01.26.16
No More Defeatism: Battistelli’s Days at the European Patent Office May be Numbered
There’s a lot more coming Benoît Battistelli’s way…
Battistelli compared to El Chapo Guzmá on European television several months ago
Summary: Benoît Battistelli is a wanted man; Having played with fire for far too long and in irritable places such as The Hague, we predict that Battistelli may not even survive this year, not without massive political interventions from numerous member states
Managers at the EPO have been trying very hard to keep quiet — if not altogether invisible — their unprecedented union-busting actions (see how far Bergot [1, 2, 3, 4] went with this whole secrecy charade). It backfired pretty badly. Based on leaked letters, Battistelli is the master of ceremony in these actions, even superseding the disciplinary committees (making a sham or a mockery of them). One might as well call him the harasser in chief, working on bogus trials behind the scenes and pulling all the strings. These actions are not only embarrassing, they are breaches of the law in some European nations and maybe even in host countries such as Holland and Germany. See the history of Control Risks, for example, including the notorious connections to the Stasi (through Desa).
“See the history of Control Risks, for example, including the connections to the Stasi (Desa).”“To those querying the view of the British voter in a the forthcoming EU Referendum,” wrote one person today, “I think you need to perform a reality check. Even if someone raised the topic, the arcane world of IP is not going to interest the vast majority of voters.”
This person also corrects the record about British media coverage of EPO scandals by saying “there have been a couple of mentions of labour relations at the EPO in Private Eye (a fortnightly satirical/news magazine for those not familiar with the British press).” Both relate to Techrights and so was other such coverage, e.g. in The Register.
“The firing of two SUEPO members last week led to a wave of solidarity namely for Ion Brumme, who is hard hit by the loss of income for his family.”
–AnonymousAlluding to this newer article, one person wrote: “An interesting point in IPKat´s recent article on the INGRES conference on developments in European IP law 2015″ (not appearing anywhere in that article though).
Here is the quoted bit: “Ursula Kinkeldey, as a former permanent member of the Enlarged Board of Appeal at the EPO no longer subject to the EPO’s president’s disciplinary powers, addressed the referral G1/15 concerning partial priorities, but not without first expressing her concerns over the “tumultous” (quote/unquote) staff relations at the EPO. Sticking to facts, let’s just recap that as of 1 January 2016, 7 (25%) Technical Boards were without president, 14 (13%) of technically qualified member positions were vacant and 7 (21%) of legally qualified member positions were vacant. One board in the field of electrical engineering had only two technically qualified members, and the situation is expected to get worse in 2016. The firing of two SUEPO members last week led to a wave of solidarity namely for Ion Brumme, who is hard hit by the loss of income for his family. The plan to move the Boards of Appeal to Vienna, on the other hand, seems to be shelved.”
“Now it is time again to inform Pierre-Yves Le Borgn` and Philip Cordery about this latest news from The Hague.””
–AnonymousWhy move them away when they’re already being crushed so fast anyway, with more crushing on the way? In relation to this latest crushing of staff, one person wrote: “Now it is time again to inform Pierre-Yves Le Borgn` and Philip Cordery about this latest news from The Hague.”
“There is only so much they can do,” another person added. “Unfortunately, the next AC is in March – until then, Battistelli has all the time to get rid of the staff representatives in the Hague.
“Nobody can stop him.”
Well, contact delegates, join the protests, go on strike and whatnot. Politicians take notice and do take action. Why say that nothing can stop Battistelli when he's reported to have already threatened resignation and some say he was encouraged to keep a low profile (i.e. hide from the media, let the professional liars do all the talking)? Battistelli and his team are under siege, it’s not just SUEPO and other staff representatives who are under siege. SUEPO’s public page has just revealed details of the next action, as noted in some comments. SUEPO has the big numbers (of supporters), Team Battistelli hasn’t. “Actions continue at the European Patent Office,” SUEPO wrote, “next demonstration on 28 January 2016″ (that’s Thursday, and there's more lined up after that). To quote the details: “The next demonstration will take place on Thursday 28 January in the Hague. The demonstrators will march peacefully from the French Embassy (at 12:00 on the Carnegieplein) to the German Embassy.”
“Battistelli is playing with fire right now.”President Battistelli is already being compared to The Great Dictator, which is basically a Nazi/Hitler analogy/parody/satire. One person wrote a short while ago that “presumably the two Hague staff representatives are being investigated or disciplined since the reference to them being forbidden to talk about something corresponds to Hardons crime where she was accused and found guilty of revealing that she was being investigated. A disgraceful way to ensure that an accused cannot summon any defence. How can a civilised society bear the scourge of secret trials?”
Dr. Hardon is Dutch, based on her academic background, and remember that it was a Dutch court (in The Hague) whose orders Battistelli refused to obey. Battistelli is playing with fire right now. He tries to eliminate all of his critics before they eliminate him. It’s a game he can only ever lose, sooner rather than later. Battistelli doesn't understand the Streisand Effect, he can’t quite grasp the hornet's nest etc. so maybe he just doesn’t know how it typically ends up. Maybe he needed better education than ÉNA, and not just connections with powerful people [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] but with humble human beings. He lacks sympathy and empathy. He’s a disaster on two legs.
There are numerous political actions underway (that we’re aware of, including several in the UK alone) and nobody knows for sure if he’ll survive this year in his current role. It would be a miracle if he ever reached the end of his current term (his predecessor did not). Battistelli can always ‘fall back’ onto politics with his Sarkozian friends. Maybe even Jeb Bush will ask for a helping hand. Actually, he would become Bush’s financial liability because Battistelli believes that he, for the first time in history, needs bodyguards (that’s plural) to escort him everywhere. As if patent examiners are "snipers", "Mafia", and "Nazis". Symptoms of megalomania or paranoia (or both). █
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