Corporations that send patent applications to the EPO are large multinationals (only 20% of applicants are not)

Summary: The European examiners who deal with patents prefer a system that works for science, for Europe, not for foreign megacorporations that amass millions of low-quality patents and weaponise these to discourage competition

As an associate of ours put it, "quantity over quality has been a problem, pushed by management, so it is important to distinguish this downturn from an actually desirable re-calibration."