Bonum Certa Men Certa

Making up Law at the EPO

Video download link



Summary: Another video about the ongoing EPO series and some news/commentary from around the Web

THE concept of "law and order" is under attack in Europe. The second-largest European institution and Europe's largest patent office is shamelessly throwing the law in the bin, in effect binning the very basis for its existence so it now operates in a legal vacuum, just like some warlords in Libya.



"Michel and Minnoye should be in retirement. They're still closely connected to the people who ruined (and sometimes still ruin) the institution, driving out the talent, lowering patent quality/legitimacy, and throwing 40 years of organisational reputation under the bus."Speaking of Libya, Benoît Battistelli's master is in prison (yes, connection to northern Africa) and António Campinos lost his father in Africa where he had fought the sort of colonialism his son now fights for. It's an act of occupation against European citizens (e.g. European software patents against European programmers like myself). It's also an act of occupation against people who wish to or need to be vaccinated. Whose interests are being served by those well-dressed warlords?

The lawlessness of the EPO is concerning or deeply worrying a growing number of people, some of whom aren't suppressed by the employer (at least not if they comment anonymously) or by some 'warlords' of blogs, such as the administrators at IP Kat. Looking at some of the latest comments in Kluwer Patent Blog, somebody has just pointed out the way in which the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) proudly boasts granting far too many patents, often overlooking or intentionally ignoring laws and caselaw, e.g. SCOTUS on Alice (35 U.S.C. €§ 101). "The USPTO just issued its eleven millionth patent," said this comment, "its eleven millionth restraint of trade. Business at the EPO is confined to deciding whether to allow or cancel just another such restraint of trade, one of millions of the things."

We've recently relegated much of our patent coverage to Daily Links, where personal comments are added inline.

As far as we know, some of the worst censors at Kluwer Patent Blog no longer write there; there are other decent comments there with legitimate points being raised and regarding G 1/21, as below, it says:

With just over two weeks to go before the oral proceedings in G 1/21, it is somewhat surprising to note the complete absence in the public record of any indications that the EBA has, or will soon be, initiating proceedings under Art 24(4) EPC.

Indeed, this is quite astounding for a number of reasons.

Firstly, a party to the proceedings has (more than two weeks ago) raised formal objections under Art 24(3) EPC. This means that, under Art 24(4) EPC, the EBA has no option but to take a decision on the objections without the participation of the members concerned. Such an important decision cannot be taken lightly, or without seeking comments from the members concerned. Sorting all of this out takes time … which, if oral proceedings are to go ahead as planned, is now running very short.

Secondly, it is difficult (though sadly not impossible) to conceive that the EBA will concoct a reason to dismiss the objections against its current Chairman. Thus, a change in the composition of the EBA is likely and needs to be announced to the parties in advance of the oral proceedings.

Thirdly, objections to members of the EBA were first formally raised in an amicus filed (by epi) precisely a month ago today. The EBA has therefore had plenty of time to consider how it should go about dealing with the points raised in that amicus brief.

Lastly, it is possible that wheels are in motion behind the scenes, and that a decision on objections to certain members will issue very soon. However, if the first that the public learns of the EBA’s deliberation on the objections is their final decision, then, unless the slate is wiped clean (i.e. if all decisions taken by the current Chair are rescinded and proceedings in G 1/21 are re-started with a new composition of the EBA determined by a new Chair), this would hardly be the kind of transparency that would help to ensure that justice is seen to be done … especially when there are so many objectively well-founded reasons to doubt the independence and impartiality of the EBA in its current composition.


LightBlue responded with: "If any members of the EBA are going to consider the objection of partiality, I would expect that the external members would be the most likely candidates to do so. The question then arises as to what information is being disseminated to them. Are the formalities officers being kept on a short leash and only forwarding submissions which do not raise this issue?"

This is the case we currently deal with and the above is leading us more smoothly to Part 7 ("Calle's Strange Metamorphosis"), which we shall publish tomorrow morning or tonight.

Willy MinnoyeNotice the mention of two notorious former officials, Jacques Michel [1, 2, 3] and Willy Minnoye (we wrote about both several times over the years). They apparently still fail to see that the EPO making up the rules as it goes along isn't acceptable. Michel and Minnoye should be in retirement. They're still closely connected to the people who ruined (and sometimes still ruin) the institution, driving out the talent, lowering patent quality/legitimacy, and throwing 40 years of organisational reputation under the bus.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
 
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025
Microsoft - Like IBM - Does the "Relocation" Tricks (Start Over Elsewhere, Then Get Sacked by Microsoft)
It is a "low blow" or a "dick move"
After the Free Software Foundation's Campaign to Raise Money Let's See Campaigns to Finish Off Microsoft (Vista 11, GitHub etc.)
Microsoft is in effect collapsing
Your Publications Have No Major Impact Unless or Until You "Get Some Heat"
we're on the right track
Slopwatch: A Cause for Hope, the Hype is Dying
For about a month we showed that becoming a slopfarm - for several weeks - resulted in utter failure and ruin for BetaNews
Links 11/07/2025: Censorship Worsening, 3D Printing Success Stories, UK and France Unite Around Nukes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Zorin OS and Scriptonite Updates
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Hardware, Russia, and China
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Intel Collapsing and Microsoft Resorts to Bribery to Push Slop Via Obligatory Education
Links for the day
The EFF Sided With the Team That Strangles Women and Tells Women to Kill Themselves
They say that apathy and inaction are a form of a "stance"
"Nat [Friedman] and [the Serial Strangler From Microsoft] Were Always Exceptionally Close," Says Former Housemate and Colleague
Now Alex (hiding behind another name when that suits him) not only attacks women but also people who merely report what he did to women
Exemplary List of Things That Are Not Artificial Intelligence or Even Intelligence
The "age of AI" or "era of AI" or "AI revolution" mostly boils down to rebranding, just like "the cloud"
New Letter From the European Patent Office Explains How the Office Plots to Grant Many Illegal Patents, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of 'Growth'
Open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) and Mr Aledo Lopez (COO)
Abuse of Process
5RB is employing people who help violent men
What Microsoft's Nat Friedman and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
"Get in da car; No time to explain, loser"
Microsoft and IBM Don't Have Much of a Future (They Mostly Pretend at This Point)
IBM and Microsoft are in some ways alike but in many ways different
It's Not Just Twitter (or X.com) That's Dying, Microsoft's Equivalent is Dying Also
Unable to find a business model
GitHub Copilot Can Cause the Bankruptcy of GitHub to Come Sooner and GitHub to be Shut Down Just Like Skype
Some publicly available information suggests that even for each paid subscriber for plagiarism (LLM 'coding') GitHub Copilot still loses more money than it makes
Wayland is Bad for the Planet
If you use Wayland, it'll take you longer to accomplish tasks and you will consume more energy (or battery life)
Legitimising Those Who Sabotage You
Microsoft is a very malicious company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 10, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 10, 2025
On Microsoft Layoffs
we might be looking at about 60,000 Microsoft layoffs since 2023
EPO Management Already Breaks Its Own Promise (Lie) on "Bringing Teams Together"
This gut-punching move happened just 2 days ago
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Occupation of 2025 and "Old Man Yells At Soundcloud"
Links for the day
Our Lawsuits Against the 'Cancel Mob' (Ringleaders) Helped Reduce Anti-Free Software Online Abuse
That's not to say that lawsuits are the best way to handle terrible people. But that can help.