03.03.16

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EPO Media Strategy: Call the Whistleblowers Nazis and Criminals

Posted in Europe, Patents at 7:06 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Godwin's law
Source: Godwin’s law

Summary: A look at some of the lowest possible levels of smears against those who put at risk an abusive management inside the European Patent Office (EPO) — abusive enough to cause staff to commit suicide

THE EPO has got a war inside of it. It’s a war between staff and the clique of Battistelli, which is most of the top-level management following a multi-year coup.

A new article by Katja Riedel (we need a translation) builds on top of yesterday's radio, television and newspaper coverage in Germany. A lot of people commented on last night’s TV programme, which I too watched (it can be streamed for the next few days at Bayerischer Rundfunk‘s Web site). As one new comment put it:

This evening on Bayerischer Rundfunk, Kontrovers news magazine, from about 11min 56secs in the programme

http://www.br.de/mediathek/video/sendungen/kontrovers/kontrovers112.html

An in depth report (in German) on the social problems at the EPO lasting 20 minutes. Too long to translate but it certainly appears difficult for the EPO to defend. The EPO provided statements but no interviews. The programme interlaced the statements with (necessarily anonymous) case studies. Even a doctor would not appear on camera in case it would let any patient be identified.
The programme will be available online for about 5 days from 02.03.16.

The TV programme and other coverage from Germany has helped reinforce the correlation between EPO suicides and Battistelli with his ‘Gestapo’, the I.U. 3/3 is an EPO propaganda day (more on that later), so we need to write a lot of rebuttals today. As one comment put it yesterday, an EPO worker “committed suicide after having been subjected to an investigation by the infamous Investigation Unit.” Here is the comment in full:

There was a very critical news story on the Bavarian television this evening on the social conflicts at the EPO:

http://www.br.de/nachrichten/europaeisches-patentamt-muenchen-vorwuerfe-100.html.

Most interestingly, the report starts with an interview of the brother of one staff member who committed suicide after having been subjected to an investigation by the infamous Investigation Unit.
No later than yesterday, in his public audition by members of the French Parliament Mr. Battistelli had justified the fact that no independent enquiry had been conducted in any of the recent suicides at the EPO with the argument that the families themselves had not claimed that there was any relationship whatsoever between the suicides and the EPO …

Battistelli is of course blaming his victims, even those whom he illegally suspended or dismissed. He not only can be seen comparing his opposition to "Nazis" but also to criminals. Oh, the hypocrisy. Battistelli needs to watch out and be careful what he says or else staff will sue him for defamation. Telling utter nonsense to French politicians isn’t acceptable and as this comment put it yesterday:

Curioser and curioser: so, criminal proceedings are open against staff representatives? On the basis of German law, I gather? I thought that German law (on human rights or data protection, for instance) was “inapplicable” in Eponia? Or is it applicable when it suits Benito Battistelli’s purposes?

One asks: “Could anyone cast some light here?”

Here is more information, for those who don’t understand French:

Dear Inspector Gadget, I think that you are confused or rather that BB’s babble may have confused you.

The latest allegation raised by BB in front of the French Parliamentary Committee implied or insinuated that the dismissed staff representatives had been somehow involved or implicated in the sending of messages with “Nazi symbols” to German members of staff.

As far as I could decipher BB’s babble, this does not mean that anyone is being accused of being a Nazi (in this particular case !) but rather that people have allegedly thrown “Nazi insults” at others.

According to BB such actions are in breach of German law and have resulted in the filing of a criminal complaint. It seems that national law is still respected by BB when it suits his purposes.

So far nobody has been able to obtain any information as to whether or not such a complaint actually exists and if so who is named in it as the accused.
It is quite possible that the EPO did indeed file a complaint against “persons unknown” but in the absence of tangible evidence leading to the identification of the perpetrator(s), the State Prosecutor would probably close the file.

And finally there’s this:

In this public declaration, made on 1 March 2016 in front of members of the French parliament, Mr Battistelli clearly justifies the dismissal of the SUEPO officials by accusing these of having uttered nazy insults against other EPO staff members, for which a criminal complaint has been filed.

This is too much for me.

As we are going to show later today (this afternoon), there is even worse propaganda right now. Battistelli is fighting for survival and bamboozling journalists with the PR team; this appears to be the latest media strategy, aided by massive budget.

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