Bonum Certa Men Certa

Chronicles of the Defunct Patent Office/Legal System in Europe

We need EPO media coverage, not coverup

Paris
People who love Europe are concerned



Summary: The tragedy happening in the EPO, or the EU-centric UPC project, is a cause for concern among many who practice science rather than "law" (litigation); we need to compel media to better inform the public because it's completely failing to do journalism that's essential for justice

THOSE who have been following this site since the start (2006) and have been reading my blog posts since my teenage years will know that I'm no opponent of patents in general. I find myself arguing, both online and offline (in real life, friends of mine), that patents are not intrinsically, or in principle, evil. Even a friend of mine who has patents, including European Patents at the EPO, says that all patents need to go. As a university professor, the only reasons he has patents (a medical field) is because his job requires or demands it.

"As a university professor, the only reasons he has patents (a medical field) is because his job requires or demands it."Judging by comments seen here on Saturday, Team UPC carries on with this false narrative wherein UPC sceptics are some dangerous nationalists when in fact they're well-schooled people who understand the patent system and are accordingly concerned. Many scholars signed letters to that effect, even at the end of last year. Bristows et al was happy to flag AfD as a UPC opponent in order to paint with a broad brush people who stood in the way of the business objectives of Bristows et al. We covered this in past years. Thankfully the second comment in the above thread says: "Thank you for demonstrating once again the psychological and intellectual condition of some ‘Team UPC’ members."

We're glad to see that the term ‘Team UPC’ caught on after we had coined it. Over the years we coined all sorts of terms that caught on, mostly in the area of technology, e.g. "social control media" and "openwashing". We think they correctly explain what's really going on.

"We're glad to see that the term ‘Team UPC’ caught on after we had coined it."In our Daily Links we'll included (with commentary) all the latest spin from ‘Team UPC’. But we don't intend to write very much about it. UPC has become almost 'pure politics' already, so no wonder its proponents are not scientists but politicians like Benoît Battistelli and António Campinos, lobbying with or for a bunch of lawyers. What's at stake is very big and goes well beyond European software patents; but at the same time we think this sort of debate is somewhat of a distraction from profound EPO corruption. Notice how not a single publisher has said anything about the ILO-AT rulings on EPO, even though SUEPO announced these publicly. I will check again later today to see if I missed or overlooked something, but almost nobody covered the hearing from July 2nd (I saw only 3, one behind a sort of paywall) and there is zero coverage about ILO affairs. How come?

ParisIn my early twenties I devoted myself to Free software activism; in my mid twenties I started getting more and more involved in the fight against software patents, seeing them as the foremost risk to a lot of what we call software freedom (many people don't comprehend the underlying concepts because media goes out of its way to not explain that or -- yet worse -- explain that poorly). What happened at the EPO for over a decade now wasn't a surprise; we've covered the EPO crisis for nearly 14 years, culminating in Brimelow's abrupt departure. Then there was a quiet transition from bad to much worse. And we're fortunate to have earned the full trust of EPO staff, to whom we are eternally obliged. Over a week ago we mirrored everything in Gemini, including the wiki, and work is underway to take that mirror further (lots of coding going on in the background).

Here's a bit of a preview:

EPO in gemini://
EPO in gemini:// (mirror of HTTP/S). Work in progress, or testbed, an automatically-generated (and automatically-updated) wiki page.



Our number one commitment in Techrights has been for quite some time -- and remains -- EPO coverage. This is easy to see and probably surprises nobody. If we could choose just one topic to cover, EPO would be it. Not just because it's a unique subject but because it's conspicously suppressed and covered by almost nobody (or covered poorly; lost in a mist of paid-for IEA greenwashing, EIA fluff, and shameless self-marketing from litigation firms). Chronicles of these EPO affairs won't stop any time soon. As City fans say, "we fight till the end."

Recent Techrights' Posts

IBM Has Taken Control of GNOME
Don't expect a successor to be found any time soon
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 30, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 30, 2025
 
Links 31/08/2025: Baggage Claim Scams, an Insurrectionist’s War on Culture, and a Sudden Robotics Hype
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/08/2025: Reviewing Netsurf and Slightly Less Historic Ada Design
Links for the day
Links 31/08/2025: Google Gmail Data Breach and LF Puff Pieces for Pay
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago
The Slopfarm WebProNews Has Turned Google News Into a Laughing Stock Full of Plagiarism by Slop
If Google News dies of neglect, that's one thing. It's starting to seem like active neglect by Google is a form of participation.
Do What is Moral, as What's Legal Isn't Always Moral
Do what's objectively moral, no matter the costs and the risks
Slopwatch: Google News Assisting Plagiarism and Anti-Linux FUD, Serial Slopper Rips Off Linux-Centric Journalists
This makes the Web a much worse place and lessens the incentive to do journalism
Links 30/08/2025: NVIDIA Fakes Results to Hide a Bubble Already in Implosion Phase, Data Breaches Galore, Important Win for Workers' Union in Canada
Links for the day
Representing and Speaking for Animals
If I ever choose to take this matter to tribunal with animals-centric NGOs on my side, it'll get some press coverage for sure
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
In Kazakhstan, Yandex Estimated to be 20 Times Bigger Than Microsoft
Bing is measured as down this month
Shutterstock Not Enough? The Register MS Uses Slop Images in Articles (Seemingly More and More Over Time)
Cost-saving trajectory amid office shutdown?
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Games, PostmarketOS, and Slop
Links for the day
Links 30/08/2025: Imgur Uproar and Many Ukraine Updates (Mediazona Reports Over 200,000 Russians Died for Putin)
Links for the day
How Not to Build Software
code forges that need a Web browser perhaps fill some 'niche' demand
GAFAM and "MATA"
The use of dark humour there hopefully helps illuminate what a lot of "modern" technology became like and how it interacts with human civilisation (to what ends and whose gain)
Birds Are Not "Pests and Vermin", Privacy is Not a Crime, and GNU/Linux is Not 'Hacking Platform'
I could not help but think of Free software analogies
The Sites Should Be Very Fast Again
That issue is now resolved
Flying in 2025
worse than ever before
Activists, Including Technical Activists, Need Not Pursue Affirmation
Techrights doesn't play or participate in a "popularity contest"
The UEFI 9/11 - Part III - Chaos is Scheduled to Happen Second Thursday of September (No Matter What the Microsofters Tell You)
The clock is ticking
Downplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
Government Sites Should Run Free Software
Not proprietary bloatware with buzzwords
LLM Slopfarms Take No Breaks
When people run sites by bots they don't need to worry about "breaks"
GNOME Having a Meltdown Again
Thanks and farewell to Steven Deobald
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Low Tech and Hunchbin 1.0.6
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 29, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 29, 2025
Financiers and Sponsors of the Slop Hype (Pyramid Scheme Waiting to End, Bubble That Will Inevitably Implode)
It's also burning the planet
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Google Helps Ponzi Schemes and Slopfarms in Google News
Slopfarms are a real pain
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Retiring at 62 and URL Filtering HTTP(S) Proxy on Qubes OS
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Lisa Cook Sues Convicted Felon and Backdoor Mandate in UK Resisted
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Arti 1.5.0, War on Public Health (CDC), and Slop 'Bros' Made to Pay for Their Mass Plagiarism
Links for the day
No, 4Chan is Not Fighting for You by Lawyering Up Against Ofcom (UK)
Don't mistake proto-fascists for people who "fight for you". They don't.
In Many Places in the World Vista 11 "Market Share" is Going Down, Not Up
In some countries Windows is already down to third place or lower
More Microsoft-Connected Layoffs, at Least Third Time This Month! (Also Another Death on Campus)
Microsoft as a "gaming" company is where studios, projects, games, and even developers come to die
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Slop Images in VentureBeat, Linux Foundation Spam Made With LLM Slop and Slop Images
The only relief or upside - if any exists - is that the pace of slop was down a bit this week
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 28, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 28, 2025
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Poems, Games, and Java 25 Performance
Links for the day