Bonum Certa Men Certa

The EPO Needs High-Calibre Examiners, Not Politicians Who Pretend to Understand Patents and Science

Video download link | md5sum ffe92ca2570f47d95f5837fac6ef0525 No Rights for EPO Staff Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0



Summary: Examiners are meant to obstruct fake patents or reject meritless patent applications; why is it that working conditions deteriorate for those who are intellectually equipped to do the job?

THIS Monday we published as HTML a document circulated inside the EPO regarding a sinister plan to crack down on staff using the pandemic as a pretext, in effect taking away yet more rights. The EPO isn't unique in the way it takes advantage of COVID-19, but the EPO isn't a private company; heck, its leadership is above the law (Benoît Battistelli and António Campinos would likely be prosecuted if it weren't for immunity).



"What good are patents that should never have been granted or, put differently, who are these good for?"Based on staff representatives at the EPO, member states are resisting a proposal from the Office, but probably for the wrong reasons. They're still failing to hold the Office accountable for grotesque privacy violations (instead they're attempted to cover up those violations). The demise of patent quality and the quality of hires don't bother them, either.

What good is an institution which so shamelessly violates its very own charter or mission statement? What good are patents that should never have been granted or, put differently, who are these good for? The video above discusses the latest document. It doesn't seem to suggest that national delegates care about staff; what's more, it shows how ludicrous 'democracy' has become at the EPO as delegates are only "allowed" to vote when (or if) the Office says so.

“An Earthquake Would be Needed for the Administrative Council… Not to Support My Major Proposals.”

--Benoît Battistelli

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