11.29.16
EPO DG1 Principal Director “Out of the Muppet Show”
Summary: The ridicule of EPO management is a symptom of a poisonous work environment which now resembles an assembly line of bad patents, where employees are treated unfairly, severely, and in clear defiance of labour laws
“Out of the Muppet Show” is what a reader of ours called this video (apparently circulating internally right now). Also “pathetic”, but again, such characterisations say a lot about the general atmosphere at the EPO nowadays. Once upon a time the EPO was renowned for its high quality of examination (and thus high-quality patents) and nowadays, even this week, some companies still brag about grants of EPs, perhaps not realising that the EPO is a production line of low-quality patents, insiders tell us (more on that another day). In this particular new example, Medigus says it “has received a Notice of Intention to Grant a Patent from the European Patent Office (EPO) for its micro ScoutCam miniature camera technology. [...] patent will be valid until September 16, 2030.” We don’t know if the EPO will even last that long (in its current form). Its management is treated as a laughing stock by its very own employees and there are massive financial losses, not mention brain drain. █