11.05.16
Posted in Europe, Patents at 7:18 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Systemic takeover by patent maximalists who measure “production” in terms of patents (“products”) granted and broadened in terms of applicability spells doom for the Boards of Appeal and the EPO as a whole
THE QUALITY of patents at the EPO (and oversight thereof in particular) has slipped away. This is a subject we’ll tackle in our next post.
Apparently, IP Kat continues to ‘lose’ comments because, as this new comment puts it: (“resettlement” is a euphemism for exile by the way)
Apparently my post from last week went lost…
Anyway, the real question is how long is this supposed to last? It is becoming quite clear that quite a few problems are still open:
-the one cited in this article: is this all what is going to happen? The President can dismiss a board of appeal member (or put it in a legal limbo, which is effectively the same thing) at will and violate judicial independence and… that’s it?
-the one with the dismissed union representatives: they are just out and that’s it? They are not going to be reintegrated?
-the ridiculous resettlement of the boards. Really?
-and there is really no real control of the finances of a PUBLIC body which produces hundreds of millions euros every year? Did I hear that correctly?
Am I the only one to wonder?
We have already explained why the above is done. A lot of it may have to do with paving the way to massive overhaul, not reform — one that may also have examination itself abolished in favour of a system more like INPI or EUIPO. Such a system would hardly necessitate any appeals at all. Examiners too then become a luxury.
The other day we mentioned MIP’s report on WIPO ambitions of automating patent translations — something which relates both to the UPC and to patent filings. They cannot really manage the translation from Mandarin to European languages (not reliable), but that’s just a method for issuing more patents that are applicable in more places. Sounds familiar a goal? So-called ‘production’ and patent maximalism? Read this new report from IP Watch and see the latest developments regarding the UPCA (they can’t quite call it UPC if London is out and Italy/Milan is in). To quote this Italian site:
The bill that authorizes the Italian government to proceed with ratification of the Unitary Patent Court Agreement was definitively approved by the Italian Senate on 18 October 2016.
The bill, to become Law No.2524/2016 after publication in the Italian Official Journal, also amends the Italian Industrial Property Code to introduce rules on contributory or indirect patent infringement.
No specific provisions are currently in place in Italy concerning contributory or indirect patent infringement. The bill will introduce into the Italian Industrial Property Code a provision that very closely resembles Article 26 of the Unified Patent Court Agreement.
If UPCA (or whatever they’ll call it in the future) becomes a reality, expect even less appeals, more patent trolls, higher damages, and more litigation. Cui bono? █
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Posted in Europe, Patents at 7:00 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
“Mercifully,” one person writes, Battistelli “decided against reducing pension rights as well.”
Summary: The union-busting resumption by Battistelli, in spite of warning from the Administrative Council of the EPO, means nothing at all has changed and the downfall of the EPO continues
ON the heels of this prank video (humour is the best medicine sometimes, some say) we take a more serious note and adopt a more serious tone in relation to EPO scandals. There’s nothing funny about Battistelli ‘satrocious behaviour, which we wrote about twice yesterday, first when we got the leak (as soon as it was made available) and later on when this leak led to media coverage.
For those who pursue or need background about the case, we have some background in the following older articles:
Concerned people have sent us additional input about what happened. French MEP Philip Cordery’s statement on Laurent Prunier, for example, was published on the same day. Our source told us that “this statement from MEP Philip Cordery was posted on SUEPO’s FB account. Sorry no translation available but it will follow in a few days.”
Here it is:
Philip Cordery
Paris, France
Laurent Prunier, secrétaire général du syndicat Suepo La Haye de l’Office européen des brevets (European Patent Office) et représentant élu du personnel vient d’être licencié avec effet immédiat. Son seul tort ? Avoir fait son travail de représentant du personnel.
Après une parodie de procédure interne, Monsieur Batistelli vient de délivrer sa sentence, digne des pire procès de notre histoire.
Je veux avant tout exprimer mon plus grand soutien à Laurent Prunier et à tous les salariés de l’ Office européen des brevets.
Je veux aussi dire à M. Batistelli que nous n’en resterons pas là. Il n’est pas concevable de gouverner une organisation internationale dans l’impunité la plus totale, en bafouant constamment les principes les plus élémentaires du droit du travail international.
Comme je l’ai récemment écrit, Batistelli doit partir. Je continuerai, avec mes collègues, d’exercer toutes les pressions nécessaires pour que les choses finissent par bouger et que les salariés puissent de nouveau travailler dans la sérénité.
“EPO Staff Representative sacked today,” said another message to us, noting that “I received sad news regarding Laurent Prunier, SUEPO secretary this afternoon. He got sacked by Battistelli. Update from SUEPO’s Facebook account…”
BREAKING NEWS :
Laurent Prunier, Secretary of SUEPO The Hague and elected member of the Central Staff Committee is fired with immediate effect.
The result of the social conference of Mr Battistelli should thus be upgraded to : 2016 : three union officials and staff representatives fired + one severely downgraded. More are in the pipeline……….
Anonymous comments found on social media:
BB has sacked a staff representative from The Hague for harassing others representatives. Mercifully, BB decided against reducing pension rights as well.
And another one:
Thanks for the info. Indeed, it is confirmed that LP got fired this afternoon! I have truly no words for this , so very sad and tragical.
And a comment posted on SUEPO’s FB was omitted. There’s plenty of information out there, but it’s hard to find it. The media sure isn’t interested and isn’t covering this.
“A further union représentative was fired this morning,” a comment said at IP Kat, “purely by coincidence would Minnoye say.” This alludes to Minnoye’s ludicrous statement to Dutch media.
“Now we know how much respect the President has for the council. Next he’ll probably fire them,” continues the same comment
“Not a chance,” responded another person. “They’ll be fine as long as they keep kissing his a** !”
One more comment links to “The Register: Fresh Euro Patent Office drama: King Battistelli fires union boss – EPO president ignores his own admin council” (so far the only media coverage of this embarrassing move by Battistelli!)
There are comments on this article. One says:
Concrete Decision
Pity this union can’t take a leaf out of one of the old style American unions.
By now Batistelli would have a supporting role in a motorway bridge.
I am amazed that the Administrative Council haven’t fired the sod and had him escorted from the premises.
“It should read: He would have been a cornerstone of the organization,” one person responded.
Again the point about total lack of effective oversight:
Exactly what does he know about the members of the Admin Council?
He’s acting with impunity. Sounds like he has immunity.
A not-so-relevant response to the above we’re omitting, but as usual, people use this to bash the European Union/Commission as a whole, even though the EPO has nothing to do with it.
Consider this:
unofficial but still
Long live the European project!
Also this:
Basta!, buster and board alike
It sounds like ‘disrepute’ is accumulating on the EPO to the degree that the Administrative Council should fire Battistelli for that cause, shortly before they all resign for the same cause. They have all lost face.
The following alludes to skeletons in the closet. Techrights will dive as deep as necessary into this closet to unearth whatever is in there and then present it to the public. It is, at the moment, the principal aim of Techrights. We help Battistelli with the transparency he likes boasting about (in words, not actions). Here is the comment:
You have to wonder …
… what skeletons he knows about, given that he’s lost all ability to influence the staff he is supposed to be leading, especially given that this has been rumbling on for years …
There is no relevant response to the above and there are probably more comments on the way. I have already reached out to journalists in an effort to get them to cover these atrocious moves from Battistelli and I encourage others, readers included, to do the same. It’s about more than one person; it’s about the EPO as a whole and if Battistelli continues going down this path, there won’t be much of an EPO left (maybe that’s more or less his objective amid EUIPO speculations). █
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Posted in Europe, Humour, Patents at 6:07 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: A show I just caught on TV…
YouTube version
Transcript:
Fake TV interview with the fake President of the EPO, Benoît Hernandez
I’m the President
They call me Blatter, they think that’s clever and they think that I care
Well done, idiots, but let me tell you something
I do whatever the f*** I want
One way or another I’ll get my chinchillas at the Council to do what I tell them
I got myself total immunity
It’s great, isn’t it?
Seriously
I can even punish innocent people
F*** em!
And I do it all the time, even yesterday with that French dude, you should have seen that look on his face when he packed his things
I wrote an internal announcement and said “sniper” again
Some people actually believe all this bullshit and join FFPE afterwards
Some bloody idiots
They actually believe I ride a bicycle
Like I’m some friggin’ peasant
They don’t know I’m trying to get an EPO limo
You can’t make this s*** up
I can say anything I want
I lie several times a day and the media repeats the lies
Bloody bloody stupid media, they don’t even fact-check before publishing their s***
I got them by the balls
Some of them became media partners of the EPO
See, that’s the media, that’s how it operates
Throw some money at FTI Consulting and it’s done
My nose doesn’t even grow any longer
Imagine if they checked the facts
I’d look like a crook
Even Jesper would poke fun at me
He knows me, even my salary and my contractual increases
It’s massive!
Elodie signed it all off!
Even VP4′s
We told the chinchillas he’s awesome
And law-abiding despite all that c*** in Croatia
You should have seen what he did in Croatia to his staff, one person even committed suicide
And that’s actually funny?
Yes, I killed 5 in my Office
It doesn’t get any better than this
I’ve ruined entire families
You start with a disciplinary action
And they never know what’s gonna hit them?
I tell them perception of justice and all that nonsense about appeals and ILO
Little do they know I’ll be back with Sarkozy in my mid-seventies by the time ILO touches the darn thing
I actually find it very amusing
Did I tell you about my Willy?
He told Dutch television their High Court is rubbish
You should have seen Raimund, he wanted to hug him
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11.04.16
Posted in Europe, Patents at 7:32 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: One of the “Three Stooges” (left above), or the one who is probably in most trouble with the law, is looking to hire an advisor, based on a newly-advertised vacancy
THE Chinchillas at the Administrative Council recently agreed to Battistelli's demand (or “request”, though the Chinchillas always say “yes”) that Topić should stay at the EPO for several more years, in spite of criminal charges against him.
Regarding Željko Topić, renowned (or notorious) for attacks on staff, not much of an introduction is needed. He has become a perfect symbol for the Office or a symptom of what the Office became under Battistelli.
“Would the applicant be fluent in Croatian and capable of learning about his/her new (prospective) boss?”For information to our readers, a new job vacancy at the EPO has suddenly emerged: Advisor to VP4.
This new job vacancy at the EPO does not necessarily mean that it’s a new position. We’re not sure if the advisor got sacked, left early, reached an end of contract (convenient termination of employment), or perhaps Battistelli just relies on this thug, Topić, having more authority and greater capacity. Who would be willingly advising a Vice-president who faces many criminal charges? Would the person applying for such a job even know who or what the “VP4″ is? We sure hope so and in the mean time we would like to ask readers: did the existing person get pissed off and perhaps left (if any such a person existed)? Does anyone know the enigma surrounding this job advertisement? Would the applicant be fluent in Croatian and capable of learning about his/her new (prospective) boss?
Speaking of Croatia, a short while ago the EPO mentioned it in Twitter. “Croatia, Lithuania and Spain join the Federated Register service,” it said. This is the same Croatia where the Vice-President of the EPO, Mr. Topić, faces serious criminal charges and based on the latest information, there may be merit to these. As we wrote last week, the luxury cars used by the Croatian SIPO during Topić’s term of office were acquired in breach of the applicable official budgetary regulations. █
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Posted in Europe, Patents at 6:46 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
If this is how Battistelli mistreats his own countryman, imagine what he would do to others whom he habitually associates with Nazism
Summary: Insecure President of the EPO unleashes his paranoid instincts at yet another staff representative, exploiting a thoroughly broken system that made him an unaccountable, dangerous, violent autocrat like Kim Jong-un or Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
SOME PEOPLE wrongly believed (or hoped) that things were quieting down at the EPO, but Battistelli and his goons were only quieting evil and clandestinely malicious. They have been planning union-busting actions not just in Munich but also in The Hague (someone leaked today's internal announcement to us), their second target. We recently learned that a third site too might already be targeted. It’s not hard to see what Battistelli is trying to accomplish. He needs scapegoats everywhere. Podesta E-mail leaks, for example, even include an E-mail where Mr. Podesta himself admits that they need to punish someone innocent (accusing him/her of leaks) just to scare the others and create terror/paranoia. So why pick on Prunier? Because he’s prominent. They make an example out of him. Can he sue them over it? Well, the EPO is virtually above the law and ILO has no backbone. Battistelli exploits this situation to capitalise on his perceive immunity/impunity. For those who are not familiar with Prunier’s case, here are some of our prior posts that mentioned or alluded to him:
We never spoke to Prunier, but with over a thousand disgruntled colleagues of his at The Hague it’s hardly surprising that we occasionally hear from them. They’re rightly furious and afraid as they know they too could be next in the firing line, even if they’re innocent. Eponia is a lawless place and it’s rather ironic that a place like The Hague still tolerates such lawlessness (but it does!).
“Today is such a sad day for me,” wrote one person to us from The Hague, “as I can’t stop thinking about Laurent Prunier. He is such an honest and good man. Very passionate about his job as a SUEPO Representative moreover he is a real pro in public relations. It’s heartbreaking seeing a guy like him getting literally destroyed by those reckless barbarians.”
Battistelli doesn’t seem to understand that he’s stirring up a hornet’s nest each time he attacks staff representatives. As someone from The Hague put it today, “we will fight for him and all the others.”
What’s interesting about Prunier’s case (as we mentioned before) is that here we have a Frenchman attacking a Frenchman. Battistelli has no loyalty, sympathy or empathy to anyone, yet he expects everyone — even his Chinchillas at the Administrative Council — to have blind faith and loyalty to him. If not, he’s willing to even stab his own ‘friends’ at the back (see the case of Roland Grossenbacher). Hence our headline “psychopathic bully”. Battistelli is merciless, selfish, clueless and highly abusive. He’s the model of a boss that’s intended to take down an organisation/company/institution. It’s almost as though his goal is to make the EPO fail and collapse. If that’s his objective, then he’s doing a sterling job!
Incidentally, earlier tonight Kieren McCarthy of The Register (Britain’s largest publication in this area) published an article about Prunier, aptly preceded by the same old picture of Battistelli as emperor (which is not a compliment). To quote the opening paragraphs:
President of the European Patent Office Benoit Battistelli has fired a key member of his organization’s staff union despite being explicitly told not to by the EPO’s Administrative Council.
Laurent Prunier was secretary of SUEPO (Staff Union of the European Patent Office) and a member of its central staff committee, and is one of three union members that have spent over a year under investigation and going through disciplinary procedures because they resisted Battistelli’s reform efforts.
Although some of those reforms were deemed necessary, the staff union’s resistance to a number of questionable changes sparked an extraordinary effort by EPO management to silence critics, which has in turn resulted in numerous strikes, heavy media and political criticism, and repeated calls for Battistelli’s resignation.
There is also this fairly new article in French about the situation at the EPO. Any translations would help. The opening paragraph says:
La situation de conflit entre la direction de l’OEB -Office européen des Brevets- et son personnel est inadmissible et cela fait déjà plusieurs mois que des échanges ont lieu avec Bercy pour remédier à cette situation.
The EPO is no safe place to work in; it’s unsafe. There’s no work security or long-term contract, not even if one is French, unless one is a French crony of Battistelli who also continues to maintain 100% “yes man” status. The EPO is now an autocracy and the vision of the EPO is a place with no unions (except yellow ones with “yes men”) and unions whose Web site is mostly silent and communication to members is covert, probably skirting the unreasonably oppressive rules of the Office. The EPO used to be a top employer; right now it should become a contender in the ladder for “worst employer” (in Europe or internationally, including countries like China and North Korea). It may sound unbelievable or like a gross exaggeration… until one actually speaks to workers and looks at the polls. It’s almost as if Battistelli hopes to drive the good workers away (unrealistic expectations), only to replace them with 'cheaper' and more obedient workers that stamp almost everything. █
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Posted in Europe, Patents at 10:05 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Click for full size
Summary: The Hague is officially seeing its staff union (of the EPO) busted by the thuggish President, who seems to know absolutely no bounds when it comes to violation of human (and labour) rights
UNDETERRED by his Chinchillas at the Administrative Council and unwilling to accept the demands made back in March, Battistelli’s truly destructive EPO legacy gets written, and he hopes it’ll be hidden from the public by posting the above internally.
“Battistelli isn’t just a disgrace to the EPO but a disgrace to his country, to the whole of Europe, and the entire profession in which he takes part.”Well, it’s Friday. It means that the EPO should release some horrible news, as usual. For those who want to know the “sniper” reference (“Snipers of the Hague”), see Battistelli’s utter distortion of facts about so-called “snipers” [1, 2, 3]; it’s just as ludicrous as his misinterpretation of sports equipment ("weapon").
Battistelli isn’t just a disgrace to the EPO but a disgrace to his country, to the whole of Europe, and the entire profession in which he takes part. It’s increasingly insane that he’s still keeping his job somehow, thanks in part to his pet chinchilla.
“And there is real control – by Big Ben himself, El Presidente,” a person joked about Battistelli the other day. If that’s alluding to Castro and the likes of him (maybe Pinochet), then it’s actually more of an insult to Castro than to Battistelli. █
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11.02.16
Posted in Europe, Humour, Patents at 10:08 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: The latest cartoon which is commentary about the working conditions at the European Patent Office (EPO)
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Posted in Europe, Patents at 12:09 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Breaking what’s clearly not broken to build something new which doesn't work for anything or anyone but billionaires
When all else fails Battistelli characteristically uses a hammer
Summary: The latest overt pushes for the Unitary Patent, courtesy of biased (self-serving) media and the EPO’s Michael Fröhlich, who joins Margot Fröhlinger with her Unified Patent Court (UPC) advocacy that conveniently waves off Brexit
THIS new article from Managing IP (MIP), a proponent of the UPC, is very optimistic about the UPC. It’s hardly surprising given the site’s track record. Even though recruitment of UPC judges has been called off the site speaks of the UPC as though it’s some unstoppable gravy train which is also desirable. It’s neither; the public does not want it (at least the few who understand what it does) and it seems to have been derailed — quite fatally in fact — following Britain’s vote for Brexit.
“How can a continent with so many languages get along with the UPC? And now that the only large English-speaking member state may be out, why even have hearings and patents in English?”“UK Prime Minister Theresa May rules out influence of the CJEU and authority of EU law in a post-Brexit Britain,” MIP wrote, but “Labour party MPs demand answers from government regarding UK participation in the UPC and EPO” (we rebutted this spin before). MIP says “five more EU member states including Italy and Slovenia [are] expected to ratify the UPC Agreement early next year,” but without Britain and especially with lingering uncertainty about its status in the EU the UPC won’t get anywhere any time soon. Its death might not be “official” for several years to come, but it’s not too hard to see where this is going.
How can a continent with so many languages get along with the UPC? And now that the only large English-speaking member state may be out, why even have hearings and patents in English? How would Spain feel about it? Battistelli may think (as he’s a clueless nontechnical thug) that patent examination and accurate translations can be attained using algorithms, but he's wrong beyond words. Fools who think that automated translations are an excuse that can make patents go global (applicable everywhere) would have us believe that even patents in Mandarin (new MIP article about notoriously crappy patents from SIPO) would be legible in Latin/Greek-derived languages. At this stage we’re actually entering the twilight zone, wherein totally idiotic people like Battistelli make big decisions that can undermine the whole of Europe. According to another new article from MIP and from IP watch [1, 2], there is a new AIPLA President and he is one who used to be involved in software patents and ITC cases (embargo at the behest of large corporations). WIPR, in the mean time, writes about AIPLA 2016 and quotes the EPO’s Michael Fröhlich (another Battistelli and UPC “yes man”, not to be confused with Margot Fröhlinger [1, 2, 3, 4]) who will say just about anything — even lie — in an effort to make the UPC seem inevitable. From the report:
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) and unitary patent will become a reality, with or without the UK, according to a senior official at the European Patent Office (EPO).
Michael Fröhlich, director of international legal affairs at the EPO, was speaking in a personal capacity at the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s (AIPLA) 2016 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.
He said: “The issue of the Brexit vote is the last hurdle in what has been a hurdle chase since the beginning. There have been hurdles that have been higher than what Brexit has posed … and this last one will be taken successfully.”
Slovenia is about to become the 12th country to ratify the UPC Agreement in the coming days, with Italy expected to become the 13th, according to Fröhlich, speaking on Friday, October 28.
He added that Germany plans to finish the parliamentary ratification process by the end of year.
They have been saying this for a long time, yet it never actually happened. Last year Battistelli said that UPC would happen this year and it’s already near December/Christmas. Progress made? Nothing. Even worse — the UPC has gone backwards/in reverse, owing primarily to the UK. Always remember that the EPO’s management is now living in (and accepting) Battistelli’s fantasy land. The man is deluded, maybe clinically damaged. He will say anything to get his way, even breaking his very own rules, then look for scapegoats (especially when he does not get his way). Recall what he's rumoured to have attempted to do even to Roland Grossenbacher (behind his back). Nobody is safe from the paranoia and vengeance of Battistelli, not even old allies/friends like Grossenbacher. Battistelli turned the EPO’s management into a dangerous cult.
“Always remember that the EPO’s management is now living in (and accepting) Battistelli’s fantasy land.”Be wary and sceptical of all the UPC propaganda that’s still abound. Here we have WIPR asking its choir (mostly patent law firms) about things that the choir would profit from. Nothing is said about the number of respondents and their nature, but this was used to generate misleading headlines about UPC, as usual (“Readers confident in UPC despite Brexit vote”).
WIPR did the same thing regarding software patents in the US about a week ago. As we said at the time, that’s like conducting a poll in Fox News about Donald Trump’s chance of becoming President. They’re asking an already self-selecting and biased population to reinforce an echo chamber’s mentality/mindset (self-deluding/self-misleading, disconnected from reality). █
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