05.12.17
Gemini version available ♊︎The European Patent Office Has a Long History/Track Record of ‘Screwing’ Contractors
The moral of the story: don’t work with the EPO
Summary: The European Patent Office (EPO) appears to have quite an extensive track record/reputation for ‘screwing’ contractors and then misusing immunity to get away with it
“EPO, Contractors and Im(m/p)unuity,” a reader explained to us, is a subject impacting not only Dutch contractors, as we showed 2 days ago. “I felt very concerned when reading your article about contractors,” the reader noted. “Incidentally I met years ago at my favourite sport club in Munich one of these famous contractors. That was in the pre-dictatorship era. I asked him if it was pleasant to work with such a solvent client. The answer was unexpected (at that time). Apparently working for the EPO was a nightmare because when receiving an invoice the first thing the EPO would do is to try by all means NOT to honour the bill. He sued the EPO without success as the EPO invoked, guess what? immunity!
“Morality: EPO?, Never again!
“Battistelli shouldn’t underestimate the retaliation capacity of external partners when they feel cheated for millions.”
–Anonymous“I then started to investigate internally and externally the payment morale of the EPO and came rapidly to the conclusion that not paying the bill and abuse of im(p)unity was the usual practice with contractors.
“The case presented in the previous article is somewhat different but the results are the same: contractors feel cheated by the EPO. However, given the huge involved amounts of money, it may have a disastrous downside for the concerned officials within the office. Battistelli shouldn’t underestimate the retaliation capacity of external partners when they feel cheated for millions. This is a dangerous game to play, doc!”
Earlier today the EPO wrote about tenders (for procurement). I responded to that by highlighting obvious issues other than the above betrayal of contractors.
We may soon attempt to contact some of these victims of the EPO, which have been slowly coming out of the woodwork to inform reporters. To them, sooner or later, it might be payback time. █
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