10.29.16
Posted in Europe, Patents at 11:43 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
In the US, for example, it’s widely known that trolls rely a lot on software patentability
Summary: Another piece of evidence or a European Commission report (akin to that of GAO in the US) which demonstrates that Battistelli’s policies would bring patent trolls to Europe
TOMORROW (in Techrights) will be all about the USPTO — a system so severely ruined/tainted by patent trolls that it’s widely regarded as the model not to follow, yet the EPO is trying to become more like the USPTO (before the ongoing reforms which actually repair the USPTO). Nowadays, under Battistelli, the EPO even markets software patents.
Today’s EPO is in shambles because of Battistelli’s coup which removes people who openly don’t agree with him, terrifies people who secretly disagree with him, and installs (in power with astronomical salaries) many of his cronies, usually from France/INPI. Battistelli has made the EPO a laughing stock and an embarrassment to Europe. Not too long ago Team Battistelli added a French Chief Economist (Yann Ménière) who seems more or less like a Battistelli “yes man” or Pet Chinchilla ([ref 96056 reference here]) who will be speaking for the EPO in Australia pretty soon (we mentioned that a few days ago).
What does the previous/former Chief Economist think? Obviously something very different. He no longer needs to be a Battistelli “yes man”. His salary does not depend on it.
When EPO mouthpiece and patent maximalist IAM does not gloat about Clinton (who is a large corporations’ tool and a corporate front) because of her stance on patents it actually mentions the position of the EPO’s former Chief Economist. Put another way (without IAM’s spin), the EPO under Battistelli is evidently brewing or creating an epidemic of patent trolls. They will soon come to Europe as well, more so if the UPC becomes a reality. Here is what IAM wrote:
The continued issuance of high quality patents is the key to preventing the widespread activities of troll-like patent assertion entities in Europe, a new report from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has concluded.
Based on work undertaken by a team led by the centre’s senior fellow Nikolaus Thumm, a former chief economist of the European Patent Office, Patent Assertion Entities in Europe. Their impact on innovation and knowledge transfer in ICT markets takes a detailed look at the activities of PAEs in Europe and explores how these may develop under the Unified Patent Court regime. In addition to ensuring high quality patents, the report also recommends that policy makers focus on enabling transparency around patent ownership, ensuring excellence at the UPC and providing more clarity around FRAND licensing and standards essential patents.
“The institutional and legal framework in Europe has not allowed the more negative consequences associated with PAEs to materialise to the same extent that it has, according to some economic literature, in the US,” the report states. “Moreover, some of the negative consequences that we have identified are currently hypothetical and are based on stakeholder evidence which could be susceptible to bias.”
Responding to a patents maximalist (who wrote: “Is this an evidence-based conclusion or just wishful thinking from people outside the patent system who don’t understand it?”), IAM noted: “Report was compiled under the leadership of former chief economist of the EPO, who knows patent system pretty well!!”
The former Chief Economist of the EPO, in that case, essentially warns that patent quality declining (what the EPO does under Battistelli), if this continued, would be a boon to trolls. Battistelli is the trolls’ friend. Does he mind? Does he even know? The man is patently clueless and dangerous.
Here is what IP Watch wrote about the same news:
A new report by respected economists under the European Commission has found that problems of patent assertion entities in Europe could be better controlled if patent quality stays high in the region. It also found that the majority of patent assertion entities in Europe have focused on vulnerable targets – mainly in the telecommunications sector – and the report provides significant research on such entities operating in the European Union. The findings shine light on the key role of standard essential patents, with suggestions for policymakers and predictions about the impact of the prospective changes to the European patent system.
Looking at MIP, we haven’t yet found coverage of it (maybe we’ll find some later), but it did say that “[p]atent prosecution is taking place against a backdrop of the press claiming many patents should not have been issued, allegations that patent examiners shirk their responsibilities and the technology industry being exasperated by the Alice aftermath” (actually, Alice is improving patent quality, which is good).
MIP separately noted that the “cost of global filing quickly climbs into the multi-hundred-thousand dollar range.”
Put another way, patents are for the 1% only. Only the super-rich can afford them. It helps the SMEs in no way whatsoever. In light of this, watch how another site has just fallen for the bogus ‘study’ from EUIPO and the EPO, joining the ranks of few others who parroted the lies [1, 2]. To quote from the article:
IPR-intensive industries generated more than 42% of the EU’s economic activity in the period, with the total value of that activity amounting to €5.7 trillion. The majority of EU trade with the rest of the world also stemmed from IPR-intensive industries, the report said.
EPO president Benoît Battistelli said: “Our second joint report confirms the benefits of patents and other IPRs for the European economy. Intangible assets are increasingly important for innovative companies today, especially for SMEs, but also for research centres and universities. We again see that this has a positive impact on jobs, growth and prosperity. But in order to remain competitive in the global economy, Europe needs to encourage even further the development and use of new technology and innovations.”
These are lies right there in the numbers (even MIP refuted these numbers 3 years ago) and in the statement from the Liar in Chief, Benoît Battistelli. It has nothing whatsoever to so with SMEs. These are the same utter lies which he used to promote the UPC. With patent trolls imminent and already arriving at London (because of his policies that opened the floodgates to crappy patents), those who will suffer the most are European SMEs.
Battistelli is a truly destructive man whose remembered legacy should be that he practically killed the EPO or put it in a death spiral, along with Europe itself. Where’s Wallonia when we need it so badly? █
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Posted in Deception, Europe, Patents at 10:55 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Your latest coverage about Europe’s most important subject is several months old, in a British blog…
Summary: IP Kat’s awkward silence about the European Patent Office (in the face of many historic/critical events) demonstrated again, in light of the news that the EPO’s Boards of Appeal might soon be sent to ‘exile’ (likely a long-term deprecation plan to mask patent quality degradation)
PEOPLE who rely on IP Kat for EPO news won’t get the information they deserve, unless they look very closely at the comments added to a very, very old thread (see above). The site has been totally quiet about it since the EPO threatened by means of blocking the site, as it first did to Techrights. Has IP Kat just surrendered to the bullies? Will there ever be any criticism of the EPO there (ever again)?
The EPO was mentioned very briefly only in “Friday Fantasies” (yesterday) where there’s a small section that reads:
New EPO Enlarged Board referral: does the gold standard apply to a bitten apple? Tufty the Cat brings us news on the latest EPO Enlarged Board referral in the appeal case of T 437/14, which considers if the “gold standard” test for assessing any amendment for compliance with A123(2) EPC must also be applied to the type of undisclosed disclaimers that would otherwise be allowable under G 1/03.
There is much bigger news regarding the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeals, but IP Kat isn’t talking about it. Only its readers do and the only place where it would not be off topic is a thread from the summer. “It seems that 63% of the voters do not agree with the move of the BoA to Haar,” this commenter wrote. To quote:
the Budget & Finance Committee of the Admin Council has approved the “resettlement” of the Boards of Appeal to Haar.
13 votes in favour, 8 against and 15 abstentions.
It seems that 63% of the voters do not agree with the move of the BoA to Haar.
Abstentions, however, are not taken into consideration when counting the votes.
The move to Haar, therefore, has been approved by 61% of the voters.
Magic at the EPO!
The response to which was:
BoA: To the great silent majority of the B28 and AC we ask your support.
BB: Hmmm…the Silent Majority is a phase used by Homer to describe the dead!
And here is the latest very curious input:
It seems to me that this is a case in which weighting of votes in accordance with Article 36 EPC would be justified.
Weighting of votes
(1) In respect of the adoption or amendment of the Rules relating to Fees and, if the financial contribution to be made by the Contracting States would thereby be increased, the adoption of the budget of the Organisation and of any amending or supplementary budget, any Contracting State may require, following a first ballot in which each Contracting State shall have one vote, and whatever the result of this ballot, that a second ballot be taken immediately, in which votes shall be given to the States in accordance with paragraph 2. The decision shall be determined by the result of this second ballot.
I wonder if the AC delegates have actually read the rule book?
http://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/html/epc/2016/e/ar36.html
Therein alone is an article idea for IP Kat to go with, but where’s Merpel and what happened to this site? Has all the media been silenced by means of payments and intimidation? █
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10.28.16
Posted in Europe, Patents at 5:28 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Balkan Express crossing the Isar in Bavaria
Summary: The latest part in the series regarding the reappointment of the two Vice-Presidents, Casado and Topić
THE EPO‘s management makes things worse before it makes things any better. The reappointment of two Vice-Presidents, Casado and Topić, is quite revealing. We already wrote about Casado; see part one (photos addendum) and part two (photos addendum). Today we deal with Topić, having published a leaked letter this morning and a teaser with accompanying photographs.
The latest official Communique issued by the EPO Administrative Council on the 14th of October 2016 confirmed that “on a proposal from the President” the Council had decided to extend the appointment of Željko Topić as Vice-President of Directorate-General 4 until the 31st of December 2018.
Topić’s contract was due to expire in April 2017 and in June of this year rumours were already circulating that there was strong opposition inside the Administrative Council to a prolongation. But after persistent and intensive lobbying on behalf of his “winning team” it appears that “Il Duce” was ultimately able to prevail against his opponents. The news that the EPO Balkan Express is now scheduled to remain in service until the end of 2018 probably came as an unpleasant surprise to those who had expected this particular “gravy train” to be decommissioned at the end of its current term.
“Topić’s contract was due to expire in April 2017 and in June of this year rumours were already circulating that there was strong opposition inside the Administrative Council to a prolongation.”To mark the occasion it seems like a good idea to revisit this controversial “Topic” (if you’ll excuse the pun) and to provide Techrights readers with an update concerning Battistelli’s “Balkan Connection”.
Topić originally comes from Banja Luka which is in the Republic Sprksa region of Bosnia-Herzegovina. After the former Republic of Jugoslavia split up it seems that he moved to Zagreb some time in the early 1990s and pursued a career in the Croatian civil service where he eventually became Director General of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and head of the Croatian delegation to the EPO’s Administrative Council.
Although he is officially a Croatian national for EPO purposes it is rumoured that he also claims Bosnian-Herzegovinian citizenship by virtue of his roots in Banja Luka. Nobody can say for certain whether or not he has declared any additional citizenships which he might hold to the Administrative Council of the EPO (which is his appointing authority).
“Although he is officially a Croatian national for EPO purposes it is rumoured that he also claims Bosnian-Herzegovinian citizenship by virtue of his roots in Banja Luka.”EPO insiders say that the “Balkan Connection” forms an important link in Battistelli’s pan-European political network. It seems that the links between Battistelli and Topić go back at least as far as 2008 when as heads of their respective national IP Offices they signed a bilateral agreement between France and Croatia [PDF] (see photograph in our “teaser” article).
Topić also appears to have long established links to the Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO) which was involved in two EU-sponsored twinning projects with the Croatian SIPO between 2003 to 2005 and again in 2009 to 2010. Sources include the DKPTO’s own site (more here). In our “teaser” we showed Topić a decade ago (2006), meeting the DKPTO for the twinning project [PDF]. The head of the DKPTO is now the Chinchilla Man of the Administrative Council, Mr. Kongstad.
Back in 2014 Techrights reported about an alleged "Protection Triangle" involving Battistelli, Kongstad, and Topić.
“The head of the DKPTO is now the Chinchilla Man of the Administrative Council, Mr. Kongstad.”In his current position as a key member of “Team Battistelli” at the EPO, Topić is said to be useful for drumming up support amongst the delegations from the territory of the former Jugoslavia and its neighbouring states. He seems to be an old hand at this kind of political lobbying game. The source is Wikileaks diplomatic cable 07ZAGREB597, which reveals that he previously assisted the efforts of the US to unseat Kamil Idris as the Director General of the WIPO in 2007. To quote from the Wikileaks cable: “Topić said he would raise the issue there and urge those states that are also EU members to lobby the other EU member states to take a firm position on Idris at the September WIPO General Assembly.”
Background to the Kamil Idris affair is in Wikipedia.
Following his appointment as EPO Vice-President, Topić is said to have maintained close links to the Croatian delegation on the Administrative Council which is now headed by Ljiljana Kuterovac (see the leaked letter we published this morning), the current Director General of the Croatian SIPO. Kuterovac is reputed to be Topić’s protégée having previously served under him at the SIPO as an Assistant Director.
According to sources in Croatia, during Topić’s time as Director General from 2004 to 2012 Kuterovac was one of five Assistant Directors. From among the group of five, Kuterovac seems to have been the Director General’s favorite Pet Chinchilla and she is reported to have regularly accompanied him on official trips to the WIPO and other IP “junkets” around the globe. It is further alleged that an upmarket Skoda Octavia Combi 1.9 TDI limousine which was acquired by the SIPO in 2007 as one of three luxury cars for its official fleet was placed at the exclusive disposal of Kuterovac. Apparently she was the only one of the five Assistant Directors to receive such perks. It has been reported from Zagreb that a long overdue audit of the SIPO which was belatedly completed by the Croatian Ministry of Finance in March 2016 confirmed that, as has long been suspected, the luxury cars used by the SIPO during Topić’s term of office were acquired in breach of the applicable official budgetary regulations.
“It has been reported from Zagreb that a long overdue audit of the SIPO which was belatedly completed by the Croatian Ministry of Finance in March 2016 confirmed that, as has long been suspected, the luxury cars used by the SIPO during Topić’s term of office were acquired in breach of the applicable official budgetary regulations.”Between Topić and Kuterovac there appears to be a “synergy” comparable to that which has been recently noted in the case of the Spanish Vice-President Alberto Casado and the head of the Spanish delegation, Patricia Garcia-Escudero. In both cases the head of an Administrative Council delegation got appointed to a position as EPO Vice-President and his successor as head of delegation was his former subordinate and deputy. As with Casado and Garcia-Escudero, this is another case in which an EPO Vice-President appears to be in a position to exert an inappropriate level of influence over an individual member of the oversight body because of the previous professional relationship.
Shortly before the Administrative Council met in Munich on the 12th and 13th of October and decided to renew Topić’s contract, sources in Croatia reported on an interesting development in a civil lawsuit which is being pursued in Zagreb against the Croatian SIPO and its former Director General by former SIPO employees as previously reported by Techrights. See our earlier report on this.
The lawsuit which concerns claims of harassment and other SIPO management misconduct was filed a long time ago in 2008 and it is still working its way through the painfully slow Croatian legal system. The good news for those affected is that the last hearing took place on the 10th of October 2016 when one of the lead plaintiffs, Jadranka Oklobdžija, was heard as a witness. Ms Oklobdžija was the Chairperson of the staff union at the SIPO at the time in question. Now that the court hearings are finished a judgment is expected fairly soon. People who have been following the case say that this is not likely to be in Topić’s favour.
“Due to these developments it now seems that Topić no longer enjoys the high-level political “protection” that he is once reputed to have had in his adopted homeland.”At the same time other sources in Croatia have pointed out that a number of criminal complaints against Topić are still sitting on the desk of the Public Prosecutor in Zagreb. It is rumoured that during the time when Ivo Josipovic was President of Croatia (January 2010 to January 2015), he colluded with the then Chief State Attorney Mladen Bajic to obstruct the processing of criminal charges against Topić. However Josipovic failed to secure re-election in 2015 and he has since faded from the political scene in Croatia. Due to these developments it now seems that Topić no longer enjoys the high-level political “protection” that he is once reputed to have had in his adopted homeland.
Following the recent snap parliamentary elections in September 2016 a new Croatian government is expected to be formed soon.
It remains to be seen how effective the new government will be in clearing up the various messes left behind by previous administrations but many people in Croatia are hopeful that a new and less corrupt era may finally be dawning in Croatian politics. It could be that the Public Prosecutor finally starts to take action in relation to certain cases concerning alleged irregularities in the management of the SIPO which appear to have got stuck in the legal pipeline over the last decade.
“Only time can tell whether Team Battistelli will ride off intact into the sunset in 2018 as planned or whether it is in danger of being prematurely “balkanised at sunrise” by the slow but inexorable grinding of the mills of the Croatian legal system.”In view of these developments observers of the EPO are recommended to keep a watchful eye on Team Battistelli’s south-eastern flank over the coming months.
At the moment it is too early to say whether the Balkan Express will continue to chug along on its merry way until its recently rescheduled end of service or whether it might not be suddenly derailed if the prevailing political winds in Croatia happen to shift in an unfavourable direction.
At this juncture we will not risk making any predictions either way. Only time can tell whether Team Battistelli will ride off intact into the sunset in 2018 as planned or whether it is in danger of being prematurely “balkanised at sunrise” by the slow but inexorable grinding of the mills of the Croatian legal system. █
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Posted in Deception, Europe, Patents at 4:51 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: The EPO is weaponising its propaganda and pushing hard for media across Europe to repeat this propaganda while severely punishing anyone who ‘dares’ contradict it
THE EPO is a chronic liar. It’s no exaggeration to say this; it is lying even to journalists and to staff (we covered many examples of that).
“Apparently, for some at WIPR no fact-checking was seen as necessary, just copy-paste-edit-publish.”Watching the EPO in Twitter is like an exercise in humour. Watch this new tweet for example. The term “IPR-intensive” is a meaningless, misleading term. It’s not so-called ‘IPR’ that ‘created’ these jobs at all. That’s just the EPO trying to associate itself with the success of industries, even if the EPO itself had nothing to do with those industries and their successes. There are tweets like these every day, attempting to associate the EPO with space travel, cures, and just about anything that attracts positive attention. “IPR-intensive industries generated 28% of all jobs in the EU during the period 2011-2013,” says the EPO (half a decade later), using an old EPO link perhaps because there’s nothing positive to talk about after that. Recently, EUIPO and EPO covertly joined hands for propaganda (they only mentioned this days before the propaganda’s official release), soon to see very few puff pieces (we found only one!) and then paid press releases, probably intended to compel news sites to repeat the nonsense (as few did).
Last night we spotted a new puff piece in WIPR, titled “IP generates €5.7tn for EU economy, says report” (commissioned for propaganda purposes by the very entities it is about). They went along with the totally bogus number, right there in the headline (we already debunked this earlier this week).
“IP generates €5.7tn for EU economy”?
That’s a lie. Outright lie. It’s actual products that generate revenue, not “IP” (whatever it is, too vague a term to be worth entertaining).
Apparently, for some at WIPR no fact-checking was seen as necessary, just copy-paste-edit-publish.
What next?
X generates $578.7tn for US economy, says think tank’s report.
“These so-called ‘studies’ are so dishonest that the media should disregard them altogether.”CEO Smith deserves $578,000 per hour, says Smith.
These so-called ‘studies’ are so dishonest that the media should disregard them altogether. Never mind the fact that the EPO is a serial liar. The EPO is in pure propaganda mode these days, as we noted earlier this month. Almost every single thing says now is a lie. Sad to see EUIPO getting dragged into this as well..
Watch this EPO tweet which says “The EQE pre-examination course is supported by a selection of experienced epi tutors” (link omitted).
That’s the same epi that criticised/slammed the EPO and then took down its own criticism (because truth is not allowed and always frowned upon by the EPO). Truth is treason at the EPO, staff faces disciplinary action (even dismissal!) for communicating truths, and Tony Tangena from epi got ‘gagged’ (we suppose he was compelled to take down his polite letter) even though he doesn’t work for the EPO.
“These attempts to suppress the truth need to end.”The EPO has truly become the Ministry of Truth of Eponia and well beyond Eponia, taking into account its corruption of the media and threats to the media, including threats to critical bloggers like myself. These attempts to suppress the truth need to end. If European media barely writes about the EPO anymore (only negative things to say), this is probably why.
In the next post we shall explore and expose some gory details which the EPO would rather never see published (for reasons that will become apparent). █
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Posted in Europe, Patents at 4:14 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Leaked E-mail from June 2012 regarding Željko Topić, an EPO Vice-President who reportedly faces many criminal charges in Croatia
THE EPO‘s management insists on tarnishing whatever is left of its reputation. It refuses to accept that Topić is a liability to the Office and even — reportedly at the request of Battistelli — extends the contract of this ‘bulldog’ of his.
As we noted here before, Topić allegedly used SIPO’s Web site to throw in some face-saving announcement. He also uses old buddies to accomplish something similar, never mind the fact that he has lost his defamation case repeatedly. The judge found merit in very serious allegations against him.
The above E-mail is from the 6th of June 2012 and it might be of interest ahead of today’s feature article, which we shall publish later today.
“The E-mail from June 2012 was written by Ljiljana Kuterovac who was at that time the acting Director General of the SIPO following Željko Topić’s departure to Munich and it is addressed to the Administrative Council delegates and to the President of the EPO.”Recall that the decision to appoint Željko Topić as an EPO Vice-President was taken by the EPO’s Administrative Council in March 2012 and he took up his appointment soon afterwards in April 2012.
Around that time rumours were already circulating about Željko Topić’s previous track record in Croatia and some members of the Administrative Council were beginning to ask awkward questions.
So it seems that Željko Topić relied on his former protegée at the SIPO to defuse the situation and silence the critics.
The E-mail from June 2012 was written by Ljiljana Kuterovac who was at that time the acting Director General of the SIPO following Željko Topić’s departure to Munich and it is addressed to the Administrative Council delegates and to the President of the EPO. █
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10.27.16
Posted in Europe, Patents at 2:18 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Battistelli with his sausage factory mentality keeps grinding the EPO for quick cash…
Image credit: Seydelmann, published under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
Summary: A look at the latest reckless step from the Budget and Finance Committee of the Administrative Council (chaired by Battistelli's pet chinchilla), which marginalises yet more oversight or a branch which facilitates patent quality control (thereby concealing the effect of Battistelli’s ruinous sausage factory mentality)
MATERIAL continues to trickle out of the EPO and each day we learn something new about the decision to send the appeal boards to exile (see this week's coverage so far). It’s depressing for me to see and I don’t even work for the EPO. Battistelli is — pardon the pun — absolutely butchering the EPO. Insiders know it and even outsiders like patent attorneys are quickly catching on. They would be right to panic as valuation of their largest clients’ patent portfolios must have collapsed (some of them don’t know this yet).
“It’s an internal announcement and the rest of it includes a lot of budget numbers, which is the sort of thing that they would not like leaked and probably serve no purpose for this post.”Here are the outcomes from the meeting of the 26th of October (that’s yesterday): “Continuing the implementation of the Boards of Appeal reform, the contract related to the lease of a building in Haar / Munich, which will be the new location of the Boards of Appeal Unit, was submitted to the BFC. Although several delegations requested additional technical information, the BFC gave a positive opinion (13 in favour, 8 against and 15 abstentions).”
“The boards have in fact shrunk in recent years, as no new openings (or hardly any) get advertised, probably because of the UPC fairy tales so deeply ingrained in Battistelli’s little mind and Big Head.”It’s an internal announcement and the rest of it includes a lot of budget numbers, which is the sort of thing that they would not like leaked and probably serve no purpose for this post. We therefore omit those numbers — not because they are anything special but because it is more sensitive information which there’s little for the public to gain from. Remember that office space is shrinking with this relocation (or ‘exile’ as we call it), so don’t fall for the spin of accommodating more staff (the EPO experiences brain drain and cannot recruit fast enough!). The boards have in fact shrunk in recent years, as no new openings (or hardly any) get advertised, probably because of the UPC fairy tales so deeply ingrained in Battistelli’s little mind and Big Head.
It is worth mentioning that the Budget and Finance Committee only issues an opinion. The decision about ‘exile’ (they use this term, they prefer euphemisms) to Haar will be made at the next Administrative Council (AC) meeting, which is due to happen on the 14th and 15th of December. So far, as was implied above, only financial matters have been considered. It might not be too late to stop this separation.
“In our view, Battistelli was put in place for fiscal reasons.”One might ask, why does the Haar relocation matter so much? Well, from what we are able to gather, there may be an untold purpose to it. My personal hypothesis for a couple of years now is that EPO management clutches any pretext to dismiss staff representatives to rob the staff of their voices before layoffs. Something very, very big is happening at the EPO (more so this year and last year). The management says too little about it, but one can see some signs on the wall.
Looking at what the EPO has in store at IPSDM, it looks as though Battistelli's so-called "economist" from France is gaining influence. To quote IP Australia: “Yann Ménière, Chief Economist @EPOorg will chair a session on International patent protection & trade at #IPSDM https://www.ipsdm2016.com/”
In our view, Battistelli was put in place for fiscal reasons. He’s not a scientist, he’s pretty clueless about patents, but he sure attempts to cut costs, increase so-called ‘production’ (no matter the cost to quality and reputation) and this appointment of a French “economist” (the word pertains to a pseudo-science with fake ‘Nobel’ [sic] prize that’s banksters’ blatant means for rewarding complicit academics) lends some evidence to our longstanding suspicions.
“Battistelli should be thought of more like an EPO liquidator (trying to squeeze out whatever money is left in it before it implodes), not a manager and certainly not a President.”According to this new comment, the EPO’s HR department (managed by the wife of Battistelli’s buddy) is pushing out longtime staff, replacing these people with temporary or short-term workers with limited skills (hence more likely to just grant patents with little scrutiny, having failed to identity prior art). Sending the appeal boards away while understaffing them, threatening their independence (deterrence) and significantly increasing the cost of their service further complements this strategy or this modus operandi. Here is what today’s comment says (“Latest HR trend says…”): “Publishing new Euro contract vacancies and forcing at the same time Eponians to leave their permanent positions for the sake of gaining excessive HR control (temporary contracts and probation periods galore!). Trust me I am your HR manager!… see you at the next social conference.”
This perfectly agrees with everything we’ve been hearing, publishing and reading (without publishing). Battistelli should be thought of more like an EPO liquidator (trying to squeeze out whatever money is left in it before it implodes), not a manager and certainly not a President. Battistelli is to the EPO what Elop was to Nokia. █
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Posted in Europe, Patents at 4:29 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Various photos of Topić and Kuterovac. Some more photos with other IP “luminaries” such as Campinos of the EUIPO and Gurry of the WIPO.
Photos of Topić and Kuterovac etc. will become relevant to our upcoming long article as they visually demonstrate some of the points made therein (readers can see where we’re going with this based on this teaser).
Here are Topić and Campinos (EUIPO), who some believe will take over the EPO one day.
Welcome Kuterovac.
Kuterovac and Gurry from the abusive WIPO (both Battistelli and him wanted and applied for this job).
Kuterovac with Campinos.
Yes, that’s Topić and Battistelli, way back almost a decade ago (2008).
Here is Topić a decade ago (2006), meeting the DKPTO for the twinning project [PDF]. The head of the DKPTO is now the Chinchilla man of the Administrative Council.
Kuterovac and Topić in tandem (2010).
More of Kuterovac (WIPO, 2012).
Also the following year (WIPO, 2013).
Also a photo of Jadranka Oklobdžija who is a lead plaintiff in the civil lawsuit against the SIPO and Topić.
A lot of the above will be tied together in our upcoming article on the subject (the gallery of accompanying photos isn’t as critical to the message we’ll tell and the evidence we’ll present). █
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10.26.16
Posted in Asia, Intellectual Monopoly, Patents at 6:52 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Shades of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which can bring software patents to India
Non-cooperation movement is needed here
Summary: The envoy of the US is trying to tell India how to run the country (stricter laws regarding copyrights, trademarks, and patents), as a condition for foreign investment by multinational corporations
PUTTING aside the EPO for a moment (we plan to cover Željko Topić later this week and USPTO over the weekend), earlier today we found some articles from Indian news sites. The US is, quite frankly as expected (see Cablegate to understand how it works), trying to bully India into the entrapment which is patent maximalism, maybe even software patents which are currently not legal in the country (and less so in the US as well, taking Alice into account).
“The US is, quite frankly as expected (see Cablegate to understand how it works), trying to bully India into the entrapment which is patent maximalism, maybe even software patents which are currently not legal in the country (and less so in the US as well, taking Alice into account).”Based on reports like this one [1, 2] (cross-posted), the US makes improving relationships with India contingent upon bending over to US corporations, changing patent laws for them. To quote one key paragraph: “He said that on the persuasion of the US government the present government of India has taken some initiatives to amend and make stronger IPR laws.” Other news reports [1, 2] look at another angle and the “USPTO continues to move forward with its Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative (EPQI),” says Patently-O today, “and is hosting a set of five Quality Forum events over the next month in DC, Milwaukee, KC, Baton Rouge, and Portland.”
So while the US itself acknowledges the problem with too broad a patent scope (see the recent report from GAO [1, 2]), it seems perfectly fine screwing around with patent scope in other continents, including Europe. Guess whose economies would be harmed and for whose benefit. █
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