Bonum Certa Men Certa

The EPO's War on Justice and Assault on the Law -- Part 9: Squeezing Out the Lifeblood of Democracy?

Previously in this series:



EPO discourse
Not much sign of a lively Habermasian discourse at the EPO's Boards of Appeal in Haar these days.



Summary: The lack of public discourse at the EPO (where tyrants like Benoît Battistelli and António Campinos make up the rules and then have them rubber-stamped by kangaroo courts) helps explain an atrocious policy and moral abyss, which recently led to acceptance of European software patents and mass surveillance disguised as "access to justice"

EPO sources relate that, in his capacity as the Thane of Haar, Carl Josefsson is extremely reluctant to allow any staff committee or union activities on the Boards of Appeal premises.



According to the EPO Staff Regulations, staff have the right to be represented by a local staff committee "where more than fifty staff members are in active employment in a place of employment".

"...Carl Josefsson is extremely reluctant to allow any staff committee or union activities on the Boards of Appeal premises."At the end of 2020 the Boards of Appeal had a total of 256 staff, comprised of 196 persons working as chairs and members of the Boards and 60 ancillary staff in various management/administrative support positions.

On this basis, EPO staff members in Haar clearly have a statutory right to be represented by a local staff committee.

But inside sources report that Josefsson has stubbornly resisted the establishment of such a local committee, despite repeated requests from the EPO's Central Staff Committee.

In addition to this, the once highly active Association of the Members of the Boards of Appeal (AMBA) appears to have become almost completely defunct during Josefsson's tenure.

"...inside sources report that Josefsson has stubbornly resisted the establishment of such a local committee, despite repeated requests from the EPO's Central Staff Committee."AMBA was formed in 1999 to protect the interests of the members of the Boards of Appeal.

According to its statute, the aims of the association include "monitoring issues of relevance for the judicial function of the members of the Boards of Appeal with a view to safeguarding their independence" and "promoting the members' self-government as members of a judiciary".

At the bottom of the home page on the Association's website there is a "Timeline of Independence" which is supposed to show "the most important events in the history of the boards".

This timeline contains a total of 45 entries starting in September 1973 with the "Travaux Préparatoires" for the European Patent Convention (scroll to the bottom of the page).

"AMBA was formed in 1999 to protect the interests of the members of the Boards of Appeal."The timeline ends in December 2016 with "Carl Josefsson appointed President of the EPO’s Boards of Appeal" (scroll to the bottom of the page).

It seems that, as far as AMBA is concerned, the appointment of Carl Josefsson in December 2016, is the "End of History". Francis Fukuyama, eat your heart out!

The AMBA website hasn't been updated to register Josefsson's reappointment in December 2020.

The most recent postings on the website are links to:

● the 2020 Annual Report of the Boards of Appeal (which was released on 12 April 2021); ● the revised Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (dated July 2019). ● a communiqué about the 159th meeting of the Administrative Council held on 27 and 28 March 2019.

All of the above relate to information that is already publicly available via the EPO's official website, here, here and here. (Warning: epo.org links)

"The AMBA website hasn't been updated to register Josefsson's reappointment in December 2020."It seems like the AMBA website has been reduced to nothing more than a selective "mirror" of the official EPO website.

As a matter of fact there haven't been any postings originating from AMBA itself since December 2016 when it issued a statement [PDF] about a "Resolution Against the Relocation of the Boards of Appeal to Haar" which had been endorsed by the majority of its members. Here it is:

AMBA Statement on the Reform of the BoA page 1

AMBA Statement on the Reform of the BoA page 2

It's well known inside the EPO that, during the Battistelli era, AMBA did its best to keep a low profile.

According to reliable sources, the members of its executive committee were afraid that they might end up being targeted by Battistelli's Investigative Unit and suffer the same fate as SUEPO officials, such as Laurent Prunier.

"According to reliable sources, the members of its executive committee were afraid that they might end up being targeted by Battistelli's Investigative Unit and suffer the same fate as SUEPO officials, such as Laurent Prunier."But although AMBA was more or less reduced to operating underground during those days, it still continued to function and it was capable of organising petitions and resolutions to protest against Battistelli's abuses, even if these were routinely ignored by the Administrative Council.

Nowadays, under Josefsson's regime, AMBA seems to have been completely neutered. Indeed, if appearances are to be believed it has been effectively killed off as a functioning association representing the interests of the members of the Boards of Appeal.

"Nowadays, under Josefsson's regime, AMBA seems to have been completely neutered."To borrow a phrase from Josefsson's old buddy, the radical Swedish journalist, Per Wirtén, one might well ask: What happened to the "cascades of debate, quarrel and chatter" that make up "the lifeblood of democracy"?

While we are waiting for "Calle" to answer that question, in the next part we will try to figure out what exactly he gets from the "Faustian pact" that he has concluded with the EPO.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 07/10/2024:China’s 'Deflation' (Price Decreases), Brazil Still Bars Twitter ("X")
Links for the day
Links 07/10/2024: "Creative Computing" Turns 50, Long War in Middle East Turns 1
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/10/2024: Luck and Dishonesty, Gaming Getting Worse
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 06, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, October 06, 2024
EPO: We Give Recognition to Frauds
Good to see some frank recognition right there in the EPO's own Web site
Even Though We Don't Focus on statCounter for Now (Not Our Top Priority) GNU/Linux Reaches New Highs This Month:
We caught GNU/Linux at 4.86% before, but only temporarily
Links 06/10/2024: Ham Radio for Recovery, Health Problems Worldwide
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/10/2024: Special Interest Galore and Religion
Links for the day
Keeping Control Out of Dictators' Hands
When people are just "numbers"...
Links 06/10/2024: Misinformation Growing on the Web, "Hey Hi" Hype Waning for Lack of RoI
Links for the day
[Meme] Years Have Passed and EPO Management Still Isn't Obeying a Ruling From a Court Regarding Communications Between Staff
Representatives talking to their staff is "privacy violation"?
Presentations of the Staff Union of the European Patent Office in Its Headquarters Tomorrow After Work
Annual General Meeting and reports
Gemini Links 06/10/2024: SSH Keys and Hobby Game Development
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 05, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, October 05, 2024
[Meme] How to Keep Granting Hundreds of Thousands of Fake Patents (Without Upsetting Anybody in Politics and Media)
This is very Kremlin-like
EPO Examiners to Adopt Resolution Condemning EPO Management for Breaking the Law in Order to Grant Many Illegal Software Patents
Europe's second-largest institution (EPO) is a law-breaking institution hiding behind the veil of "law"
[Meme] Sup, Nazi?
"Come back, one year"
Calling "Nazi" and "Right Wing" Everyone Who Does Not Agree With You (Even Leftists Whose Views on Some Issues Slightly Differ From Yours)
Oil money has become exceptionally notorious for takeover of online platforms and institutions/NGOs (using them to incite society inwards, not upwards)
EFF Losing the Plot
Like the Linux Foundation and OSI, the EFF has succumbed to corporate influence and is derailing itself (along with its original mission)
Links 05/10/2024: Patents Being Squashed, EFF Insists on Children's Access to Porn
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/10/2024: Multitudinous Agreeable Futures and Misfin Mail
Links for the day
EFF Celebrates Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office as "Digital Inclusion", Mocks GNU/Linux-Based ChromeOS
Yet another example/evidence that EFF has become a rotten pile of junk
Links 05/10/2024: Amazon Culling 14,000 Managers, About 160 People Resign From Automattic
Links for the day
Microsoft Moles in Nerdearla, Openwashing and Whitewashing Microsoft With Its Latest Ponzi Scheme and Storytelling
Also GPL violations en masse
The Danger of Outsourcing Your Platform to Social Control Media and Getting "Information" There
Stella is probably not aware of what she has just done
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 04, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, October 04, 2024
Links 05/10/2024: Shift to ARM, Microsoft XBox Crisis
Links for the day