IT has been no secret that for quite some time the EPO acted like an anti-scientific institution which besieges the scientists it employs. It was very much true under the term of Benoît Battistelli and so far under António Campinos nothing has actually improved. Campinos, who barely knows anything about computers, is pushing European software patents in defiance of the EPC and the Office barely cares about input from anyone but litigation giants, patent trolls, and multinational mega-corporations. This is very much removed or detached from the goals of the EPC, but this doesn't prevent the EPO issuing yet another call (warning: epo.org
link) for patent profiteers to submit their suggestions for guidelines (obviously it's in their interest to see more and more patents being granted). To quote:
Today the EPO is launching a public user consultation on the Guidelines 2021, which have just entered into force[1], and is inviting you to provide input. You can submit your comments in any one of the EPO's three official languages via an online form. The deadline for your contributions is 12 April 2021.
The Guidelines for Examination in the European Patent Office ("EPC Guidelines") and the Guidelines for Search and Examination at the European Patent Office as PCT Authority ("PCT-EPO Guidelines") give instructions on the practices and procedures to be followed in the examination of European and international applications and patents in accordance with the European Patent Convention (EPC), the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and their Implementing Regulations.
epo.org
link) with a think tank of litigation or blackmail artists. "On 25 February," it said, "the EPO together with Licensing Executive Society International (LESI) held the first edition of a new online forum designed especially for high-growth technology businesses and small and medium-sized technology enterprises, the major drivers of Europe's economic growth."