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11.26.16

Duplicate Events for Lobbying by Team UPC Meddle in Politics in an Effort to Enrich Itself at Europe’s Expense

Posted in Europe, Patents at 5:51 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

UPC lobbying event

Summary: Observing the latest attempts by Team UPC (Winfried Tilmann etc.) to ram the UPC down politicians’ throats, even though it is neither desirable nor legal/constitutional as things stand

TECHRIGHTS spent many years covering the UPC (also in its previous incarnations) and earlier this month we wrote about imminent attempts (at the end of this month) to revive this zombie of a treaty-like sham — something which European citizens would strongly disapprove of if they actually knew anything about it. Team UPC likes to keep it sort of secret, or simply lie about it, insisting that it’s good for SMEs when in fact the very opposite is true. The UPC is a huge, gross injustice, but thugs and liars like Battistelli (and those blindly loyal to him, maybe out of fear) keep pushing for it (see the screenshot above, including the quote from Battistelli).

“The post-Brexit vote future of Europe’s unitary patent system is set to become much clearer on Monday,” IAM’s editor wrote yesterday (his headline in fact). Our expectation is that on Monday the UPC will remain as dead as it is now, but Team UPC will deny it. Here are the concluding words from IAM, which in the past organised pro-UPC events, supported by the EPO and sponsored by the EPO's PR firm:

In addition to the above, there are undoubtedly other scenarios that might play out; while it is also quite possible that contrary to expectations the UK will not say anything definitive on Monday. If I were to place a bet, though, I would plump for a confirmation of non-ratification and the other EU member states then refining the UPC agreement to make the UK’s participation non-essential. But I would not put a lot of money on it. The best advice is to avoid betting shops and to keep a look out for an announcement sometime late Monday afternoon or evening Central European Time. Early next week, a period of post-Brexit IP uncertainty could well come to an end.

Previously, the same author said that it would take another 2 years (or more) before there is sufficient clarity for the UPC to proceed (if at all). As we noted here just a couple of days ago, IAM is now organising another UPC-centric event. They won’t give up until the EPO runs out of budget or Battistelli gets admitted into a mental asylum.

“Yet another echo chamber for the UPC,” wrote Benjamin Henrion (FFII) yesterday, adding: “can we have a real debate please?”

Henrion referred to “yet another echo chamber” as he called it when he told us about it. “There seems to be the same conference with the same speakers next week 30th Nov (in my latest tweets). Council meeting is 28th Nov, they expect UK to say something…”

The “same conference with the same speakers” is being advertised via E-mail and this one too is titled “Finalising the Unitary Patent Package,” to take place on the 8th of February in Brussels.

They are sending this around via E-mail:

Finalizing the Unitary Patent Package:
Challenges and Ways Forward
Thon Hotel Brussels City Centre, Brussels
Wednesday 8th February 2017

Willem A. Hoyng
Partner
Hoyng Rokh Monegier

Pierre Véron
Lawyer, Member of the Paris Bar
Véron & Associés

Katalin Lubóczki,
Member, UPC Preparatory Committee, Attaché for Intellectual Property, Audiovisual Policy and Consumer Protection
Permanent Representation of Hungary to the EU

Prof. Dr. Winfried Tilmann
Of Counsel
Hogan Lovells, Düsseldorf

Darren Smyth
Partner, Patent and Design Attorney, London, EIP Europe LLP
Author for The IPKat & IP Alchemist
Member of the Editorial team for the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice

The introduction is as follows:

In December 2012, after a 40 year long quest, the European Parliament and the European Council finally reached a formal agreement on two EU regulations, making the European Patent with Unitary Effect (EPUE) an achievable prospect. With almost all EU member states – except for Spain and Croatia – participating in the enhanced cooperation, the legislation is supposed to come into force by the end of the year 2016/beginning 2017.

Experts, however, argue about the intended cost saving factor as well as the theoretical simplicity the EPUE package will bring, being mostly concerned about the patchwork nature of the system. Also, with the recent Brexit vote, additional straits are adding up, making the future of the Unitary Patent unclear.

This timely Symposium will offer an opportunity to inform and find out more about the current developments and challenges regarding the Unitary Patent and the Unitary Patent Court. The conference will evaluate advantages and disadvantages, build strategies for businesses on how to proceed and support the exchange of information and best practices with experts, practitioners and policymakers at EU level.

We saw — and covered something similar to this — before. Pay attention to the pricing; as we noted here before, these events are also priced out of reach, with concession to the ‘choir’. So it looks like it’s open to everyone, but it’s not. It’s like a paywall for the rich, by the rich. The price is the gatekeeper.

Yesterday someone left this comment in IP Kat, in relation to another event. “Good grief that is a lot,” said this person. “Go to one of cheaper seminars or even the free ones -Brussels is full of free ones as well which are just as good. Ok not so many corporates crammed into one place but if it is the Commission speakers you want to hear -these particular individuals are the regulars and turn up anywhere.So save your money and go to those e.g which the Lander host for free, are smaller and so you get to talk to the speakers and where the food is excellent.”

Well, Team UPC isn’t interested in a large audience; it just wants to ensure that the audience is in the same bed, it doesn’t want dissent. This pretty much says what the event is all about: lobbying. █

SLAPP-Happy EPO Vice-President Slapped Out of the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb for the Third Time!

Posted in Europe, Patents at 4:59 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

We recently received the following news from sources in Croatia, after Topić had lost the lawsuit for the second time (early this year)

Audi EPO

Summary: The latest in the Topić saga is more bad news for Topić, with potentially a lot more on the way

According to information received from reliable sources in Croatia, on November 21st at the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb a further round took place in the long-drawn out defamation lawsuit which Mr. Topić has been pursuing against a former Assistant Director of the SIPO.

“Mr. Topić was leading the prosecution as a private plaintiff.”The original lawsuit was filed as a private complaint on February 4th, 2011 which means that the Public Prosecutor was not responsible for the case. In other words, Mr. Topić was leading the prosecution as a private plaintiff.

The first round ended in January 2015 with a resounding defeat for Topić as the defendant was acquitted of all charges in the judgment of January 26, 2015 (file number 7.K-26/11).
At that time Topić was represented by Mr. Janjko Grlic from Gajski, Grlic, Prka and Partners, a leading Zagreb law firm with a lot of high-level political connections.

“At that time Topić was represented by Mr. Janjko Grlic from Gajski, Grlic, Prka and Partners, a leading Zagreb law firm with a lot of high-level political connections.”It seems that Topić filed an appeal against this judgment and tried to have the case sent back to a different judge. The appeal court did not grant that request but sent the case back to the same judge for the correction of a number of minor formal errors in the original judgment concerning the paragraphs of criminal law which had been cited. Some confusion seems to have arisen here because there had been amendments of the criminal law between the filing of the complaint in February 2011 and the passing of the judgment in January 2015.

The case went back to the same judge (Marijan Bertalanić) at the Municipal Criminal Court for a second round, this time with the file number 7.K-586/15.

In the meantime Topić had switched his attorney and was now represented by another prominent Zagreb lawyer Branko Šeric.
.

“In the meantime Topić had switched his attorney and was now represented by another prominent Zagreb lawyer Branko Šeric.”At a hearing which took place on January 14, 2016 neither Mr. Topić nor his lawyer showed up in court.

The judge decided to discontinue the proceedings.

“But this seems to have been a deliberate strategic move on the part of Topić to delay the proceedings.”It may seem like strange behavior on the part of a private prosecutor not to show up in court to prosecute the lawsuit he has filed himself. But this seems to have been a deliberate strategic move on the part of Topić to delay the proceedings.

Afterwards Topić filed an appeal against the decision to discontinue the proceedings and the case was reopened before the same judge at the Municipal Criminal Court.

Round three took place during a hearing held on November 21st.

Once again Topić had switched his representative and was now represented by another attorney.

“The judge seems to have finally lost patience with Topić’s time-wasting tactics because he closed the case by adjourning the hearing indefinitely and noting that the statute of limitations was due to expire on the following day.”Although he had been duly summoned to appear as a witness Topić failed to turn up in court and apparently did not even acknowledge the summons. His attorney claimed that his absence was due to “urgent business” which had prevented him from attending.

The judge seems to have finally lost patience with Topić’s time-wasting tactics because he closed the case by adjourning the hearing indefinitely and noting that the statute of limitations was due to expire on the following day.

For the moment, only the official minutes of the hearing are available but there may be a more detailed judgment issued later on. Sources in Zagreb have indicated that the final judgment of the Municipal Criminal Court may be published on the Internet.

A redacted copy of the minutes is available to us [PDF] with a translation in English below. █

REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb
Zagreb, Ilica-Selska, Ilica 207

File number: 7. K-586/15

MINUTES
of 21 November 2016
the discussion held at the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb

Present for the Court:
Marijan Bertalanić
Presiding Judge – Judge

Ankica Zorić
Registrar

Criminal case:
Private prosecutor: Ž. T.

DEFENDANT: V. S.
For the criminal offence pursuant to
Article 200/2 et alia of the Criminal Code

The President of the Council – the judge opens the session at 11.45 hours and announces the subject of the main debate.

The presence of the parties is established as follows:

1. For the private prosecutor – nobody, legal representative of the private prosecutor, *****
2. Injured party:
3. Defendant: V. S. legal representative of the defendant, attorney-at-law ******
4. Witnesses:

It is established that the witness Ž. T., for whom a summons to his address in Germany has not been acknowledged, failed to appear. His legal representative submits for the file a certificate from which it follows that the private prosecutor was unable to attend today’s hearing due to urgent business.

The Judge delivers the following

Decision

There will be a debate. Due to the passage of time the debate is re-opened anew.

The identity of the defendant is established.

Defendant V.S., personal data as in the minutes of 4th February 2013.

The debate begins with a reading of the private complaint.

The defendant states that she understands the charges and will be defended in the presence of her chosen defence counsel.

- 2 -

Invited to make a statement on the merits of the private complaint she states: I do not consider myself guilty of the offences with which I am charged.

The Judge calls on the parties to submit their evidence.

The legal representative of the private prosecutor proposes once again a direct examination of the private prosecutor Ž. T. at the hearing, also suggests that the minutes of the previous examination of the already heard witness be read at the hearing, and no further evidence.

The counsel for the defence states that she does not oppose the evidentiary proposals on behalf of the prosecution.

Since the parties were not in agreement following the reading of the minutes of the previous examination of the private prosecutor Ž. T. as a witness,

the Judge delivers the following

Decision

Today’s debate will be adjourned, and no further hearing will be scheduled since on 22nd November 2016 statute of limitations for a criminal prosecution takes effect.

Completed at 11.55 hours.

Judge

Clerk

11.25.16

Links 25/11/2016: Pinebook, Games Sales

Posted in News Roundup at 10:14 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNOME bluefish

Contents

GNU/Linux

Free Software/Open Source

  • Groovy, an Open Source Success Story

    Apache Groovy is a multi-faceted general purpose programming language for the Java platform. While primarily an object-oriented language with many dynamic language features, it also supports functional programming, static type checking and static compilation. This article looks at some interesting aspects of Groovy’s history and some of the significant guiding principles which help keep it a vibrant open source project.

  • The Conventions of Contributing to Open Source

    We all love using open source, right? I have done my fair share of contributing to open source, mainly through small contributions here and there. I’ve tried to open source some libraries in the past, with varying levels of success and failure. I would say I am somewhere in the middle on the Contributor’s Spectrum. There are those that do much more and those that do much less.

  • How Open Sourcing Bootstrap Made It Huge

    Teaching and learning from each other and building awesome stuff as a result of open communication and collaboration lie at the heart of the open source philosophy. Bootstrap certainly stands out as one of the most successful instances of the open source approach, which has made it what it is today.

  • Love the Amazon Echo? Meet these 3 open source projects

    But where does open source fit into the picture? Is voice-controlled, connected future destined to be forever dominated by a few proprietary choices of custom-built hardware/software combinations that are essentially black boxes to their users? We hope not!

    In fact, there are a few open source tools for voice control out there already, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the field grows as the technology becomes more pervasive. Looking for a weekend project? Check out a few of these options.

  • FreeDOS 1.2 Release Candidate 2

    We started FreeDOS in 1994 to create a free and open source version of DOS that anyone could use. We’ve been slow to make new releases, but DOS isn’t exactly a moving target anymore. New versions of FreeDOS are mostly about updating the software and making FreeDOS more modern. We made our first Alpha release in 1994, and our first Beta in 1998. In 2006, we finally released FreeDOS 1.0, and updated to FreeDOS 1.1 in 2012. And all these years later, it’s exciting to see so many people using FreeDOS in 2016.

  • FreeDOS 1.2 RC2 Arrives, Still Evolving After 22 Years

    The second release candidate of FreeDOS 1.2 is now available, approximately one month after FreeDOS 1.2-RC1 and twenty-two years after the FreeDOS open-source project began.

  • 10 holiday gift ideas for open source enthusiasts

    It’s that time of year again! Our amazing community members shared some of their favorite open-source-related products and gifts with us, and we’ve pulled together some of the best for our annual holiday gift guide.

    Kick off the holiday shopping season by checking out these 10 great gifts for open source enthusiasts. While you’re at it, don’t forget to enter our Holiday Gift Guide Giveaway for a chance to win your very own LulzBot Mini 3D printer.

  • Oracle/Java/LibreOffice

    • LibreOffice contributor interview: Leif Lodahl

      Until September 1st I was working as project manager and business developer in the company Magenta. From September 1st I’m working as IT architect at City of Ballerup (Ballerup Municipality). My work for (and with) LibreOffice has, until recently, been both professional and in my spare time.

  • Pseudo-Open Source (Openwashing)

  • Openness/Sharing/Collaboration

Leftovers

  • Huge fire hits Manchester’s Chinatown

    Fire has ripped through a building in Manchester’s Chinatown, yards from the quarter’s imperial arch.

    The huge blaze began at about 2.15am and threatened to cause disruption as shoppers head out to grab Black Friday deals.

    A fleet of fire engines sent to tackle the flames illuminated the decorative gateway at the peak of the blaze and blocked city centre roads.

  • Fire breaks out in Manchester Chinatown

    The blaze began at about 02:15 GMT at a building on Nicholas Street and lit up the Chinatown arch at its peak, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue said.

  • Security

    • Hackers attack European Commission

      The European Commission was the victim of a “large scale” cyberattack Thursday, a spokesperson said.

      “The attack has so far been successfully stopped with no interruption of service, although connection speeds have been affected for a time. No data breach has occurred,” the spokesperson said.

    • 8 Books Security Pros Should Read

      Calling all infosec pros: What are the best books in your security library?

      On a second thought, let’s take a step back. A better question may be: Do you have a security library at all? If not, why?

      Security professionals have countless blogs, videos, and podcasts to stay updated on rapidly changing news and trends. Books, on the other hand, are valuable resources for diving into a specific area of security to build knowledge and broaden your expertise.

      Because the security industry is so complex, it’s impossible to cram everything there is to know in a single tome. Authors generally focus their works on single topics including cryptography, network security modeling, and security assessment.

      Consider one of the reads on this list of recommendations, Threat Modeling: Designing for Security. This book is based on the idea that while all security pros model threats, few have developed expertise in the area.

    • DoD Opens .Mil to Legal Hacking, Within Limits

      Security researchers are often reluctant to report programming flaws or security holes they’ve stumbled upon for fear that the vulnerable organization might instead decide to shoot the messenger and pursue hacking charges.

      But on Nov. 21, the DoD sought to clear up any ambiguity on that front for the military’s substantial online presence, creating both a centralized place to report cybersecurity flaws across the dot-mil space as well as a legal safe harbor (and the prospect of public recognition) for researchers who abide by a few ground rules.

    • Data breach law ‘will create corporate awareness’

      The introduction of a data breach law requiring disclosure of consumer data leaks is important because it will make big corporates aware they need to be transparent about their state of security, the head of a big cyber-security firm says.

      Guy Eilon, the country manager of Forcepoint, was commenting on the speech made by Dan Tehan, the minister assisting the prime minister on cyber security, on Wednesday.

    • US Navy breach: 130,000 soldiers at risk after HPE contractor hacked [iophk: "MS, possibly MS sharepoint?"]

      The Navy has acknowledged the breach and said it was made aware of the incident after being notified that a laptop belonging to an employee of Navy contractor Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) was compromised by hackers.

    • US Navy warns 134,000 sailors of data breach after HPE laptop is compromised

      Sailors whose details have been compromised are being notified by phone, letter, and e-mail, the Navy said. “For those affected by this incident, the Navy is working to provide further details on what happened, and is reviewing credit monitoring service options for affected sailors.”

    • Personal data for more than 130,000 sailors stolen, admits US Navy

      A spokesman for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services, said: “This event has been reported to the Navy and because this is an ongoing investigation, HPE will not be commenting further out of respect for the privacy of our Navy personnel.”

    • Riseup’s Canary Has Died

      Popular provider of web tools for activists and anarchists and backbone of much infrastructure for internet freedom, Riseup.net has almost certainly been issued a gag order by the US government.

  • Defence/Aggression

    • Haifa fires: Tens of thousands of Israelis flee city

      Tens of thousands of Israelis have been fleeing wildfires in the northern city of Haifa, with the prime minister warning that any proof of arson would be treated as “terrorism”.

    • Israel fires: Tens of thousands flee as fires hit Haifa

      “Every fire that was the result of arson or incitement to arson is terror in every way and we’ll treat it as such,” he was quoted by Haaretz newspaper as saying.

      “Anyone who tries to burn parts of the state of Israel will be severely punished.”

      Police chief Roni Alsheich said that if fires had been started deliberately it was “safe to assume… it is politically-motivated”.

    • Haifa fire overcome but others rage elsewhere in Israel

      Israeli firefighters on Friday reined in a blaze that had spread across the country’s third-largest city of Haifa and forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, but continued to battle more than a dozen other fires around the country for the fourth day in a row.

      Some 60,000 have yet to return to their homes as police forces and firefighting units were still heavily deployed in the Haifa area for fear that the fire could be reignited due to the rare dry, windy weather.

      Though no serious injuries were caused, several dozen people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation. Hundreds of homes were damaged and in a rare move, Israel on Thursday called up military reservists to join overstretched police and firefighters and made use of an international fleet of firefighting aircraft sent by several countries.
      Firefighters work in Haifa, Israel, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016. A raging wildfire ripped through parts of Israel’s third-largest city on Thursday, forcing tens …

    • One by One, ISIS Social Media Experts Are Killed as Result of F.B.I. Program

      In the summer of 2015, armed American drones over eastern Syria stalked Junaid Hussain, an influential hacker and recruiter for the Islamic State.

      For weeks, Mr. Hussain was careful to keep his young stepson by his side, and the drones held their fire. But late one night, Mr. Hussain left an internet cafe alone, and minutes later a Hellfire missile killed him as he walked between two buildings in Raqqa, Syria, the Islamic State’s de facto capital.

    • Arms Sales To Saudi Arabia: The Kingdom Hires A Powerful Former Lawmaker To Lobby Trump White House And Congress

      Saudi Arabia just added another heavyweight to its already formidable team of lobbyists: former California Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon. The longtime GOP lawmaker isn’t any ordinary lobbyist. Between 2011 and 2015, he was the chair of the powerful House Armed Services Committee, which oversees the Department of Defense and its multibillion dollar foreign-military sales program to Saudi Arabia. According to data from the Center for Responsive politics, McKeon was among the top five recipients of defense contractor money in the U.S. House of Representatives.

    • UK rejects MPs’ calls to stop arms sales to Saudis

      The UK government has rejected calls by lawmakers to temporarily stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia over the Kingdom’s war crimes in Yemen.

      Britain has signed off £3.3 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia since March 26, 2015, when it launched a war in Yemen in order to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to Saudi-backed former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

  • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

    • London Calling: When Sweden Finally Questioned Assange

      On Tuesday 15 Sweden undertook questioning of Assange, the session lasting until the late afternoon. With a new statement provided by Assange and Sweden developing their enquiries based on the information Julian has given, in full cooperation, it is unclear at this point if the Preliminary Investigation has concluded or whether further visits from Sweden are planned. Pressure should be applied to the Swedish prosecutors to act swiftly in either scenario. It should be remembered the the initial investigation of the allegation against Assange was closed by the Stockholm area prosecutor in just 5 days on the basis “that evidence did not disclose any offence”. It is imperative that Ny either makes a formal charge or closes the investigation without further delay.

    • WikiLeaks releases The Yemen Files.

      The Yemen Files are a collection of over 500 documents from the United States embassy in Sana’a, Yemen. Comprising of over 200 emails and 300 PDFs, the collection details official documents and correspondence pertaining to the Office for Military Cooperation (OMC) located at the US embassy. The collection spans the period from 2009 until just before the war in Yemen broke out in earnest during March 2015. This time covers both Hillary Clinton’s term as Secretary of State (2009-2013) and the first two years of Secretary John Kerry.

    • WikiLeaks Releases Documents Evidencing US Arming Yemeni Forces Ahead of War

      WikiLeaks released on Friday more than 500 documents from the United States embassy in Yemen, offering documentary evidence of Washington arming, training and funding of Yemeni forces ahead of the war.

  • Environment/Energy/Wildlife/Nature

    • Finland set to become first country to ban coal use for energy

      Finland could become the first country to ditch coal for good. As part of a new energy and climate strategy due to be announced tomorrow, the government is considering banning the burning of coal for energy by 2030.

      “Basically, coal would disappear from the Finnish market,” says Peter Lund, a researcher at Aalto University, and chair of the energy programme at the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council.

      The groundwork for the ban already seems to be in place. Coal use has been steadily declining in Finland since 2011, and the nation heavily invested in renewable energy in 2012, leading to a near doubling of wind power capacity the following year. It also poured a further €80 million into renewable power this past February.

    • Arctic ice melt could trigger uncontrollable climate change at global level

      Arctic scientists have warned that the increasingly rapid melting of the ice cap risks triggering 19 “tipping points” in the region that could have catastrophic consequences around the globe.

      The Arctic Resilience Report found that the effects of Arctic warming could be felt as far away as the Indian Ocean, in a stark warning that changes in the region could cause uncontrollable climate change at a global level.

      Temperatures in the Arctic are currently about 20C above what would be expected for the time of year, which scientists describe as “off the charts”. Sea ice is at the lowest extent ever recorded for the time of year.

      “The warning signals are getting louder,” said Marcus Carson of the Stockholm Environment Institute and one of the lead authors of the report. “[These developments] also make the potential for triggering [tipping points] and feedback loops much larger.”

  • Finance

    • Kela’s outgoing director general voices support for basic income

      Liisa Hyssälä, the director general at the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), has reiterated her concerns about the sustainability of the country’s social security system.

      “Our basic social security system is a patchwork and we cannot afford the constantly rising social security costs. Various benefits should be brought together into larger wholes both for the sake of customers and for the sake of sensible administration and the public economy,” she writes in a blog on Sosiaalivakuutus.fi.

    • 5 Things to Know about Billionaire Betsy DeVos, Trump Education Choice

      Billionaire Betsy DeVos, a major GOP funder and party activist from Michigan, has been tapped by Donald Trump to become the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education next year.

      Many have decried the choice as a looming disaster for public schools in America, with NEA president Lily Eskelsen Garcia observing that DeVos’ “efforts over the years have done more to undermine public education than support students. She has lobbied for failed schemes, like vouchers–which take away funding and local control from our public schools–to fund private schools at taxpayers’ expense.”

      Randi Weingarten, the president of AFT, stated that “Betsy DeVos is everything Donald Trump said is wrong in America–an ultra-wealthy heiress who uses her money to game the system and push a special-interest agenda that is opposed by the majority of voters. Installing her in the Department of Education is the opposite of Trump’s promise to drain the swamp.”

  • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

    • Emails: CIA Official Reviewed Parts of Times Reporter’s Book Before Publication

      New York Times reporter David Sanger worked extensively with former deputy CIA director Michael Morell during the reporting of his book Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power—even arranging to provide Morell with access to an entire unpublished chapter for his review—according to documents obtained by Gizmodo.

      The records, consisting of internal emails from the CIA press office, show that Sanger met with Morell on more than one occasion in 2012 to discuss his then-forthcoming book, promising to bring with him a full chapter for Morell to read in case “he has issues” with the reporting. The emails, which we received under the Freedom of Information Act, are redacted in a manner suggesting that Morell and Sanger discussed sensitive national security information, and show that on at least one occasion, a CIA public affairs officer sent Sanger an encrypted message via email.

      While the notion of a national security reporter meeting with a senior CIA official is obviously not unusual—such transactions are in the reporter’s job description, and Sanger’s book acknowledges that he withheld information at the request of government officials—the extent of Sanger’s collaboration with Morell and the fact that the men apparently discussed sensitive information is noteworthy in light of the Obama administration’s unprecedented campaign against government leakers.

    • How long before the white working class realizes Trump was just scamming them?

      While we’re still analyzing the election results and debating the importance of different factors to the final outcome, everyone agrees that white working class voters played a key part in Donald Trump’s victory, in some cases by switching their votes and in some cases by turning out when they had been nonvoters before.

    • Washington Republican proposes charging protestors with ‘economic terrorism’

      The proposed bill would make protesting a class C felony should it cause any sort of “economic disruption” or “jeopardize human life and property.” Such a proposal would mean violators could face five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.

      Any group who organizes a protest that is considered disruptive would also be charged with “economic terrorism.” The law would not apply to strikes or picketing.

      The bill is aimed at protests in the Pacific Northwest, often by environmental activists, that are aimed at shutting down commerce and transportation.

      Protesters in Olympia, Wash., recently camped out for more than a week on railway tracks to stop a shipment of sand used for fracking.

      The bill is also being proposed at a time when anti-Trump protests are taking place across the country, including in Washington. Protests in Seattle have been reported to be peaceful and nonviolent so far.

    • Australia ceases multimillion-dollar donations to controversial Clinton family charities

      AUSTRALIA has finally ceased pouring millions of dollars into accounts linked to Hillary Clinton’s charities.

      Which begs the question: Why were we donating to them in the first place?

      The federal government confirmed to news.com.au it has not renewed any of its partnerships with the scandal-plagued Clinton Foundation, effectively ending 10 years of taxpayer-funded contributions worth more than $88 million.

      The Clinton Foundation has a rocky past. It was described as “a slush fund”, is still at the centre of an FBI investigation and was revealed to have spent more than $50 million on travel.

      Despite that, the official website for the charity shows contributions from both AUSAID and the Commonwealth of Australia, each worth between $10 million and $25 million.

    • By the Numbers: The Recount Scenarios (It is a Long Shot)

      Green Party candidate Jill Stein (Disclosure: I voted for Stein) is calling for a recount in key states, and has raised some $3 million for that purpose. Her funding page estimates the total cost, including lawyers, will be $6-7 million.

    • Trump’s team of gazillionaires

      Donald Trump campaigned as a champion of the “forgotten man” and won the White House on the strength of his support among the white working class.

      So far, he’s stacking his administration with masters of the universe.

      Beyond Trump himself, who claims a net worth of more than $10 billion, the president-elect has tapped businesswoman Betsy DeVos, whose family is worth $5.1 billion, and is said to be considering oil mogul Harold Hamm ($15.3 billion), investor Wilbur Ross ($2.9 billion), private equity investor Mitt Romney ($250 million at last count), hedge fund magnate Steve Mnuchin (at least $46 million), and super-lawyer Rudy Giuliani (estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars) to round out his administration. And Trump’s likely choice for deputy commerce secretary, Todd Ricketts, comes from the billionaire family that owns the Chicago Cubs.

      Even retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who’s up for the job of secretary of housing and urban development, has an estimated fortune of $26 million, while White House adviser Steve Bannon has likely earned millions off his stake in the show “Seinfeld” alone. Andrew Puzder, a possible labor secretary, is no slouch, either — he made more than $4.4 million in 2012 as CEO of the holding company that owns restaurant chains Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr.

    • Jill Stein raises over $4.5m to request US election recounts in battleground states

      Jill Stein, the Green party’s presidential candidate, is preparing to request recounts of the election result in several key battleground states.

      Stein launched an online fundraising page seeking donations toward a multimillion-dollar fund she said was needed to request reviews of the results in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

      The drive has already raised more than $4.5m, which the campaign said would enable it to file for recounts in Wisconsin on Friday and Pennsylvania on Monday.
      Hillary Clinton urged to call for election vote recount in battleground states
      Read more

      The fundraising page said it expected to need around $6m-7m to challenge the results in all three states.

    • Jill Stein asks for another $2.5 million after reaching goal to fund election recounts in two states

      Jill Stein has now crowdfunded more than $4.5 million to cover the costs of election recounts in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The Green Party presidential candidate has since upped her requested total to $7 million, a figure that she says would also cover a recount in Michigan, a hotly contested battleground state where “statistical anomalies” in voting were identified.

    • Campaign: Stein raises millions for recount effort

      Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein raised more than $4 million over two days to fund recount efforts in three states.

      Donations had nearly reached her campaign’s $4.5 million goal by late Thanksgiving evening, according to a fundraising page on her web site.

      “Congratulations on meeting the recount costs for Wisconsin. Raising money to pay for the first round so quickly is a miraculous feat and a tribute to the power of grassroots organizing,” her campaign said.

      “Now that we have nearly completed funding Wisconsin’s recount (which is due on Friday), we can begin to tackle the funding for Michigan’s recount (due Monday) and Pennsylvania’s recount (due Wednesday).”

      Stein said Wednesday that many Americans are wondering if the election results were reliable after a “divisive and painful” race and reported hacks into voter and party databases and individual email accounts.

      [...]

      The total cost of the effort in the three states could be as high as $7 million, her campaign said, including attorney fees and recount observers.

      A group of election lawyers and researchers are urging Hillary Clinton to ask for a recount in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, claiming that they found evidence that voting machines had been tampered with.

    • Jill Stein campaign to recount key states in US election reaches $2.5m target

      A campaign launched by the Green Party candidate Jill Stein to recount key states in the US election has reached its initial funding target of $2.5m (£2m) in just a matter of hours.

      The money will allow Ms Stein to review the results in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, where concerns have been raised about irregularities with electronic voting results.

      Each of the states voted narrowly in favour of Donald Trump (though the final Michigan count is still to be confirmed), and carry enough electoral college votes between them to change the result of the election if all were redeclared for Hillary Clinton.

    • Donald Trump’s Argentinian tower suddenly gets the green light to proceed

      Only three days after Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri called President-elect Donald Trump to congratulate him on his upset victory, it was announced that construction on a long held-up project for a Trump tower in Buenos Aires would proceed.

      As Quartz reported on Wednesday, Trump’s associates at YY Development Group in Buenos Aires told La Nacion, one of Argentina’s most influential conservative newspapers, that construction on the tower would be going ahead. La Nacion also reported that the initial call between Trump and Macri (who have been friends since the 1980s) was arranged due to efforts made by foreign minister Susanna Malcorra to get in touch with Trump’s son Eric through Felipe Yaryura, an Argentine businessman who is friends with Trump and was present to celebrate when he discovered that Trump had been elected. Eric Trump reportedly then put Malcorra in touch with Trump’s foreign affairs team.

      As Quartz also notes, Malcorra avoided answering a question posed by a reporter about whether she knew Yaryura and used him to get Macri in touch with Trump. Similarly, a spokeswoman from YY Development refused to comment to Quartz about any of these questions because “they have already had too much media exposure.”

  • Censorship/Free Speech

    • The CEO of Reddit confessed to modifying posts from Trump supporters after they wouldn’t stop sending him expletives

      Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has confessed to modifying the posts of some users on the most visible Donald Trump-supporting “subreddit” community after they repeatedly slung verbal abuse in his direction.

      The story begins earlier this week, when The New York Times published a report on Comet Ping Pong, a Washington DC pizza place that a false news item on social media had pegged as the center of a child-abuse ring run by Hillary Clinton and her campaign head John Podesta, despite a lack of any evidence.

      Following that report, Reddit took steps to shut down the “r/Pizzagate” subreddit community, which had the stated goal of proving the existence of a conspiracy centering on Comet Ping Pong. “We don’t want witchhunts on our site,” says the warning that replaced the Pizzagate page on Reddit.

    • Reddit CEO admits to editing user comments amid Pizzagate malarkey

      Steve Huffman, CEO of Reddit, today admitted to editing several comments that criticised him on the site.

      He made the admission on Reddit, where he posts under the username Spez.

      Huffman got a lot of flak from members of the The_Donald, a subreddit for supporters of President-elect Donald Trump, after Reddit banned the Pizzagate subreddit. Pizzagate was dedicated to a debunked conspiracy theory linking Hillary Clinton to a paedophile ring.

      In response, he edited comments reading “fuck Spez” to instead be directed at moderators of the The_Donald subreddit.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Bill Binney: New UK spying law is going to kill people, ex-NSA technical director and whistleblower warns

      Britain’s new spying laws could kill people, the ex-technical director of the NSA has warned.

      Pursuing a strategy of allowing spies to look in on everything that everyone says “costs lives, and has cost lives in Britain because it inundates analysts with too much data”, Bill Binney has warned UK MPs who are scrutinising the Investigatory Powers Bill.

      The bill, also known as the Snoopers’ Charter, is set to be passed by parliament early this year and will bring with it huge and unprecedented spying powers for UK intelligence agencies and the government. But it has been criticised by privacy campaigners and technology companies who argue that it will put lives in danger.

      “It is 99 per cent useless,” Mr Binney said in a letter sent to MPs. “Who wants to know everyone who has ever looked at Google or the BBC? We have known for decades that that swamps analysts.”

    • Microsoft Shares Telemetry Data Collected from Windows 10 Users with 3rd-Party
    • Microsoft is reportedly sharing Windows 10 telemetry data with third-parties

      MICROSOFT HAS REPORTEDLY signed a deal with FireEye that will see it share telemetry data from Windows 10 with the third-party security outfit.

      So says Australian website ARN, which reports that Microsoft and FireEye’s partnership, which will see the security firm’s iSIGHT Intelligence tools baked into Windows Defender, will also see FireEye “gain access to telemetry from every device running Windows 10.”

      Microsoft uses telemetry data from Windows 10 to help identify security issues, to fix problems and to help improve the quality of its operating system, which sounds like a good thing. However, with the company previously admitting that it’s latest OS is harvesting more data than any version before it, Microsoft’s mega data-slurp also raised some privacy concerns.

    • The opportunity cost of mass surveillance is lost innovation and jobs

      Surveillance kills jobs and drives investment and innovation elsewhere. Lost among the common talking points of liberty, human rights, and Big Brother, there’s a much more economic effect when you force people to conform to a gray mass: you lose the radicals and the free thinkers, those who innovate and build the next generation of industries and jobs. Politicians care a lot more about that than about a theoretic concept of liberty.

      An opportunity cost is the cost you pay for not realizing the alternative you didn’t choose. When you choose a pizza, your opportunity cost is not having the hamburger. When you choose a bus ride because it’s cheaper, the opportunity cost is the time you’d save by taking a taxi. When you choose a cheap supplier of goods, your opportunity cost is low quality and more maintenance. And so on.

    • NSA Head Meets With Trump Team But Doesn’t Give Obama A Heads Up

      David Greene talks to Foreign Policy columnist James Bamford about the future of NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers, whose tenure has been rocked by cyber-security breaches of classified material.

    • Lawmakers decry possible removal of NSA director, call for hearings

      Several key GOP members of Congress began to weigh in this weekend with strong disapproval over suggestions that Adm. Michael Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command, may be fired during the final weeks of the Obama administration.

  • Civil Rights/Policing

    • Dutch race hate row engulfs presenter Sylvana Simons

      The images of a black Dutch TV presenter’s face super-imposed on the hanged bodies of victims of a lynching are too nauseating to look at. And yet a video featuring the mocked-up pictures has been widely circulated online here.

      Sylvana Simons has for years been a familiar presence on Dutch TV and radio, and the attack on her has highlighted a debate bubbling inside the Netherlands far removed from its reputation as a liberal tolerant nation.

      A former presenter on talent show Dancing with the Stars, she recently joined the political party “Denk” (Think) and is running in the next election.

    • Bad Santa: German town sacks Father Christmas over alleged far-right support

      A town in Germany has sacked Santa Claus over alleged links to a far-Right movement.

      Peter Mück has dressed as Santa and distributed sweets to children at the annual Christmas market in the Bavarian town of Mühldorf for 30 years.

      But this year the Christmas market opened without him after the mayor of Mühldorf announced that he had been fired.

      Mr Mück was dismissed over comments he wrote on Facebook in support of a post by the far-Right “Identitarian Movement”, which campaigns against immigration and Islam, and has been accused of open racism.

    • Two Saudi Women Sentenced to 20 Lashes for Using ‘Obscene Words’ on WhatsApp

      One of the young women came to the Criminal Court in Jeddah and accused the other of using abusive expressions during their WhatsApp conversation. She then showed her phone at the Court’s request to prove her words.

      During the next session, the court confirmed that the woman had indeed sent obscene messages to the other, but the defendant said she was not the first to start the hassle and showed a message which she received from her counterpart two months ago.

    • #NoLove4USGov – An extradition too far

      Amber Rudd has signed Lauri Love’s extradition order despite huge public uproar, opposition both inside and outside her own party, inside and outside of government and a previous home secretary, now Prime Minister blocking an extradition with almost exactly the same conditions. Lauri is unlikely to meet justice in America, in his case the most likely outcome is jail without a trial.

      Naomi Colvin of Courage Foundation has previously said:

      “Judge Tempia’s ruling on Friday shows that the legal changes Theresa May introduced after she blocked Gary McKinnon’s extradition are not fit for purpose.”

      David A Elston Pirate Party Spokesperson said:

      “Clearly the US is not interested in justice and our own government is unwilling to stand up for our civil liberties.

      “Instead through extradition the USA is seeking to silence and lock up Love. Knowing this was blocked before, this clear failure of our government is a chosen path. The forum bar does not work as this is precisely the kind of scenario it was meant to prevent. More importantly they have failed Lauri and through the ruling on him, our civil liberties and our rights, our right to a fair trial has taken a heavy hit.

    • All residents in China’s restive Xinjiang region must hand in passports to police: media

      All residents in China’s restive region of Xinjiang must hand in their passports to local police stations for “examination and management”, the Global Times newspaper said on Thursday.

      “Anyone who needs the passport must apply to the police station,” an anonymous police officer in Aksu prefecture told the paper, adding that the policy had been implemented throughout Xinjiang.

  • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

    • Forget Net Neutrality, Trump FCC Advisor Wants to Kill the FCC Itself

      Under President Donald Trump, the US government’s policy protecting net neutrality, the principle that all internet content should be equally accessible to consumers, is likely to be rolled back, according to tech policy experts.

      But that shift, as important as it would be, may be just the beginning of the changes in store for the Federal Communications Commission under Trump’s administration. In fact, the nation’s top communications regulator itself may look very different than it does today.

      Like, very different. As in, practically non-existent.

  • Intellectual Monopolies

    • Trademarks

      • Iceland (the country) is actually suing Iceland (the shop)

        The island nation of Iceland has said it is taking legal action against British frozen-food chain Iceland over the right to use their shared name.

        Iceland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it has challenged Iceland Foods at the European Union Intellectual Property Office. It says it is acting because the retail chain “aggressively pursued” Icelandic companies using the word Iceland in their branding.

        Iceland Foods holds a Europe-wide trademark registration for the word “Iceland,” and the Nordic country’s government said it was “exceptionally broad and ambiguous in definition.”

    • Copyrights

EPO and the Art of Distraction, Disinformation

Posted in Europe, Patents at 3:20 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Photo ops distract from the big story of the day (the protest)

Monaco and EPO

Summary: A look at poor coverage (if any coverage) of the EPO protest that took place yesterday

THE previous post attempted to make a permanent visual record of yesterday’s EPO protest, which a high proportion of EPO staff attended in the cold weather. To EPO management, however, the day marked another ‘milestone’ (if holding a piece of paper counts for that).

As usual, the EPO ‘forgot’ to mention yesterday’s much bigger news (they even found time to promote trade deals on the face of it*). It said nothing about the massive staff protest and instead ‘manufactured’ some news that it even posted under the “news” section (warning: epo.org links can be tracked). As we’ve repeatedly noted here before, Benoît Battistelli seems to be able to agree only with tiny countries and/or corrupt countries these days. When did we last see Benoît Battistelli posing with a reputable political leader of a large state? Think about it. The EPO’s PR team is still living in an intoxicating fantasy world where staff on strike or in protest is not newsworthy but a Battistelli photo op (as above) is major news. It’s not a major country (a tiny tax haven) and patent searches are not a big deal. It’s almost like the whole ‘report’ was staged to distract.

Speaking of a fantasy world, check out this terrible new article from Dutch media. As Petra Kramer put it, “it’s a watered down, untruthful story. It claims that Van Dam made EPO negotiate with FNV.”

“I translated and commented on the sorry piece of yellow journalism,” she added and later she said “I do believe they need a burn. They claim to by Rijswijk, for Rijswijk but they’re clearly biased against SUEPO.”

Here is the story in English, with corrections by Petra Kramer (PK):

European Patent Office workers take action against director

On Square 1813 in The Hague, employees of the European Patent Office in Rijswijk campaigned against their director Benoît Battistelli. The man allegedly causes a bad atmosphere within the company.

In a previous protest two employees were fired ["not true, the protest was a response to dismissals, not the cause of it" -PK]. It didn’t stop some colleagues [“some colleagues means over 400 of them” -PK) to keep protesting against the “tyrant,” as the director of the EPA is called internally. According to trade union FNV there is a culture of fear within the company. Even though the director denies this. Martijn van Dam State, the Secretary of Economic Affairs in April ensured that the leadership of the EPO is to engage in talks with the FNV. ["Bullshit, FNV stands up in solidarity with SUEPO, FNV has no direct relation with EPO and Martijn van Dam did not convince Batistelli to recognize SUEPO as a union, SUEPO fought hard for that" -PK] Those talks were difficult.

Currently the EPA one is engaged in a reorganization and expansion/renovation of the entire building.

Who benefits from such an inaccurate story?

Speaking of inaccuracies, IP Kat comments are full of them this week. In an effort to filter out the noise (to retrieve information) and reading of responses to such noise we found not much of the information we looked for, as it’s also off topic. The EPO’s President “BB rather prefers to continue to use the Inquisition!” one person wrote. Here is that comment:

In the AC the British and Danish, Chairman and delegates may propose, and this based on their state religions, to house the Investigation Unit in a chapel with some confession boxes where they can hear the SR’s confessions and offer in silence forgiveness. BB rather prefers to continue to use the Inquisition! …the accused in the Inquisition was never allowed to see the face of his accuser, or of the witnesses against him, but every method is taken by threats and tortures, to oblige him to accuse himself, and by that means corroborate their evidence.

“In some complex fields, mine included, we now have less than 2 days per product,” another person noted, reinforcing what we already know about quality issues at the EPO under Battistelli. █
______
* Found via EPO recommendation in Twitter was this article about “trade liberalisation,” which has a section on “Using patents to measure innovation and country exposure”. What next from the EPO? TPP and CETA advocacy? In addition to UPC?

Report From Yesterday’s EPO Protest at The Hague, Which Several Politicians Attended

Posted in Europe, Patents at 2:47 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Photos and report from the protest which took place 20 hours ago to send a strong message against the management of the EPO

THE EPO protest, which took place at midday yesterday, was attended by a high number of people (by standards of The Hague) and a reader sent us the following report accompanying the photos.

According to my guess, we were between 550 and 700 protesters, definitely many more than at the previous demo. We marched from “Plein 1813” to “Lange Vijverberg” and gathered in front of the office of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. There, three Members of Parliament – Philip Cordery (FR), Sharon Gesthuizen (NL) and John Kerstens (NL) – made brief speeches which were straight to the point. They openly criticised, once more, Mr Battistelli for his management by fear tactics and the witch hunt on staff representatives. They hoped for a quick solution and promised continued support for EPO staff, if needed. They did not leave any doubt about which preferred solution they had in mind – the soon departure of Mr Battistelli. █

Justice at EPO
Justice at EPO

Protest march
Protest march

STOP Union Bashing
STOP Union Bashing

Dutch MP Sharon Gesthuizen speaking
Dutch MP Sharon Gesthuizen speaking

Dutch MP John Kerstens speaking
Dutch MP John Kerstens speaking

French MP Philip Cordery speaking
French MP Philip Cordery speaking

11.24.16

Asking Team UPC or the EPO About the UPC is Like Asking Clinton About Winning Presidential Elections

Posted in Deception, Europe, Patents at 2:35 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

They believe that if they keep saying that it’s inevitable, then it will certainly happen

Self-fulfilling prophecy
Reference: Self-fulfilling prophecy (a dirty tactic routinely exploited by businesses)

Summary: A quick look at some of the latest misinformation regarding the Unified Patent Court regime, which is essentially at a dead end after British people voted to leave the EU

THE EPO‘s management and Team UPC are in the same bed. They both strive to create more of a patent mess in Europe, as they don't care about Europe, they just care about how much money they can make in the short term. One might call them “Enemies of the People,” to reuse an infamous recent headline from the British press.

Suffice to say, UPC proponents want us to think that the UPC is doing fine because they would profit from it (if it ever becomes a reality at all). It’s a nasty strategy of wishful optimism, which involves even advertising job openings that do not exist!

The other day we noticed a headline that’s a quote from someone in Milan who stands to benefit from the UPC (if it ever becomes a reality). “Unitary Patent system is better off with UK, but worthwhile even without the UK,” said the headline. But not possible without the UK. To swap London for Milan would require going back to the drawing board, maybe even radically reshape and rename the UPC. Suffice to say again, the article came from Team UPC and here is a portion from it:

The best way forward for the Unitary Patent system after the Brexit vote of 23 June 2016 is to find a way to keep the UK inside the system. That is the opinion of Francesco Macchetta, director IP of the Bracco Group, a healthcare multinational with headquarters in Milan. But if the British don’t stay in, Macchetta thinks Milan would be a logical new location for the London branch of the Central Division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), he said in an interview with Kluwer IP Law.

Another common booster of the UPC, Laura Ercolim from Italy, wrote on November 3rd that:

The impact of the Brexit referendum on Unified Patent Court preparations is starting to be felt as the UK government fails to give clear signs of taking steps to leave the European Union; so is an immediate deposit of the instrument of ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement the best option for Italy?

Italy and Milan are not England and London. In fact, many professionals continue to stress that the skills in the area of patents are not equitable and a UPC without the UK in it would simply not be appealing. The “EU Competitiveness Council,” according to this tweet, apparently wants to ensure patent trolls come to Europe (that’s what the UPC would entail), making it less competitive. The UPC “is listed in the EU Competitiveness Council agenda for 28 November 2016″ (link [PDF]).

This has been known for a while. If these people have dignity, then they will lay aside this dead piece of text and accept that with Brexit in the making (or at least in discussion) there’s no point to it.

IAM, incidentally, has just advertised another UPC-centric event. Does this one too get money and support from the EPO (again)? Among the points listed by IAM:

The latest, post-Brexit developments concerning the Unified Patent Court regime

There’s no post-Brexit UPC because without the UK it’s no longer a “UPC”; it might become something else altogether. But, as usual, if one believes EPO liars like Margot Fröhlinger with her UPC advocacy [1, 2, 3, 4], then one can believe anything! According to this tweet from the IP Summit, “Margot Fröhlinger Principal Director for Unitary Patent European and International Legal Affairs EUR. #PATENT OFFICE will speak on Dec 1st…”

That’s just a few of days after the above and very shortly after ILO unleashes a potential bombshell (or two) on the EPO. █

Patent Quality at the EPO Depends on the Future of the Boards of Appeal (Which Battistelli is Killing Not So Softly)

Posted in Europe, Patents at 2:04 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

One of the few singles I happen to have the CD of…

Killing Me Softly

Summary: The decline in patent quality at the EPO is bad news not just for applicants but for all Europeans, and there’s no sign of it improving any time soon (under Battistelli to whom quality is an impediment)

THE EPO was a world-leading patent office for decades; it did not have many patents and this was actually a good thing because it meant that each single EP was of very high quality and there was certainty about it inside and outside the court (less risk, less litigation). Unlike the USPTO, the EPO did strive to maintain quality, which resulted in high fees. The EPO basically did what every patent office should do, but a lot of that changed when it got greedy and in defiance of Parliamentary instructions started granting software patents (covertly, using excuses and loopholes it had created) and patents on life, e.g. seeds, plants, animals. Patent maximalism further accelerated under Battistelli, a person so anti-scientific (crudely speaking, a chickenhawk politician) that he would never manage to come up with a valid patent of his own.

Nowadays, the EPO ignores the European Commission on everything including patent scope, so the rules don’t seem to matter to it. The notion of “rules” hardly even exists at the EPO; what exists can be described as Presidential decrees. Here is a new “international report” from Bart W Swinkels of NLO (European Union). It says the following:

European Commission notice against patentability of plants does not affect European plant patents

On November 3 2016 the European Commission issued a notice regarding the patentability of plants and animals obtained by means of essentially biological processes.

In the view of the commission, the EU legislature’s intention when adopting EU Directive 98/44/EC “was to exclude from patentability products (plants/animals and plant/animal parts) that are obtained by means of essentially biological processes”.

However, the commission’s notice is not legally binding; it is up to the courts and boards – not the commission – to interpret the law.

In other words, as usual, the EPO does whatever the Hell it wants, no matter if it makes it look arrogant, foolish, even corrupt. See this tweet posted today by the EPO. Very vague (but familiar to us) language is being used to masquerade/blur the inclusion of software patents in an upcoming event (yet again! Warning: epo.org link). Based on what EPO examiners say, they no longer have much time to properly search prior art and they actually grant patents on software. They are under too much pressure under their management to “produce” (where production usually gets measured in teams of “products”, not actual work). Watch what the EPO wrote today. It’s totally out of touch!

“In other words, as usual, the EPO does whatever the Hell it wants, no matter if it makes it look arrogant, foolish, even corrupt.”One of our remaining hopes is that the appeal boards will shake things up a bit. The supposedly independent judges need to remind the Office that it cannot just pursue greater quantity of patents by disregarding quality, thereby essentially spitting in the well (or muddying the water) of EPs’ value.

According to this new announcement, quality control is not entirely dead at the EPO. To quote a press releases about it, “BMO Capital analyst, Matthew Luchini, reiterated his Outperform rating on shares of Alder Biopharm (NASDAQ: ALDR) despite shares being under pressure following the European Patent Office’s (EPO) oral decision, which revoked Teva’s patent claims related to CGRP antagonist antibodies for the treatment of migraine but maintained and narrowed method of use claims.”

Here is another new bit of coverage that says “Aegis Capital affirms Alder Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALDR) at Buy with a price target of $41 after the EPO maintained claims related to CGRP use in Migraines.

“The supposedly independent judges need to remind the Office that it cannot just pursue greater quantity of patents by disregarding quality, thereby essentially spitting in the well (or muddying the water) of EPs’ value.”“Analyst Difei Yang sees the recent pullback in ALDR shares as a buying opportunity. The analyst commented, “The EPO’s ruling is certainly a setback in the intellectual property legal proceedings of Alder and Eli Lilly, however it is also, in our view, a buying opportunity as the valuation impact to Alder is minimal; an approximate $2 per share decrease from our estimated price target. This reasoning stems from our opinion that there will be limited, if any, carry over to the US, where the large bulk of the future value of ALD-403 is based.””

Here, in this particular example, we’re dealing with patents on drugs, not software, but the principles of patent scope still apply. Consider this new “international report” published yesterday by IAM. It says “Yeda Research and Development Company owned a patent directed to a monoclonal antibody that selectively binds and purifies the human cytotoxin, tumor necrosis factor (TNF).”

“To Battistelli, patent quality control is just some nuisance that stands in the way of his terrible goal of “production” (as measured by the ‘SIPO yardstick’).”As we noted here before, restrictive patent scope is needed in the area of cancer as well, otherwise patients will be killed for the sake of corporate profits. Societal cost analysis suggests that patents should be few but solid. We are not at all against patents (never were!); we’re in favour of high quality patents whose grant can be justified by taking into account externalities like human life.

Battistelli, as this new tweet serves to remind us, is ensuring there’s not much left to preserve patent quality at the EPO (appeals are becoming too expensive, the boards understaffed, no independence). To Battistelli, patent quality control is just some nuisance that stands in the way of his terrible goal of “production” (as measured by the 'SIPO yardstick'). █

Giants of Asia: India More Restrictive on Patent Scope, China More Lenient

Posted in Asia, Patents at 1:10 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

With a combined population greater than a third of the world’s population

Buddha

Summary: India and China are moving in somewhat opposite directions when it comes to patents, as one realises their impact on people whereas the other chooses to repeat the mistake made by the United States (patent maximalism for corporate gains)

TECHRIGHTS spent over a decade writing about the USPTO and about as long writing about the EPO, especially when President Brimelow made mistakes “as such”. Patent scope is a crucial decision which impacts many sectors in a country; it’s simply misguided to believe or to think that more patents would translate into more innovation and commonwealth. It doesn’t work that way.

The latest IAM Weekly newspaper says in the “Editor’s round-up” that “we wondered whether one of India’s leading IT companies has all but abandoned software patents, looked at a patent-driven rapprochement between InterDigital and Huawei, and explained why Asian investors are sinking their money into IP management businesses.”

“Patent scope is a crucial decision which impacts many sectors in a country; it’s simply misguided to believe or to think that more patents would translate into more innovation and commonwealth.”We covered all of these (in recent days) and IAM has just published this “international report” about India, where software patents continue to be disallowed (excellent policy, which is routinely under fire from foreign multinationals, not domestic giants).

India got its balance right on patents (also when it comes to medicine, not just software), so why is China going the other way? This is already harming some of its own industry and attracts a great deal of trolls (making nothing and trying to extort everyone for money).

According to this new article from IAM, “IP analytics start-up PatSnap has closed its Series C funding with investments from Sequoia Capital’s China arm and Beijing’s Shunwei Capital Partners. The deal further underlines Asia-Pacific investors’ growing interest in IP management and strategy services.”

“Lack of quality control at SIPO leads to a false sense of growth, as is the case at the EPO under Battistelli where old files are pulled out and rubber-stamped for fake growth or illusion of growing demand, clout, etc.”This shows yet more of that obsession with patents, even in domains that require none of them. Companies that produce nothing want to make money and they are essentially a kind of trolling industry — like that which threatens to expand in Europe if the UPC ever becomes a reality.

Based on IP Kat‘s Tian Lu, there was some UPC propaganda in the EU-China IP Forum earlier this month [1, 2]. To quote a portion from the second part: “This panel on specialist IP courts also saw some optimism from Pierre Veron (member of the Drafting Committee of the Rules of Procedure of the Unified Patent Court and now a member of the group of experts advising the Preparatory Committee of the UPC), who expressed the view that even without UK participation post-Brexit, the other participating Member States of the EU would press ahead with the UPC project in the long term and would seek to ensure that the UPC will be a success.”

We are going to deal with UPC in a separate post, but let’s just say that it’s troubling to see these overlaps between China and Europe and it’s not because of fear of China (Chinophobia) but because of SIPO.

“China is fast becoming a hotbed of litigation and it already ‘exports’ such litigation to other countries (many reports on that these days).”Lack of quality control at SIPO leads to a false sense of growth, as is the case at the EPO under Battistelli where old files are pulled out and rubber-stamped for fake growth or illusion of growing demand, clout, etc. The SIPO examiners, as many professionals out there will agree/can attest to, just grant a lot of patents composed in Mandarin right and left. There are two new reports, one from MIP and another from IP Watch, which amplify SIPO’s propaganda, citing a WIPO report. Some Chinese patents that are counted at the EPO are not even translated into a European language, let alone examined/validated for their quality, yet here we have another repetition of the misleading claim that China ‘leads’ by having a crappy patent office that accepts crap applications. If one was to judge the USPTO similarly (over 10 million patents and counting), the EPO would look rather bad.

If only China adopted a saner approach to patenting (like in India), the world’s high-tech industries would be better off. China is fast becoming a hotbed of litigation and it already ‘exports’ such litigation to other countries (many reports on that these days). This problem is likely to become more apparent in the coming years. █

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