Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO: Fake Patents, Fake (Paid-for) Patent Coverage, and Fake Awards for Public Relations Purposes

Video download link



Summary: The media has been thoroughly corrupted, patent legitimacy has been severely damaged (far too many European Patents aren't in compliance with the EPC anymore), and Team UPC is trying to undermine the EPC and turn Europe into another Texas

THE EPO is wasting loads of money doing loads of damage to the media. It not only hires aggressive lawyers to threaten publishers and bloggers; it also puts aside a bribery budget for publishers, ensuring its critics defect or stay silent (to be fair, large corporations have long been doing the same thing, but imitating the evils of corporations with submissive corporate media doesn't make Benoît Battistelli and António Campinos seem any better).



The video starts by mentioning some of the latest buzzwords for European software patents, e.g. Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) and "MedTech". It talks about an article from Konstanze Richter about Team UPC (home of Winfried Tilmann) profiting from fake patents, granted by the EPO.

"Notice how European Patents are actually being used against Europeans by companies that are not European."That's just another one of those many examples of EPs falling/dying at the altar (actual courts, ones that EPO does not stack and tinker with). This one says: "Despite all previous decisions, and the patent already surviving a 2014 opposition suit filed by Swiss company Intersurgical at the EPO, the German Federal Patent Court found the patent null and void (6 Ni 62/19).

"It is not yet clear whether Fisher & Paykel will appeal the ruling. Since many of the previous rulings are in their favour, this seems to be the next logical step.

"Ultimately, the question is whether Fisher & Paykel will receive damages for the time that Flexicare products were distributed on the German market, or Flexicare for the time it was not allowed to distribute in Germany due to the patent dispute."

Notice how European Patents are actually being used against Europeans by companies that are not European.

The video then discusses the following new puff pieces, paid for by the EPO and seeded by the EPO (warning: epo.org link):



Remember that these 'awards' for patent holders have turned into reputation laundering and marketing stunts, sometimes at the expense of people's lives (Theranos). It is getting easier to catalogue (in the past few days) which publishers are the latest recipients of EPO bribes. The video says a lot more about those.

To make matters yet worse, the people who push for all those patents are hungry for more. Here's a new EPLAW letter to the UPC Preparatory Committee [PDF] on the possibility of doing ViCo.

EPLAW letter to UPC Preparatory Committee animated



EPLAW letter to UPC Preparatory Committee openingIn simple terms, what they're looking to do is expand the scope of litigation and lower the burden for litigants. Already, and at least twice this past week, we saw media coverage speaking of the "EU patent office" (there is no such thing) because by piggybacking the EU it seems that Team UPC looks to just broaden the scope of litigation. These ambitions of Team UPC are like Texas with its ambitions of attracting patent trolls. One UPC critic recalled FFII's Andre having a vision of "courts as companies" (treating litigation just like a business). "Actually," he remembered, "Andre was the one who wrote the line in the EPLA analysis on "courts as companies".

Watch what EDTX and WDTX (eastern and western districts of Texas) are doing nowadays, ever so shamelessly. More "business" is what they want for their courts, so they invite patent trolls! Same thing Team UPC has been doing! Team UPC works a lot with and for trolls.

Suffice to say, there's no press coverage about that. None at all. Team UPC dominates all the coverage on these issues, helped by EPO budget.

Instead of journalism what we now have (in Europe and elsewhere too) is appalling puff pieces. Almost no journalism and instead just paid-for (bribes are given) puff pieces seeded/disseminated at the expense of EPO stakeholders and the European public (people who get sued due to European Patents, even if they don't entertain or engage with such a system). This status quo is untenable. The media, on the EPO's payroll, is trying to keep us all in the dark. How long for?

Recent Techrights' Posts

Gemini Links 11/01/2026: Scott Morgan and 'The Unix Way'
Links for the day
IBM to Be 'Reorganised'
The rich look for ways to 'monetise' what's left IBM
Dr. Andy Farnell Explains Why He'll Stop Sending E-mail to Microsoft and Gmail Users
The article is long and well worth reading
GNOME Foundation's Microsoft Developer Account
"Lately they're teaming up with Mozilla to eliminate middle click paste - something which I use continuously."
Links 10/01/2026: "Abolish ICE or GTFO", Calls to Ban X/Twitter From Apple/Google App Stores (or Implement National Blocks) Over MElon Turning It Into Non-consensual Deepfake Porn Site
Links for the day
EPO People Power - Part XXX - New Year Starts, Cocainegate Still Discussed a Lot, António Campinos Desperate for Distraction From It
Why the sudden change or 'generosity'? [...] Actual cocaine addicts caused nervous breakdowns among sober people
IBM and Microsoft Hiding Layoffs in Similar, Overlapping Ways
Performance Improvement Plans aplenty
IBM is a Cancer That Attaches Itself to Everything
Red Hat should have remained an independent company
 
Higher Adoption Rates of GNU/Linux in Cyprus in Recent Years
there are some Cypriots who are championing Free software
Microsoft's linkedin.com is Shrinking, Expect LinkedIn Layoffs to Carry on in 2026
Expect the mass layoffs and office closures to carry on there, maybe as early as next week
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, January 10, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, January 10, 2026
Monday, January 12, Red Hat Layoffs Allegedly Planned
We'll update this post or follow up if or when we get more information
Slop Still Becoming Rare as Another Week Ends
Generally speaking, calm and quiet is desirable, it's what we hope for (an absence of slop, a lack of need to keep abreast of it, ultimately)
Links 10/01/2026: Iran Offline, Venezuelans Decry Civilian Casualties
Links for the day
GAFAM Wants War
Go war! Go bailouts! Go debt! Go Wall Street!
GNU/Linux and Chromebooks Rose to Almost 10% in Haiti
What's noteworthy is that this month GNU/Linux is measured at around 8% and ChromeOS at about 2%
2026 Might be the Year Microsoft Replaces Layoffs With Mass Firings (No Severance Payments to Dismissed Staff)
It's hard to "see" PIPs unless insiders blow the whistle
Links 10/01/2026: STV Layoffs (Scottish TV), “CBS Evening News” in Chaos (Culls and Censorship by the US Regime)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, January 09, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, January 09, 2026
Gemini Links 10/01/2026: Blackout, E-Waste, and Secondary Smartphone
Links for the day
Plot Twist: Microsoft MSN Relays Articles Hinting at or Pointing to Mass Layoffs Soon, Other Gossip
the narrative from Microsoft's "PR bunny" (Shaw) is showing mold already
Links 09/01/2026: Google and Character.AI Implicitly Accept Chatbots Kill Kids and GLP-1 ‘Slimming Pens’ Turn Out to be a Lot Worse Than Advertised
Links for the day
'Vibe Coding' is Not "AI", It's a Sewer, It is Junk
Linus Torvalds was wrong. 'Vibe coding' isn't good for anything.
GNU/Linux May be Approaching 10% "Market Share" in Montenegro
The surge started around 2021
At IBM, "Employee Reviews" (or Appraisals in the UK) Are a "Trojan Horse" for RAs (Mass Layoffs), a Waste of Time
comments from IBMer serve to suggest that appraisals can be precursors
Links 09/01/2026: Technical Blogging Lessons Learned and Google's Gmail Getting a Lot Worse
Links for the day
More IBM Layoffs in India
If IBM cannot afford to retain workers in India, then something is truly "out of control" at IBM
Escaping GAFAM Colonialism Requires Homegrown Free Software
GNU/Linux now measured at 3% in Zambia
Dr. Richard Stallman Has Done No Harm to the GNU Project or the FSF (He Had Benefited Both, Always, Even After the Attacks on Him Began)
Some people try to prevent Dr. Stallman from speaking or having a platform where many people can hear him
GNU/Linux at 4% in Saudi Arabia, Says statCounter
Some years ago Windows fell to a "market share" of just 11% there
Microsoft Isn't Denying the Mass Layoffs
Still silence from Microsoft
In Western Africa GNU/Linux Flirts With 5% Market Share
there's a gradual increase in GNU/Linux usage there
Gemini Links 09/01/2026: Pro1 X Repair and the Mercury Protocol
Links for the day
Links 09/01/2026: Cambodia and China Extradition, "NATO’s High-risk Patrols Near Ukraine"
Links for the day
No, Microsoft Did Not Deny the Q1 Mass Layoffs (Microsoft Can Delay These)
Maybe they disperse or delay the layoffs (changing plans), but the layoffs are going to happen
Only One Person in Charge of Fedora is Not IBM Staff
This is not a community project, it's just a way for IBM to onboard unpaid volunteers
This Is Not a Drill, GNU/Linux is Really Going 'Mainstream' on Laptops (and Desktops)
It is important to explain to people software freedom
IBM Albany Layoffs
not only did many in the site lose their job; there's more to come "and likely another one in February" (weeks from now)
EPO Workers' Industrial Action to Include Many Strikes, to Last Several Months
In some ways, The Hague and Bavaria are becoming almost indistinguishable from Moscow
EPO People Power - Part XXIX - Getting DER SPIEGEL, FAZ, Deutschlandfunk and Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) to Cover EPO Scandals
We kindly ask our readers to contact their local media and urge it to cover the scandals
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, January 08, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, January 08, 2026