Bonum Certa Men Certa

Sam Gyimah Did What Was Expected Since 2016, But Unified Patent Court (UPC) is Still Completely Stuck in Most Important Country and Is Not Compatible With Brexit

Brexit too is a problem, not just some piece of paper which the government has said for 1.5 years that it would sigh

German and English UPC



Summary: While deliberately ignoring Brexit, which legal professionals have said for nearly 2 years makes the UPC untenable, Team UPC pretends there's a rosy future for a system that's stuck in the middle of nowhere because it is neither constitutional nor desirable

We have, by now, seen some responses to last night's response/rebuttal to the Unified Patent Court (UPC) news, noting that British participation would not be compatible with Brexit and there are other very major barriers, including serious EPO abuses. To suggest that the UPC would happen is wishful thinking or lobbying. We mean false prophecy lobbying style.

Team UPC is not happy with what I wrote about the UPC last night. I've evidently struck a nerve. Someone who blocked me is now heckling me. Notice the lack of substance in these people's responses. Darren Smyth (IP Kat UPC booster) claims that I said something that I never even said! First of all, I did not say they would not ratify but that it would make no sense at all even if they did (as they had said they would). Secondly, I said there would be many practical barriers. None of these have changed.

Ratification is "work in progress" or "still in the process" actually; as the relevant individual put it: "And here are the files we lodged today with @EUCouncil - the UK ratifying the agreement on the Unified Patent Court..."

"To suggest that the UPC would happen is wishful thinking or lobbying."As expected, people who are an inherent part of law firms and/or Team UPC are boosting it -- all this while avoiding even the mere mention of Brexit and other issues. Those have not been addressed at all! This was mentioned by Francisco Moreno‏, who wrote in Spanish something which roughly means: "And Boris took his pen, ratified the unitary patent, and his instrument was deposited in Brussels. Now it all depends on the judges of Karlsruhe."

Found via this tweet was the official page (not some junk "tweets"). "Our ratification brings the international court one step closer to reality," it says. They wish. "The unique nature of the proposed court means that the UK’s future relationship with the Unified Patent Court will be subject to negotiation with European partners as we leave the EU," they added. Well, if they leave the EU, then they cannot participate in a UPC-type system.

Team UPC links to CIPA. To quote: "Note that they are sticking to the line that the UPCA is "international treaty" but acknowledge UK’s future relationship "will be subject to negotiation". Suitably non-committal - no strong hint in either direction!"

"As expected, people who are an inherent part of law firms and/or Team UPC are boosting it -- all this while avoiding even the mere mention of Brexit and other issues."So it's hardly final at all. Just like we said all along. CIPA's tweet said: “Ratification...demonstrates that internationally, as well as at home, the UK is committed to strong intellectual property protections” - IP Minister Sam Gyimah announcing UK ratification of the UPC #UnifiedPatentCourt #upc pic.twitter.com/7HdTzLrDqc – At Houses of Parliament"

Dr. Glyn Moody joked at this when he wrote: "it also means a European court will tell UK companies what to do, and they must obey - that "taking back control" thing that #brexiters so love..."

Surprisingly, IAM, which had done a lot to promote the UPC for Battistelli, also acted quite cynical when it wrote: "The UK’s Brexit-backing press did try to make the UPC an issue, but it turns out that patents are just too obscure for even the most committed Europhobes!! [...] UPC scenario - a court in Germany deciding in favour of a French patent holder against a British defendant and issuing an injunction preventing the British company selling or distributing its product in the UK. How is that taking back control?"

That's why it can't quite happen.

Over in Germany, JUVE's main person wrote:

UK ratifies UPC Agreement. What does it mean for the UPC implementation and some more details about the German constitutional claim. Our report https://juve.de/?p=338164


The cited article is in German.

"...Team UPC wants the patent system to be administered by somewhere that blatantly disregards the rule of law, Eponia (the EPO)."Managing IP, which was instrumental in UPC lobbying (it even set up lobbying events for the EPO), wrote: "The big uncertainty now is a German constitutional complaint against the UPC..."

Brexit also, as it can force undoing everything, like people have said since 2016 when Lucy predicted the move (eventually if not inevitably taken by Sam Gyimah).

"...don't expect to see much dissent in comments on such articles/posts; they 'sanitise' these to silence their perceived 'opposition', even if it's just legal professionals pointing out factual errors."As IP Watch put it some hours ago: "The system is administered by the European Patent Office, and the UK's ratification leaves Germany outstanding."

Well, Team UPC wants the patent system to be administered by somewhere that blatantly disregards the rule of law, Eponia (the EPO). And a tyrant like Battistelli; to them he's a 'good' tyrant because he supports their maximalist agenda; lawyers don't quite like laws, they just love money and if they can twist or break the law in order to make money, then so be it! That's the 'Battistelli way'...

Mind this new comment in IP Kat. A very frequent poster wrote:

If you want Bristows "take" on this, go to the Kluwer patent blog, to read the piece contributed by Alan Johnson. There's a comments thread there too. Sorry for the absence of a Link. My IT skills don't run to it, on the device I'm using now.


Alan Johnson wrote yet another post about it (maybe fourth), their second in just over a day in their blog in addition to at least two in Kluwer. In one blog there's no ability to comment, in the latter they're heavily censored. Earlier this year Team UPC basically decided to start deleting comments more aggressively; it had already censored comments for years, but months ago it took it up a notch and also openly admitted such censorship (previously Bristows staff attempted to deny it, i.e. it lied). Anyway, don't expect to see much dissent in comments on such articles/posts; they 'sanitise' these to silence their perceived 'opposition', even if it's just legal professionals pointing out factual errors.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Gemini Links 16/07/2025: Tmux and OCC25 Working TLS
Links for the day
Reboots Should Never be Necessary
"BUT WHAT ABOUT SECURITY!!"
There's Still Hope for the World Wide Web
Let's hope that the trajectory of the Web won't be leading us to over-reliance on Google, nor will it reward worthless slopfarms
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: Smolweb and Alhena 5.1.7
Links for the day
 
Links 16/07/2025: China’s Economy Grows Steadily, France Takes Action Regarding Harm to Children by GAFAM and Fentanylware (TikTok)
Links for the day
It is Not About Politics
Beware the people who try to make this about politics
Good Journalism Saves Lives
a shocking number of women die or get seriously hurt every day due to violence from a partner
Recognition of Women's Contributions to Free Software
Being passive is not an option when bad things are happening
Slopfarms Are Going to Perish Because Public Opinion is Changing
Many slopfarms will simply go offline
19 Years of Standing Up for Justice, Equality, and Truth
This week we shall take it up a notch
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 15, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Links 15/07/2025: LLM Pollution and Pushback in Ukraine
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: xkcd, New Cert, and Alhena Gemlog
Links for the day
Links 15/07/2025: Press Freedom at Risk and New Facebook Blunders
Links for the day
The Danes Want GNU/Linux
David Heinemeier Hansson recently moved to GNU/Linux
Cory Doctorow Explains Why Software Freedom Matters, Whereas "Open Source" Misses the Point and Helps Monopolies
It's a very long article
BillPR (EpsteinGate-Bribed NPR) is Turning Into a Partial Slopfarm that Promotes Slop
"I went on a date with a chatbot!"
Two Weeks Passed Since Latest Large Wave of Microsoft Layoffs, More Expected Next Month
Blaming the debt on "AI" is just self-serving storytelling
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 14, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 14, 2025
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: Gemini "Style Sheets" and Switching From Microsoft GitHub to Codeberg
Links for the day
Coming Soon: Another OSI Scandal, This One Implicating Molly de Blanc
OSI has been fairly quiet lately
Outreachy & Debian pregnancy cluster, Meike Reichle evidence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Again, "Lunduke is Actually Sending His Audience to Attack People"
Microsoft Lunduke is not trying to "protect" Linux
XBox is Rapidly Turned Into a Slopfarm by Microsoft
Slop isn't about efficiency and saving money
One of the Most Hilarious Things About the Microsoft SLAPPs
It's so ridiculous
Financial Support for the Free Software Foundation or the GNU Project
The FSF has extended until Friday its fund-raising campaign
Illegally Hiding (or Demanding Secrecy Around) Illegal Requests or Attempts at Extortion
unlawful communications like threats
Microsoft's Halloween Documents and systemd, Wayland, Etc.
Maybe one day Wayland will be widespread. Or maybe not.
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: BOFH Archive, Updating Old Palm PDAS, and Nginx vs Slop Bots
Links for the day
Ubuntu is Becoming GAFAM-Like
What does that say about Canonical and Ubuntu?
Slopfarms Which Take Real Articles About GNU/Linux and Turn Them Into Copycats Which Are False
Even before the LLM hype those were quite common
The Firm That Picks on Techrights is Accustomed to Working With Criminals
Techrights never did anything illegal. So why is it being picked on by people who work with criminals?
Microsoft Said the Mass Layoffs Were for "Investment" in "AI", But It's Also Laying Off the "AI" and "Copilot" Staff
Months ago we showed many so-called "AI" people were getting the boot and this time it's the same
DryDeadFish is Dead, Long Live DryDeadFish
We kept checking, hoping it can recover from some temporary technical issue
For Quite Some Time Already Microsoft Attracts Crackpots, Scams, and More
Occasionally we talk about the situation at IBM as there are many parallels
Links 14/07/2025: Chatbots Broken Again, McHire LLM Shows Limits of the Hype
Links for the day
Changing One's Name Won't Change One's Past
People who have earned a bad reputation are not magically "entitled" to reset
People Who Assault Women Are Not Victims of "Distress"
It seems like an American tradition. In a country with almost 50 presidents, not even one was a female.
Slashdot Media Turned Linux Journal Into a Slopfarm and Now Slashdot Actively Promotes Anti-Linux Slopfarms
Yes, "no-nonsense" apparently means actual nonsense
Adoption of Gemini Protocol Still Growing
Gemini Protocol is being obscured by the media - it doesn't help that Google 'hijacked' the word "Gemini" - but people still manage to find out about it, download a client, and use it
Links 14/07/2025: Arresting Photographers, Threats to Revoke US Citizenship Over Criticism
Links for the day
More EPO Leaks on the Way
We hope that Mr. Rowan will actually try to refute what we say and show, not merely point the finger at the messengers
Decommodification is a Corporate Strategy Against Communities
systemd is led by Microsoft and hosted by Microsoft
copyleft.org 'Hijacked' by the People Who Attack the Person Who Created Copyleft
So far there's nothing "tasteless" in copyleft.org, but that can change at any time in the future
Asking People to Take Down Articles and Videos Only Makes These More Popular and "Viral"
If you do something bad, one of the worst things you can possibly do it try to silence those who speak about it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 13, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 13, 2025
Two-Thirds Towards FSF Goal, Richard Stallman to Give Talks in Europe
There are 67 left before reaching the target
Brett Wilson LLP "Takes it Personal" (Character Assassination, Not Professionalism). Everybody Can See That.
On behalf of violent men
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: Politicised Tech and "Leaving GitHub"
Links for the day