EPO

From Techrights

Revision as of 13:29, 3 November 2015

The European Patent Office (EPO) has been granting software patents in Europe despite the law explicitly forbidding it. The profit motive ultimately compromised quality. There are even more mischievous practices going on, especially after the EPO's former head, Alison Brimelow, got replaced by a megalomaniac called Benoît Battistelli, who drove away anything or anyone who threatens his undemocratic ambition of total power. Techrights wrote about the EPO in the following posts, organised chronologically, with addition of the following colour coding:

2015

November

• EPO “Careering Towards the Precipice of Disaster”

October

• Private Eye Covers the EPO Scandals, Says EPO Hired 'British Snooping Firm Global Risk Consultants'
• Former German Constitutional Court Judge Denounces the EPO’s Possible Campaign of Defamation Against Judge Accused of Truth-Telling
• Benoît Battistelli Became an Embarrassment to the European Patent Organisation, Allege EPO Workers
• The International Labour Organisation Highlights Problems of Broader Dimensions at EPO
• EPO Press Spokesperson and Obvious Conflicts of Interest With Supposed Anti-Corruption Group Transparency International
• Battistelli's EPO Loses 'Customers' Because It Plays 'Favourites' With Large Corporations
• Secret Deals at the EPO Discredit Europe and Need to Stop Immediately
• Control Risks Group (CRG), Transparency International, the European Patent Office (EPO) Investigative Unit and the Obvious Conflicts of Interest
• In the United States, USPTO Helps Create Trolls, Whereas in Europe, the EPO Itself is the Troll
• Board of Appeal Thwarts a Software Patent Application in the EPO, From Company Indirectly Connected to the EPO
• European Patent Organisation: Hallmark of a Corrupted (by Corporations) Entity
• The Deteriorating Working Conditions at the EPO Show Reluctance to Make Talented Staff (or Ill Staff) Happy
• EPO Slammed for Granting Patents on Life
• How the Chief Information Officer of the EPO is Connected to the President of the EPO
• SUEPO Reiterates Call for Independent Mediation and “Doubts That There Can Ever be Social Peace With Mr Battistelli as President”
• US Patent 'Industry' (Parasites) Defends Patently Broken System That It Profits From, Pushes for UPC in Europe
• Techrights to Increase Coverage of EPO Scandals and the Unitary Patent
• Slate Magazine Explains Why Excessive Patenting is a Bad Thing, Gives a Cautionary Tale for EPO and Others
• EPO Increases Repressions: Allegedly Bans Staff From Helping Refugees
• German Broadcaster on European Patent Office (EPO) Preferential Treatment for Microsoft and Others
• Benoît Battistelli et al in an Allegedly New Campaign of Defamation Against Staff Member
• German Media Shows Discriminatory EPO Practices More Than Just a ‘Pilot’ (Reaching Second Half of 2016), Started When Microsoft Pressured EPO (Lodged Complaints)
• EPO Cleverly Frames Total War Against Its Own Staff as a War Against Nazism
• EPO is Trademark-Bullying Its Critics, Trying Repeatedly to Remove Bad Publicity With Help From Menacing Legal Threats (SLAPP)
• The 'Sherlocks' of EPO/Spin-Doctoring Pretend That All of the EPO's Problems Boil Down to One Disgruntled Person
• EPO’s Jeremy Philpott Confirms That Discriminatory (Software) Patent Processing Practices Started With Microsoft, Because of Microsoft
• Translation Needed: High Employee Sabotaged European Patent Office (EPO)
• EPO Says Crushing Patent Neutrality is a Good Thing® Because Authenticity of Self-Incriminating EPO Document Cannot be Denied
• EPO Completely Loses It and Starts Banning Even More Sites Ahead of Today's Demonstration, UPC Proceeding Behind Closed Doors
• Staff of the EPO Under Siege Ahead of Tomorrow's Demonstration in Munich
• EPO Management Lobbies for the Unitary Patent (UPC) and Uses This to Advance Software Patents in Europe
• Confirmed: Benoît Battistelli is Crushing the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA)
• EPO Staff is Happy, Says EPO Propaganda Still in the Making
• EPO Management is Running Out of Time as More Media Remarks on Its Abuses
• Benoît Battistelli's Group of 'Loyals' Crushes Not Only the Independent Boards But Also 'Unwanted' Directorates-General
• Leaked: EPO Prioritises Work for Large Foreign Corporations, Discrimination Not Accidental But Centrally Planned
• Benoît Battistelli's Office Accused of Institutional Harassment Against EPO Staff in New Letter to the Administrative Council, Calling for External Investigation
• Bad News for the EPO's Judicial Independence and Due Process in Next Week's Administrative Council (AC) Meeting
• The Coup D'état of Benoît Battistelli Follows an Imperialist Model, Threatens Opposition and Dissent
• EPO Staff to Disrupt Administrative Council Meeting With Public Demonstration That Raises Awareness of Abuses
• Željko Topić Attacks EPO Staff for ‘Daring’ to Legally Challenge the EPO’s Management Over Its Gross Abuses in Europe
• Commenters Provide Possible Explanations for Mr Van der Eijk Being on Unlimited Sick Leave
• With Software Patents in Europe (and Pushes for the Same Thing in Australia and India) Patent Trolls Now Come to Europe, Attack Android/Linux
• New Information on Limbo in the Enlarged Board, Courtesy of Illegal Actions by the EPO’s Benoît Battistelli
• Dr. Ingve Björn Stjerna Explains Why the UPC (“Unitary Patent“ System) is an Undemocratic Sham Whilst UPC Silently Advanced by Patent Lawyers and Politicians
• Article Explains Why SUEPO Went Silent Well Over a Week Ago: Nobody is Allowed to Talk to Journalists Without Permission From Battistelli
• Chairman of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA) and EPO Vice-President of DG3 Suspiciously on Unlimited Sick Leave After Benoît Battistelli's Unprecedented Attacks on Other EBoA Staff
• Microsoft's Secret Special Relationship With EPO Illustrates Serious Corruption at Microsoft and the EPO

September

• Süddeutsche Zeitung Explains Imminent Federal Scrutiny Against Battistelli’s EPO in Germany
• EPO Managers, Patent Lawyers, Commissioners and Other Non-Technical Personnel Tackle Democracy, Alter Laws in Bulk and in Secret
• Europe’s Acceptance of and Resistance to Software Patents, Courtesy of Corporate Front Groups and Courtrooms Respectively
• German Press Explains EPO Investigation Unit (I.U.), Struggles to Openly Speak to the Secretive EPO
• Translation Needed of Article About EPO Threats Against SUEPO’s Elizabeth Hardon
• EPO Management Justifies Censorship (Even of Journalists) Using Its Vice-President Željko Topić
• EPO President Benoît Battistelli Compared to Famous Criminals on European Television
• Dutch Politician John Kerstens Says EPO Investigative Unit is Called ‘the Gestapo’
• The European Patent Office's Autocracy Has Proven the Streisand Effect, Amplifying Its Opposition's Messages
• Dutch Report: EPO Suicides Possibly Caused by Working Conditions Imposed by EPO’s Management
• European Patent Office Expands Censorship and Intimidation Against Staff as Pressure Mounts
• EPO Staff Suicides Estimated to Have Grown Tenfold Under Current Regime -- Claim
• EPO Has Become Political and Benoît Battistelli is Lobbying for UPC (Large Corporations' Wishlist)
• The EPO’s Vicious Attacks on Its Very Own Staff Have Peaked (War on Dissent) While Oppressive Patent Regime (UPC) Phased in
• Benoît Battistelli and His Goons From Control Risks (CRG) Try to Crush Unions, Not Just Journalism
• EPO Management May Not Have Resigned (Yet), But the Rest of the Staff is Leaving in Droves
• Benoît Battistelli in Denial Over Suicides in EPO, Accuses and Threatens the Messengers

August

• Censorship, Self-Censorship and Intimidation Now the Modus Operandi at EPO
• Patent Practitioners: "The Unitary Patent Might be Able to Open the Floodgates for Software Patents in Europe"
• Another Suicide at the EPO, Fifth by Our Count
• EPO Corruption of Patent Boundaries: Business Methods and Algorithms Patented
• EPO Measures Productivity Using the Wrong Yardstick in Order to Sell Its Racket to the Public
• ‘Sanader’s Protégé’ Željko Topić Slammed by Press in His Home Country

July

• Patents Expansion in Europe May be Looming
• SUEPO Post Vanishes: Belated Self-Censorship or Threats From EPO Management?
• European Censorship: Tyrants of the EPO Blacklist Techrights, Web Site Not Accessible Office-Wide
• EPO Appointments: Standards of a Third World Country
• Europe Goes Down a Dark Route When It Comes to Patent Scope and Centralisation
• Amid Controversy, Political Scrutiny and Increased Media Pressure Željko Topić and Benoît Battistelli Allegedly Cancel Today’s Trip to Zagreb (Croatia) Where Topić Faces Many Criminal Charges
• Translation of Pierre-Yves Le Borgn' Speech Against EPO Management and New Parliamentarian Interventions
• Munich Press, Münchner Merkur, Slams the Munich-based EPO
• Speculations About the EPO's Possible Role in DDOS Attacks

June

• Techrights Confirmed as a Target of EPO Surveillance, With Help From Control Risks Group (CRG)
• DDOS Attacks Against Techrights
• After Intervention by the Council of Europe Comes a Detailed Summary of the Situation in the European Patent Office (EPO)
• The Council of Europe Slams the EPO as Political Pressure Grows for EPO Management to Obey the Law
• The EPO’s Circus of Nepotism, Corporatism and Gross Abuse is Promoting the Unitary Patent
• An Estimated 1,000 EPO Staff in Munich Demonstrated Against EPO Management Yesterday Afternoon
• EPO Protest in Munich and Growing Unpopularity of EPO Management, Media Manipulation by the Management
• Demonstration Against European Patent Office Management in Munich This Wednesday
• French Newspaper Les Echos Censors Criticism of Benoît Battistelli and the EPO
• SUEPO to SUE Government of the Netherlands for Protecting the EPO’s Thugs
• More Political Interventions in EPO Abuse Cases
• Translation of Süddeutsche Zeitung Article Calling for External Oversight of Data Protection at the EPO
• EPO Data Protection Officer 'Just a Dictator's Minion', Approved Keyloggers and Hidden Cameras
• Badische Zeitung Labels European Patent Office (EPO) a Police State for Use of Very Intrusive Mass Surveillance Software
• More European Politicians Pressure and Sometimes Slam the European Patent Office (EPO) Amid New Scandals
• EPO Comes Under Fire From the Bavarian Data Protection Supervisor After the Spying Scandal
• Full Translation of Süddeutsche Zeitung Article About Blackhat Tactics (Keyloggers) in EPO
• EPO Surveillance, Threats, and Patronisation of Dutch Legal System Covered in Dutch Article From De Volkskrant
• European Patent Office (EPO) Now Uses Keyloggers to Spy on Staff
• When the European Patent Office Lost in Court and Refused to Obey the Law: An Analysis
• EPO May be Creating Its Own Lawless NSA (or GCHQ) With Control Risks Group Deal
• The European Patent Office Has Become Militarised
• Spanish Media on Reign of Terror at EPO: Managerial Misconduct, Blocked E-mails (Censorship), and Abuse of Legal Immunity
• The High Cost of Low Patent Bar at the EPO
• Süddeutsche Zeitung Article About the EPO's Investigation Unit and Control Risks Group
• EPO and Administrative Council Stall Criticism by Pretending to Negotiate With Staff Whilst Actually Attacking It
• EPO Officially Confirms That It Specifically Hired Control Risks Group (CRG) to Spy on Journalists and Their Sources
• The EPO Sinks Deeper in a Scandal After Paying Public Money for Military-Connected Control Risks to Stalk Journalists and Staff
• EPO Corruption Compared to FIFA Corruption While ‘Control Risks’ Helps EPO Hide/Suppress Evidence of Corruption; Calls on German Authorities to Crack Down on Both
• EPO Reluctantly (and Privately) Confirms Giving Public Money for Military-connected ‘Control Risks’ to Spy on Journalists and Their Sources While Techrights is Under Fresh DDOS Attacks

May

• The EPO Still Wastes Public Money on Publicity Stunts and 'Reputation Management' Campaigns
• Propaganda Mode for UPC Agreement Whilst EPO Increasingly Grants Patents on Software
• Patent Scope at the EPO is Totally Out of Control, UPC Will Make Things Worse
• Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Benoît Battistelli and Four EPO Suicides
• Süddeutsche Zeitung Says Talking Helps While EPO Management Back-stabs Other Side of the Table
• More Utter Shame Unveiled at Battistelli’s EPO: Intimidation Tactics With Help From ‘Control Risks’

April

• The EPO’s Tyrant, Benoît Battistelli, is Probably on His Way Out, Threatens to Resign
• As Core Issues Still Not Addressed, Another Protest Against EPO Management Scheduled for Tomorrow in Munich, Germany
• EPO Management is Trying Hard to Appease Its Critics While Pushing Forth Unitary Patent Agenda
• More Translations of French Article About the EPO
• New Article Chronicles Suicides and Nervous Breakdowns at the EPO Due to the Management’s Abuses
• The EPO is Becoming More Like the USPTO Under Benoît Battistelli's Greed-Driven Reign
• More Suicides Reported at the Staff-Hostile European Patent Office
• English, French and German Translations of De Telegraaf Article About Ivo Opstelten’s Defence of Benoît Battistelli
• The EPO’s Dutch Appeal Court Judgment Controversy: List of Political Interventions
• Željko Topić: ‘SUEPO {Staff Union} Has No Standing in This Office. SUEPO Has No Role to Play in This Office.’
• English, French and German Translations of Dutch Article About EPO Abuses
• When Battistelli’s Defender Ivo Opstelten Turned Out to be Also Defending (Paying) Narcotics Traffickers
• When Battistelli’s Defender, Dutch Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten, Attacked Europeans’ Right to Demonstrate

March

• When the EPO Came Under Fire From the Netherlands and Before Systemic Corruption Was Revealed
• Techrights Cited by European Politicians in Support of EPO Staff’s Causes
• Željko Topić and Ivan Šimonović, Two Residues of Ivo Sanader’s Corrupt Regime, Seen as Indirectly Connected
• The EPO’s Dutch Scandal Leaves Battistelli and His Cronies on the Run
• The EPO's Administrative Council is Under Increased Pressure to Rein in and to Finally Stop Benoît Battistelli
• Concerns Over Željko Topić’s Alleged Powerful Links in Croatian Diplomacy
• Benoît Battistelli’s EPO Comes Under Fire From Prominent Figures Who Are Key EPO Stakeholders, Expect Battistelli to Resign ‘in the Longer Term’
• Benoît Battistelli’s EPO is Under Attack From French Politicians Yet Again
• Politics of Blackmail at the EPO
• Benoît Battistelli's EPO Comes Under Attack From the British
• The Royal Norwegian Department of Labour on the Right of European Patent Office (EPO) Workers to Strike
• How the European Patent Office (Management) is Spying on Its Very Own Staff
• Translation of Full Judgment Against Željko Topić in Croatian Defamation Case Over Bribery (Mercedes/Audi) and More
• Benoît Battistelli Allegedly Turns to Moscow and Putin-Inspired Tactics to Oppress and Suppress EPO Staff
• Rikard Frgačić Explains Željko Topić's Behaviour and the Lufthansa Case
• Video: How the Željko Topić-Led SIPO Betrayed Croatians
• EPO Management Still in a Freefall, Tries to Warp/Divert the Debate Away From Its Abuses

February

• The EPO’s Sham ‘Internal Investigation’ of EPO Vice-President Željko Topić’s Affairs
• Benoît Battistelli Once Again Threatens EPO Staff That ‘Dares’ to Protest, Battistelli Exploits Terror Attacks to Pretend to Respect Free Speech
• The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys Slams the European Patent Office for Structural Failings
• Techrights Under Attack Again, Shortly After Important EPO Articles
• EPO Staff Protests Against Benoît Battistelli’s Lowering of Patents Quality (Scope Expansion and Software Patents for Profit)
• Breaking: European Patent Office Sued by Its Own Staff in The Hague, Must Unblock Staff’s Voices
• Željko Topić's History in SIPO Leaves a Legacy of Alleged DZIV Vehicles (Bribes), Authorship Abuses, and Intimidation Against Reporters
• Željko Peratović Slammed for Whitewashing Željko Topić After Publishing Important Piece on Behalf of Key Sources
• Benoît Battistelli Has Made Oversight of European Patent Office Absolutely Impossible
• English Translation of Süddeutsche Zeitung Article About Benoît Battistelli, Željko Topić, and EPO Tyranny
• Amid EPO Scandals, Call to Dissolve the EPO and Start All Over Again (With New Management and New Direction)
• FFII and the American IP Law Association Comment on the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Envisioned by EPO
• English Translation of Article About Protest at Danish Consulate Over EPO Abuses
• EPO Staff to March to British Consulate to Protest Against the Administrative Council (AC)
• The EPO's Digital War (Censorship) Against Staff Web Site
• Cyberattacks on SUEPO Server Raise More Questions
• The European Patent Lawyers Association (EPLAW) is Again Protesting Against EPO as More Crackdowns by EPO Management Reveal Depth of Abuse
• English Translation of Ruling Against Željko Topić (EPO VP) in Croatian Court
• German Translation of Ruling Against Željko Topić, the EPO's Vice-President
• More Press Coverage From the Danish Media About EPO Abuses and Protest at Danish Consulate
• Benoît Battistelli and Jesper Kongstad Continue to Blame Everything on SUEPO
• Catarina Holtz From the EPO Boards of Appeal Explains Bad Behaviour of the Management With Regards to EPC 2000
• The EPO's Paid Propaganda Campaign in the Media

January

• Media Coverage of Demonstration Against Jesper Kongstad of the Administrative Council (EPO)
• Text of Ruling/Decision Against Željko Topić (Regarding Audi as a Bribe)
• An Estimated 1,000 EPO Employees-Strong Legion Engulfs Danish Consulate to Protest Jesper Kongstad's (of Administrative Council) Protection of Benoît Battistelli
• Breaking: EPO Vice-President Željko Topić Loses Defamation Case in Croatia
• As Battistelli Breaks the Rules and Topić Silences Staff, New European Parliament Petition for Tackling the EPO’s Abuses is Needed
• The Collapse of European Patent Office Management Culminates With Resignations
• Vesna Stilin Renews Her Fight for Justice in Željko Topić Case (EPO VP)
• Failure of the EPO Can Derail the Trojan Horse of Software Patents and Patent Trolls
• Battistelli's Latest Propaganda War Tries to Convince EPO Staff That Željko Topić's Many Criminal Charges Don't Exist
• Translations of Member of the European Parliament Complaining About European Patent Office (EPO)
• Dutch MEP Dennis De Jong, Criticising Battistelli and Topić, Calls for Action Against EPO Management
• EPO Misdirections Debunked: Refuting Battistelli’s Nonsense and Bogeyman Theory
• The EPO Connection Now a Liability as Administrative Council Has Become a Laughing Stock, Jesper Kongstad to be Targeted by EPO Staff Protests
• Investigation Unit a Complete Farce Inside the EPO
• Just in: Fresh Call From Croatia to Arrest EPO Vice-President Željko Topić
• EPO Under Fire From European Patent Lawyers Association (EPLAW)
• Intellectual Property Judges’ Association (IPJA) Speaks Out Against EPO Tyrant Battistelli

2014

• EPO Imploding: Battistelli Throws a Fit at EPO’s Investigation Unit
• EPO and UPC in Europe Now the Hope of Patent Maximalists, China Too is Assimilating
• EPO Scandal: Benoît Battistelli's Arrogance Recognised by European Delegations
• EPO Staff Protests Today and Protested Last Week, Targeting Corruption in the Institution
• Exclusive: The Enlarged Board of Appeal Complains About Battistelli’s Corrupt Management to the Administrative Council
• Protests Against EPO Corruption Approach 1,000 in Attendance
• Rolling of Heads Likely Imminent at EPO
• Dreaming of a Just Christmas: When a Third of EPO Walks Out to Revolt and European Judges Attack the EPO Over Abuses
• EPO Corruption: Battistelli Augments His ‘Loyals’ Circle With Frederic Angermann and Charm Offensive in Patent Lawyers’ Sites
• EPO Breaking News: The European Parliament Dismisses Complaint About EPO Abuses
• EPO Staff Protests to Continue in the New Year, Techrights to Release New Material

Special report on EPO

• The Case of Rikard Frgacic Versus the Croatian SIPO: Allegation of Corruption in Relation to Trademark Reassignment Under Željko Topić’s Watch: Part XVI
• Corruption at the Croatian State Intellectual Property Office Which Željko Topić Came From: Part XV
• The EPO Shaken by Croatian Revelations: Part XIV
• The EPO’s Vice-President Željko Topić and the Case of Ivan Kabalin: Part XIII
• France Gets Involved in Battistelli's Abuses in the EPO - Part XII
• Vesna Stilin’s Remarks on Željko Topić: Part XI
• Special Report: Many Criminal Charges Against EPO Vice-President Željko Topić
• How the EPO’s Executive Branch (Battistelli and Topić) Banned Scrutiny and Created Authoritarian Model of Control: Part X
• How to Complain About the EPO to National Delegations in Europe: Part IX
• The EPO Is More Corrupt Under Battistelli Than Under Alison Brimelow: Part VIII
• The EPO’s Public Relations Disaster Amid Distrust From Within (and EPO Communications Chief Leaves): Part VII
• The EPO’s Protection Triangle of Battistelli, Kongstad, and Topić: Part VI
• Benoît Battistelli’s Balkan Standards in EPO: Part V
• European Patent Office Disorganisation: Problems With the Audit Mechanisms – Part IV
• European Patent Office/Organisation – Suspicion of Improper Collusion Between EPO President and Chairman of the Administrative Council: Part III
• Željko Topić, Benoît Battistelli, and the European Patent Office (EPO): Part II
• Suspicion of High-Level Corruption at the European Patent Office (EPO): Part I

2013

• The EPO Has Gone Rogue, Disregards the Law
• With Unitary Patent Scheme, EPO Pushes Hard for Software Patenting (More Leech Income)

2012

• EPO Decides to Listen to Anti-Patents Stance, USPTO Censors It
• Google Helps EPO Manage Monopolies, Unitary Patent Aided
• EPO Advisory Board Likes Patents

2011

• EPO and Other Lawyers-dominated Circles Push for Software Patenting
• Cablegate: USPTO, JPO, and EPO Prepare a Global Patent System
• EPO More Popular/Responsive Than the USPTO
• EU Patent Failing to Materialise, But EPO and Politicians Begin to Overstep Their Line of Authority to Intervene
• EPO Thinks More Patent Business (Filings) is a Good Thing, US Commerce Secretary Realises it is Not

2010

• US Patent Colonisation: EPO Promotes Machine Translation, New Zealand Still Resistant
• “EPO Still Operating in a Vacuum”
• USPTO Wants Feedback About Post-Bilski Guidelines, EPO Might Let Monsanto Patent Life
• Lessons to the UK-IPO and EPO, Courtesy of USPTO Failure
• Backlash Against The European Patent Office (EPO), The Extended Board of Appeal (EBoA), and Trolls-Friendly Patent Systems
• BSA Blames Lack of Patents for Europe Being ‘Behind’, EPO Loses €2 Million in Kaupthing Bankruptcy
• Patents Roundup: USPTO Grants Patents on Hotdogs and Harbours Pyramid Schemes, EPO in Transition, and Apple Turns Nasty

2009

• What on Earth is the EPO Doing?
• The EPO Does Not Work for European Citizens
• EPO in State of Turmoil, Patents Kill
• EPO and the Swiss Department of Justice Want to Make Some Free Software a Crime
• Goodbye, Alison Brimelow (EPO President)
• Is the EPO Selling Out to Microsoft?
• Patents Roundup: Microsoft, CSIRO, Patent Hawk, and “Corrupt, Malicious” EPO
• European Patent Office Continues March for Software Patents

2008

• Alison Brimelow (EPO) Criticised for Referral to Enlarged Board of Appeal
• Patent Problems: Google Unresolved, Bilski Resolved, EPO to be Resolved?
• The EPO Crisis and Microsoft’s Patent Trolls
• Patents Roundup: EPO Patent Numbers Decrease; Bilski Revisited
• Software Patents Roundup: EPO, USPTO and Acacia