Bonum Certa Men Certa

Brain Drain at the EPO: Qualified Patent Examiners Leave in Droves, Young Ones Blindly Loyal to Management Reduce Patent Quality

Some people vote with their feet, not just in the streets

Munich EPO protest



Summary: Patent quality at the European Patent Office is being abandoned under Battistelli's regime (in the name of so-called 'production') and "highly qualified A4s leave the Office," according to a source of ours

EARLIER this week there was a spontaneous protest at the EPO. Staff went out in protest and passionately demonstrated in the streets of Germany. Whereas we have published photos from protests in The Hague and in Munich a few days before that (a scheduled protest, not a spontaneous one for the aforementioned reasons), we still have no photos from the spontaneous protest, but here are some details:



Staff unrest:

- despite being organised for a second time in less than a week in MUNICH, between 1000 and 1200 EPO colleagues spontaneously demonstrated in front of the EPO building on Monday and in Berlin [the following morning]. In both sites resolutions have been adopted requesting the following:

o “to stop the repeated, egregious abuses of power by Mr Battistelli, and

o to reinstall Ion Brumme and Malika Weaver in full, pending an independent investigation into the disciplinary and other sanctions imposed by Mr Battistelli on Ion Brumme and Malika Weaver, and on other staff representatives.“


None of this has happened. Every demand, even from the Administrative Council (which can in theory fire Battistelli as it should), falls on Battistelli's deaf ears. This isn't an indication of thick skin (watch him lose his mind when criticised) but megalomania. He has come to believe he is above the law and nobody can tell him what to do, not even the supervisory board. This kind of Hubris is unheard of in much of Europe, even in Cecilia Malmström's notorious department.

It recently came to our attention that with or without Battistelli leaving, there seems to be infighting in Team Battistelli (cracks in the 'cult') and the most valuable workers of the Office are leaving [1, 2, 3, 4], including top managers. Someone shared some numbers with us.

"It recently came to our attention that with or without Battistelli leaving, there seems to be infighting in Team Battistelli (cracks in the 'cult') and the most valuable workers of the Office are leaving, including top managers."Surely, if the Office lost all workers except Team Battistelli, that would leave the Office in disarray. It would get the message across, but it's definitely not ideal as it makes the EPO, which Battistelli has put at existential risk, effectively defunct. What we're seeing right now is not just profound decline in patent quality but also examiners. Now that "the pension reform is upon us," told us one person (this is expected next year), "that will lead to a lot of people leaving the office [...] one would need honest people at the top and this is hard in an institution where people are selected for their willingness to serve the top management [...] the thing is that the young will feel pressured to produce much from the very beginning (which is already happening) [...] they also have short-term contracts."

As we shall show in later posts, Team Battistelli uses searches as yardsticks, not actual quality. They treat people like robots. Patent "quality will not be the same," the person told us, "especially if the highly qualified A4s leave the office [...] I've seen some names on the retirement lists and I know them as less than 60 and top examiners" (that's about 1% of examiners, but they're the "top examiners", not some arbitrary new starters). They are very much necessary, but "they leave anyway," we are told. Patent "quality drop is also not very visible because there aren't so many oppositions anyway," we were told, "probably about 4% [...] and dealt with by UPC" (if that ever becomes a reality at all, in which case the appeals professionals will get crushed).

“I've seen some names on the retirement lists and I know them as less than 60 and top examiners...”
      --Anonymous
The person added: "it wouldn't surprise me to see Battistelli jumping from EPO to UPC, especially if the Socialists lose the elections and Sarko comes to power" (Sarkozy and Battistelli are politically connected and there's precedence at FIFA with Michel Platini).

"I can't say there's much hope," we got old, "but it's our duty to stand up for the right thing [...] for me the worst thing is not the financial loss but his nepotism that starts the whole avalanche."

It does not help when Battistelli chooses to bring over, into a Vice-President position, a man who faces many criminal charges in his home country (where the alleged crime reportedly even led to suicide).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Slop Videos Are Disappointing Garbage, Nothing New, Just Brute Force up on Display or a Pedestal of Slop
Slop videos aren't a new thing
Slopwatch: Linux Journal, Linuxsecurity, and Google News Getting Even Worse (More Slopfarms Added Which Attack Linux With Bruce-Force SPAM)
Google News is part of the same problem
GNU/Linux is Replacing Microsoft Windows. But We Need to Eradicate Microsoft, It's a Hub of Crime.
I have been writing about Microsoft since the 1990s when I was in school
Microsoft Staff Harassing Women, Strangling Women, Telling Women to Kill Themselves and Worse? Not a Problem!
Two women have left Brett Wilson LLP
 
Crime and Corruption at Microsoft GitHub Cannot be Covered Up by SLAPPs in Another Continent
We'll write about this for a long time to come
Weeks After Microsoft Bankruptcy in Russia the Company Shuts Down in Pakistan, Too
Last month Windows' share in Pakistan fell to an all-time low
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 03, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 03, 2025
The War on Local Storage (People Hosting Their Files Locally and Privately)
There's nothing wrong with controlling one's computing
What Digital Independence Means
Independence in the digital realms means abandoning platforms like GitHub, not just rejecting proprietary software
NVidia is a Bubble
they temporarily see fortunes and wrongly assume perpetuity thereof
Fedora Does Not Care About Diversity and Inclusion, It's About Optics (Corporate Image)
any notion of inclusion is superficial and misleading
Don't Buy the Excuses for Microsoft's Mass Layoffs
Back in the 90s, Microsoft bought a lot of companies to get and stay ahead
Happy Independence Day to Our American Readers
Maybe tomorrow will be a good opportunity to explain to American people - in terms of concepts, not brands - which tools respect their independence
Links 03/07/2025: More Cuts and Cancellations at Microsoft Revealed
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/07/2025: Favourite Child and Launching WikiGem
Links for the day
Mystery Surrounding the PCLinuxOS Sites and PCLinuxOS Magazine
Let's hope this isn't something major
People and Companies Do Learn Some Lessons From Their Mistakes (Stubborn Ones Don't)
Brett Wilson LLP is an example of one that would rather drown in mistakes
Links 03/07/2025: 'Hey Hi' Slop Ridiculed Some More and Microsoft's Layoffs Tally for 2025 Reaches About 29,000 in Just 6 Months (Almost 5,000 Per Month)
Links for the day
The Slopfarms Are Losing the Plot (and Google is Propping Up Rogue Sites)
Google is part of the attack on the Web, on information, and on technology
New BetaNews Realises There's No Potential or Future in Slopfarms, Prior Editor Wayne Williams is Back
They realise that slop (so-called "AI") cannot replace humans
Claims That Microsoft Looks for Staff That Works More and Gets Paid Less (or Can Only Code by Grabbing Other People's Code, Under the Guise of "AI")
People can form their own opinion
Richard Stallman Was Right About Reasons Not to Use Microsoft
last updated 2017
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 02, 2025
Gemini Links 03/07/2025: No to Cloudflare and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 02/07/2025: Deep Microsoft Cuts, Macron Speaks to Putin
Links for the day
Confirmed: Microsoft Shutdowns Today, Not Only Mass Layoffs
"The Initiative is the only studio closure planned today, although some other teams have seen cuts of varying degrees."
Microsoft Windows Nosedives in Switzerland While GNU/Linux Leaps Above 6%
sooner or later they might have to make the move anyway
Anxiety at Microsoft: Many Workers (Maybe Over 10,000) Still Don't Know They're Being Laid Off Just Before US Independence Day
"Has anyone gotten the notification yet?"
Microsoft "Declined to Say How Many People Would be Laid Off," According to Associated Press
Some other prominent publications said they reached out for comment from Microsoft and received none
The X War is Over and the "Wayland People" Lost
People will gravitate towards what works for them
20 Years Since My Thesis
It's still online
GNU/Linux is Replacing Windows in Laptops/Desktops
The world will move on while Windows and Microsoft shrink
Now Comes the Expected Webspam, Framing Microsoft Layoffs as "Hey Hi" Success Story (False Marketing That's Piggybacking the Layoffs)
falsely marketed as "intelligence"
Hungary: Microsoft Windows Sinks to 17% "Market Share"
In many nations in Europe it seems like the era of Windows is coming to an end
Microsoft Media Operatives and Bill Epsteingate-Funded Sites Said Microsoft Lays Off 9,000, But Other Sites Say More (Including 2,300 in Redmond Alone)
We might never know the real number/s (Microsoft will keep the cards close to its chest) until there are leakers or unless there are whistleblowers with hard proof
Microsoft Layoffs in Spain, Portugal Record for GNU/Linux
in Portugal we see GNU/Linux at record levels
GNU/Linux Reaches All-Time High in the United States of America
Windows is trending down
Yes, Microsoft is Again Using Its Favourite Liars (Stenographers) to Seed Fake Layoff Numbers, Much Lower Than What's Really Happening
It is Jordan Novet again, just as we predicted
Will Microsoft Once Again Choose Its Favourite Liar to Spread Lies About Today's Layoffs, Quickly to be Replicated and Spread by Slopfarms?
What lies is Microsoft briefing its media moles to tell today?
"OSS Fetishism" Wins After Ferenc Zsolt Szabó Ousted (Microsoft Mole From Capgemini)
Many people said 2025 would be the "year of Linux on the desktop"
There is Nothing That LLMs Can Offer Honest People
LLMs are a passing fad; they're expensive and offer poor "value" for energy; they usually offer no value at all unless you are a cheater, spammer, and liar
What statCounter Shows Today Helps Explain Microsoft's Helplessness, Mass Layoffs
Since many US journalists are already away on holiday almost nobody will dare ask the difficult questions or give a voice to whistleblowers
Microsoft Gets the Chop in South America
The notion of digital sovereignty gained a lot of popularity
Europe Has an 'Exit'
Let's see what happens the rest of this year
El Presidente Talks, Canada Walks (Away From Windows)
GNU/Linux rising
Cities in France and Germany Move to GNU/Linux and statCounter Detects Big Differences
Will governments lead by example?
Microsoft Lost Its Foothold in Africa
How many of these are "old" Windows machines converted to GNU/Linux? Probably a lot.
Led by Europe, GNU/Linux Makes Big Gains This Month
statCounter started showing new/fresh stats
Links 02/07/2025: Massive Microsoft Layoffs About to Commence, "Tesla's Robotaxi Program Is Failing"
Links for the day
Why the Microsoft People Who Started SLAPPs Against Techrights Could Very Well be Sent Back to Prison
White-collar crime is also a crime
The Company Run by Former (and Last Proper) Red Hat CEO, Promoting Microsoft Mono, Faces Shock as Senior Partner Jailed for 33 Sexual Offenses Including Pedophilia
"As reported by The Oxford Mail in April 2025, the offenses include rape, sexual assault, engaging in non-penetrative activity with a child, and more."
Microsoft Lost 29% of Windows Users, Based on Microsoft, Now Come Massive Layoffs
Microsoft collapse is today
Slopwatch: Google Serves to People Linux Slop and Linux FUD (Made by Bots)
"Slopwatch" finds it difficult to ignore Google's role in encouraging LLM slop
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 01, 2025
"Wayland People" Behave Like the Googles and Microsofts of This World
Published yesterday by Igor Ljubuncic
Gemini Links 02/07/2025: Arch Linux and Fulfillment in Gemini
Links for the day