comment in detail/full). We'll comment on it succinctly below, to the best of our understanding (bear in mind very little is being said in the press about the EPO since the pandemic overwhelmed newsrooms).

"The problem with the EPO stuff not being covered much by the mainstream media is simply that it's too abstract and obscure for their purposes," one reader told us some hours ago, "and most journalists get to spend very little time on a story, just like EPO and USPTO and other patent examiners get to spend very little time on a patent application."

Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) and the Language Barrier That Patent Maximalists Just 'Wish Away'



Let's start with the latest nonsense from the EPO's "news" section (published just before the weekend). It said this: (warning: epo.org link)

EPO President António Campinos held his first meeting [sic] with Kim Yong Rae, the new Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office, on Friday, 30 October 2020.

During their video conference [sic], the two heads of office reaffirmed their commitment to working together on Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) by signing a new Memorandum of Understanding covering this activity. Mr Campinos emphasised that the EPO will continue to support KIPO in increasing its expertise in CPC classification - a tool aimed at improving public access to technical information contained in patent documents which is now being actively used by 29 offices worldwide to classify their patent publications. The refined classification scheme of the CPC enables patent examiners to categorise patent documents in a more granular manner irrespective of the language in which the document is written. This subsequently allows the examiners or patent information users to retrieve documents more efficiently and effectively during searches, which contributes to the quality of the patent system.


Notice how once again the EPO is mischaracterising webchats as "meetings" (they use words like "met" to mean "talked over a laptop" -- a typical lingo for the veneer of "professionalism").

So much for "conference" too. They mean webchat with multiple people on the screen...

Having written about patents for nearly two decades, I know a thing or two about the political/corporate aspect of these things. They're hardly about innovation... not to the extent they're about protectionism (ensuring the rich get richer over time, rarely having to actually compete).

The above (CPC) is WIPO agenda for taking monopolies global (for globalists/monopolists). Examiners are rarely assessing prior art in other languages, from other countries... so they grant regardless. It's a well known problem and the unspeakable taboo in patent offices that rush to rubber-stamp monopolies with few questions asked and little qualm, offloading the financial burden onto innocent parties wrongly accused of infringement. Only the very rich corporations have their own legal departments and teams of lawyers. Those alone can be enough to dissuade/discourage a patent troll.

The Rich Getting Richer, Secured by Universal Patent Monopolies



It's hardly absurd to suggest that the EPO is "in it" not for the small inventor but for large corporations, most of which aren't even European. Just look at the pie chart of which types of corporations take the lion's share of European Patents and where those corporations are from.

Courtesy of Prometheus – Critical Studies In Innovation 51-68 (as noted before):

applicant's firm size 2014



National origins of EPO patents 2014



Trump and IancuIn that regard, the US is similar to Europe. It hardly shocked us that hours ago, as per Patently-O, the USPTO's Director was publicly endorsing Donald Trump (link omitted, but it's unambiguous) on behalf of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Trump can't even properly speak the only language he knows -- and likely not due to his age... and yet examiners are expected to understand patents composed in many dozens of different languages?

"What has the patent world sunk to?"This 'Orbanistic' act of Andrei Iancu, indebted to Trump for his controversial appointment (his firm had worked for Trump beforehand), reinforces our view that he's "American Battistelli" (another Republican). Since his appointment he has been flagrantly ignoring/bypassing Alice/35 U.S.C. €§ 101 (SCOTUS, prior to stacking by Trump) and crushing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). In his latest ridiculous tweet he's citing some lobbying/think tank 'prank' as evidence of US 'leadership' in 'IP', then attributing this prank 'ranking' to Trump.

Make Patents Great AgainWhat has the patent world sunk to?

Seriously, take a moment to think about it... are fascistic criminals now role models for the patent microcosm? The recent letter regarding Iancu (from so-called 'patent owners') is yet more of that 'cowboy' nonsense... and it was promoted by rather extremist sites -- those that promote software patents in Europe on behalf of patent trolls from the United States.

Unified Patent Court (UPC) Kills



It gets yet worse when once considers their UPC lobbying. As Benjamin Henrion noted yesterday: "Unitary Patent will even ban compulsory licenses for COVID?"

"No compulsory licensing for COVID under UPC," he told me privately, calling it a "bomb"...

So people need to die by the millions for the patent regime? Sounds like the sort of lunacy promoted by the Trump regime in the name of "the economy!"

When shoes attackHere in Europe we have EU officials in the European Commission who are willing to consciously violate many constitutions to shove the UPC/A down everyone's throats. Thierry Breton and the Battistelli connections tell us all we need to know; Battistelli is in CEIPI now, pushing UPC coursework and such. Having put a famous politician in his chair at Atos, Breton copied what Battistelli did with Campinos in CEIPI. There's clearly no separation between the patent system and politics. Instead of being a scientific system it became all finance and politics.

Unaccountable European Patent Office, Patent Rubber-stamping Machine



As per the latest press releases, the EPO has granted fake patents (now withdrawn) for so-called 'Big Pharma' and it continues to do exactly that in defiance of prior orders from the EU. Has the EU been hijacked by Battistelli associates? While granting patents on literal trash the EU seems unwilling and unable to put an end to it. It's like the litigation industry has invaded every corner of the system and is now cheering for the likes of Trump. Because who cares about the "collateral damage" when one can make money suing people for 'sport'?

Recent Techrights' Posts

They Don't Tell Us that 'Digitalisation' (Now Sold as "Hey Hi") Just Means Customers Become Unpaid Staff and Are Made Accountable
People are being conditioned to associate technology with something undesirable, at times even unbearable
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Has Layoffs and Microsoft Gaming/Entertainment Division Has an Uncertain Future
it's good to see all those horrible things crashing and burning
 
Links 22/07/2025: "Blog Restart" and Microsoft Clobbered by “ToolShell"
Links for the day
Global Warming and Global GAFAM Energy-Wasting
Burn more money (borrowed, loans), then hope the waste will somehow translate into profit?
No Compliance With the European Patent Convention (EPC) at the European Patent Office (EPO)
It's about preventing competition against this autocracy
Blue-Collar Trolls vs White-Collar Trolls
Examples of white-collar trolls
Apple Vision Pro Failed So Badly That Its Sales Are About 2,000 Times Smaller Than iPhone Sales
What's left for Apple to offer other than hype?
To Millions of People "Year of the Linux Desktop" Was Some Time in the 1990s (Bootable GNU/Linux as a Complete Operating System is Over 33 in Age)
In some sense, "year of the Linux desktop" was 33 years ago
Make No Assumptions (or Demands) About the Screen Resolution Used by Other People
There are usability aspects, aside from accessibility aspects
Why Wayland (and XWayland) Won't Solve the Key Problem It Proclaims to be Tackling (the Same Is True for Rust)
The problem isn't Wayland per se but the false promises and efforts to force everybody to move to it whilst insulting or demonising everyone who won't play along
Diplomatic Immunity Should Not Exist for Anybody
The EPO in its current form gradually 'normalises' the end of European democracy
Brett Wilson LLP Stopped Sending Me Papers When I Showed It had Sent Me Over 5 Kilograms of Legal Papers
A week ago we lodged our third lawsuit
Microsoft Mass Layoffs and Shutdowns Became the New Normal at Microsoft
Microsoft mass layoffs became a topic of everyday media coverage since May
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 21, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 21, 2025
FSF "Raised Almost $139,000 During This Summer Campaign"
"Thank you for making a stand against dystopia!"
Gemini Links 22/07/2025: VPS Exploited and Fear of View
Links for the day
LLM Bots vs Techrights
Slows things down a bit
New Publication Sheds Lights on Abuse of Workers at the European Patent Office (EPO)
Put in simple terms, they're killing the Office, harming remaining staff, try to hire rubber-stampers
Links 21/07/2025: Hardware, Health, and Imperialism
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/07/2025: "When Buying Isn't Owning" and "CMS Special Edition"
Links for the day
Links 21/07/2025: Indie Web and Toxic Politics
Links for the day
[Meme] Microsoft Lawyers Throwing Stones in Glass Houses
threatened me with bankruptcy
Google "AI Overview" is Not AI and Not Overview
do not be misled; what Google does isn't smart, it's just ripping off the sites it already crawled for as long as 27 years
Making the Case to Dump Microsoft and GAFAM for National and Digital Sovereignty
"Sovereignty is difficult"
The Tactics of the Opposition (Microsoft Lunduke): Associate With K00ks, Throw in Vaccines to Muddy the Water
Who stands to gain from this?
Europe's Second-Largest Institution (EPO) and Largest Patent Monopoly Office Needs More Transparency, Not Less Transparency
In the EPO, what good are elections when one candidate literally bribes all the voters?
How Not to Report News About Microsoft
This pattern of misreporting is so widespread that it's hard to believe it's not intentional
Computer Science is Under Attack, They Want Everyone to be a Consumer
If people can no longer acquire Computer Science education and real Computer Science experience, they will not know how to control their own digital destiny or emancipate the very same universities that now control the syllabus and instead of teaching Computer Science encourage the outsourcing of systems
The Best Tools Are the Simplest Tools
There's a hidden message here about the merits of sticking with X
Ofcom Online Safety Group Speaks of Protecting Women Online, Will Brett Wilson LLP Ever Listen?
They've essentially became like the Taliban's "burka police"
Social Control Media Relies on Advertisers, So It'll Always Be Hostile Towards Free Software
Sales, sales, sales
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 20, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 20, 2025
Fragmentation of Data
Life is too short to "hoard" data
In Defence of "Spinning Rust"
Just because something is "old" (or older) doesn't mean it ought to become extinct
Using Free Software to Prepare Legal Documents
LibreOffice is openly complaining about OOXML as an obstacle
Tech and Technology Are Not the Same Anymore
"Are you into tech, Sir?"
Our Articles About SLAPPs Receive Recognition and Interest
This week we shall continue writing about the 3 lawsuits we filed
Are You Served?
For many people, advocacy of Free software and GPL enforcement are assumed to be happening
Conspiracy or grooming? Alex Jurado, Voice of Reason compared to Outreachy
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 20/07/2025: Security Breaches and Former 'Open' 'AI' Engineer on Hype and Culture Issues
Links for the day
Links 20/07/2025: Fending Off BRICS and US Government Attacks Its Own Media (Like China and Russia)
Links for the day
Framed by social control media: Alex Belfield, Voice of Reason
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 20/07/2025: Summertime and OCC25 Wrap-up
Links for the day
Jamie Zawinski Complained About Wayland, Then Decided to Give It a Go, Now Complains Again About Wayland
Ask IBM (Red Hat) why it's worth throwing so much away just for Wayland fanaticism
Slopwatch: Planet Ubuntu, LinuxSecurity, and More
former "Linux" blogs which basically became slopfarms
Russia Set to Ban Facebook?
If WhatsApp is made to "leave", that means Facebook or "Meta".
Links 20/07/2025: More GAFAM Lawsuits, Layoffs, and SLAPPs
Links for the day
Taking Stock of a Good and Productive Week
We shall now be taking a break, unpacking the new hard drive (8 TB), and making backups of everything
Nice Recovery (From Actual Fire) by PCLinuxOS, New Version of PCLinuxOS Released, Now Top of DistoWatch
PCLinuxOS is a community-driven distro
More Microsoft Shutdowns That Mostly Slipped Under the Radar
Remember what happened to books 'sold' by Microsoft?
Microsoft Lunduke Still Fighting Cancel Culture With... Cancel Culture
There will be no "winners" in such 'debates'
The History of Daily Links and Politics
"I support Wayland, but I also support abortion..."
Ageism in Tech
Your protocol is "old"...
Microsoft is at 0% "Market Share" in Most Areas
Depending on the taxonomy chosen, there may be dozens of categories other than desktops and laptops
"The moment MSFT stock fails to start tumbling, that’s the beginning of another corporate giant going under."
There are far more layoffs at Microsoft than at Intel, but you would not get this impression based on Wall Street media
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 19, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 19, 2025