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Where the EU Goes With Patents
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TODAY'S VIDEO concerns the EPO's rather bizarre plan to hide HR-related information [1, 2]. Combined with some factors we recently covered, one wonders if there's a semi-secret deal to fold the EPO onto some EU agency like EUIPO, with or without mass layoffs. The efforts to piss off EPO staff and repel potential applicants (for the Office, not for European Patents) have certainly "worked". But the quality of the work conducted at the Office fell noticeably -- certainly enough for patent applicants to complain publicly, and not only once over the years. At the end of last month we saw text which a law firm said the following about: "The European Commission has today (27 April 2023) published proposals for changes impacting on patents in the EU in relation to compulsory licensing of patents in crisis situations [...] the introduction of a Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC) for the new unitary patent right (UP) and a centralised SPC application procedure for this and national SPC rights."
"...the quality of the work conducted at the Office fell noticeably -- certainly enough for patent applicants to complain publicly, and not only once over the years."Notice they invoke EUIPO and combine SPC with UPC. So what exactly is going on here? Well, people sometimes wonder if EPO mass layoffs are in the cards (internal but leaked presentations suggest considerable headcount decease over the coming years; it's part of the plan). If the EU (or EU agency with "IP" in its name) takes over the remainder, that would mean absorbing former staff. With António Campinos starting his "next" 5 years in July it'll be interesting to see what they are hiding or why they hide the HR information.
"I presume they are pushing more "FRAND" crap," an associate said recently, but it could be a lot bigger and more sinister, especially considering the lack of consultation with nation states (member states). Europe should not be governed in this way and if lots of improper monopolies are being granted in the interim, it spells trouble (e.g. poverty) for European citizens.
According to some reports: "The European Commission has proposed Regulations on standard essential patents, compulsory licensing of patents in crisis situations, and amendments to the laws about supplementary protection certificates. These aim to create a more transparent, effective and futureproof intellectual [sic] property [sic] rights [sic] framework." This is the language of monopolists, not the language of knowledge sharing and solidarity. ⬆