06.11.16
Gemini version available ♊︎EPO Press Spokesperson and Director External Communications Busy Creating Distractions From EPO Controversies
Reference: Distraction by media
Summary: Distractions from Battistelli’s very serious abuses and his portrayal (in paid media and press releases) as some kind of science celebrity come only a short time before he can (and should) be sacked by the Administrative Council
THIS weekend we shall focus on software patents and patent trolls, but the EPO simply cannot be overlooked. Below are various new observations about the EPO’s media strategy and how it helps distract from real EPO news.
It seems like the EPO's PR team is spending a lot of money on press releases because apparently spending millions to seed puff pieces in the media is not enough.
Mittermaier et al are mentioned in the latest press releases [1, 2] as follows:
Contact the European Patent Office in Munich, Germany
Jana Mittermaier
Director External CommunicationsRainer Osterwalder
Press SpokespersonEuropean Patent Office
Tel. +49-(0)89-2399-1820
Mobile: +49-163-8399527
rosterwalder@epo.org
press@epo.org
Some of the puff pieces have spread as far as India and no research/fact-checking is required. Watch the disclaimer in this ‘article’ from Automotive World. It says: “Automotive World is not responsible for the content of this news release.”
How much lower can the EPO management stoop in an effort to drown out the signal (i.e. the real news)? Catarina Holtz, whom we mentioned here before, lashes out at Battistelli’s regime today. Earlier on she wrote: “Has nobody read the ECHR? What is the problem? At an international organisation no employee lives in a complete national legal system, with the protection offered by it. Many employees of the EPO have tried to complain before the ECTHR about violated rights. They were all dismissed as inadmissible. Why? Because the States which create an international organisation simultaneously transfer their governmental powers to it. So the victim employee has encountered a catch 22.If he tries to sue a national state, it is immune because of the transfer, if he tries to sue the EPO it is immune because it is not a contracting state of the ECHR. President Battistelli was right when he said that he was totally free and did not have to listen to anybody.
“Battistelli ought to be sacked, but he spent millions of the EPO’s budget interjecting himself into this month’s media as though he’s some kind of science champion or the next Nobel.”“This is a disgrace.”
An anonymous comment then wrote: “Let us not forget the essential here. The question is not whether 2 years [sanctions on post-EPO employment] is reasonable or not. The question is that Battistelli was explicitly instructed to negotiate and he is doing exactly the opposite of what the council asked. How can that be? Where will this systematic power grab lead the Office?”
Battistelli ought to be sacked, but he spent millions of the EPO's budget interjecting himself into this month’s media as though he’s some kind of science champion or the next Nobel.
In the coming week we shall do our best to focus on real EPO news, not the nonsense from Battistelli and the liars whom he surrounds himself with. We will also do our best to ignore an element of trolling and troll-/bottom-feeding, which does a disservice to the IP Kat discussion as a whole and wastes many people’s time. Will commenters please stop feeding “PB” for example? She or he is clearly there to interfere/undermine constructive discussion and portray EPO staff representatives as a bunch of whiners. One has to wonder if that’s a genuinely concerned reader or just a reputation laundering Plan B (after trying and failing to block IP Kat as a whole). █
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