Bonum Certa Men Certa

People Are Belatedly Asking All Those 'Awkward' Questions About UPC and the Lies Told by Team UPC

Team UPC is 'sanitising' (deleting) comments it does not agree with (or aren't good for Team UPC's financial agenda), but can it hide the truth forever?

Alex Robinson



Summary: In spite of propaganda efforts (and attempt to suppress comments from UPC critics), people do manage to speak to one another about UPC lies and false underlying assumptions (e.g. that industry -- not a niche of law firms which profit from litigation -- longs for the UPC)

LESS than a week ago the bizarre (but expected) thing happened when Sam Gyimah tried to score political points with patent extremists. It was expected because Lucy had made a promise two years ago, causing backlash from rationalists and bafflement even among patent extremists. How can the Unified Patent Court (UPC) ever work in the UK after Brexit? The EPO has many member states that aren't in the EU (hence Brexit has no real impact on Britain's EPO membership, which predates the EU), but the same cannot be said about UPC. We have since the announcement written the following 5 posts:





We have been rather amused by comments -- the few of them that made the cut anyway. We're pretty certain that many are being censored because Team UPC already admitted deleting some (and attempted to defend this censorship by insulting people with other viewpoints).

"We have been rather amused by comments -- the few of them that made the cut anyway. We're pretty certain that many are being censored because Team UPC already admitted deleting some (and attempted to defend this censorship by insulting people with other viewpoints)."UPC booster IAM is careful not to say too much about the UPC, especially after getting exposed for receiving money from the EPO's PR firm (specifically for UPC promotion). Yesterday, IAM's Adam Houldsworth wrote about "the UK’s ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement [saying it was] capturing the headlines in recent days..."

This 'article' is actually the tired old promotion of CRISPR patents -- something which the EPO's examiners (in oppositions capacity) famously rejected some months ago. From the outline:

With news of the US Supreme Court’s recent Oil States decision and the UK’s ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement capturing the headlines in recent days, patent professionals might be forgiven for allowing a crucial CRISPR-Cas9 dispute to slip under the radar. But they would be wrong to do so. Described by a former Chief Judge as a possible “case of the year” for 2018, the Federal Circuit’s is today hearing an appeal in the dispute between the University of California, Berkeley and the Broad Institute – as well as their respective partners.


We were very surprised to see that Sam Gyimah's actions received virtually no press coverage. Almost none! Team UPC wrote about it, primarily Bristows with about 4 posts in just a couple of days. "Tweets" mentioned this, not always in a positive way. Here's one from FFII's Benjamin Henrion:

I wonder if the UPC UK ratification can still be challenged in front of the High Court. If it does not comply with some ECHR provisions, I wonder why not #upc #uk


Henrion was alluding/linking to this person who covers Brexit a great deal. He did not write an article about this, only a couple of tweets [1, 2] or more:

...going to have to do thread on because this is more than just amusing coincidence... ratification INCREASES jurisdiction of European judges, including some based in Luxembourg, in UK, further integrates UK into European single market, in a new Court which asserts primacy of EU law


2. So Boris Johnson’s signature has just ratified UK membership of a new European court that “shall apply [European] Union law in its entirety and shall respect its primacy”... ... when Govt policy is to end the jurisdiction and primacy of EU law in the UK...


"I didn’t think it would be long for the mainstream press to pick up on this," a law journalist noted, but by "mainstream press" he means a couple of tweets, not actual news coverage. He did not link to an actual press article. We might see some soon.

Writing behind a paywall, a niche publication of patent maximalists said: [via]

After many questions and calls for clarity, the UK has announced its ratification of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement.


Notice the sole comment there. "And the Brexit deal is negotiated behind closed doors, as most trade deals are in the "democratic" Brussels," Henrion told them.

"But perhaps the most interesting development/analysis happens in the comments thread in IP Kat (not posts/articles, which have been mostly UPC propaganda for the past couple of years)."As for Team UPC, one member of it wrote: "UK ratification of UPC and discussion about its compatibility with „taking back our laws“ may finally make it into the UK mainstream (as contrasted with legal/IP) media."

But perhaps the most interesting development/analysis happens in the comments thread in IP Kat (not posts/articles, which have been mostly UPC propaganda for the past couple of years).

Here's the latest:

Edyta - I think there is no point in analysing the logic of the ratification too much. Civil servants will probably be sorting out peripheral issues like IP in ways which gives the UK maximum flexibility whilst the central issue of the CJEU is worked out. As yet the UK has not developed the 'principles' which will guide our future relationship with the EU and therefore we have no idea what our eventual status will be in Europe. I suspect that apart from a few very sensitive areas like the status of EU citizens in the UK it will be impossible to have anything apart from a full departure from CJEU jurisdiction. However we don't know that at this stage, and so we need to keep plodding along with Brexit keeping all options open.


SMEs are then bought up:

I'm not saying it's not beneficial to UK SMEs for UK to be in the UPC, but I would like to ask WHY it is beneficial to UK SMEs, if anyone can help me out please?


It's a lie. It has always been a lie. On Monday evening the EPO wrote: "Do your work with start-ups? These case studies on the impact of #intellectualproperty rights on business success might interest you..."

"Why is Sam Gyimah trying to impress these dangerous patent zealots?"Of course that's a big fat lie. The EPO has even just used a hashtag for that lie, yet again: #IPforSMEs

The EPO generally believe that if it repeats lies over and over again, some of these might eventually stick.

This next comment from "SMEs and UPC, please stop the nonsense!" debunks the lies from Team UPC and Team Battistelli (specifically a lie about UPC being good for SMEs):

As far as the benefit for SMEs is concerned, be it in UK or elsewhere, one has to remember that the number of EP applications coming from EU member states is 35-40% at best.

As this figure includes all applications, you can guess that the number of applications coming from SME is an order of magnitude lower.

The EPO has published a study showing the benefit for SMEs from the patent system:

http://documents.epo.org/projects/babylon/eponet.nsf/0/FF76F6F0783153B7C12581A2004DA0D2/$File/epo_sme_case_studies_2017_en.pdf

From 12 SMEs presented, there was no British SME in the panel.

It is always tooted that SME can get a greater benefit through the UPC, but beside nice words, repeated like a Tibetan prayer mill, nothing concrete has been presented.

If they want to act against a infringer, the minimum fare at the UPC is 11 000€. If attacked, a counter-claim for nullity has a minimum price tag of 20 000€. I am not convinced that a lot of SMEs are prepared for it. For a while there was even question of a litigation insurance for SMEs. This project seems to have died.

You may thus draw your own conclusions, for any European SME in general, and British ones in particular..


The more these things are debated, the clearer it becomes that UPC is neither possible nor desirable in the UK. Team UPC, a small clique of aggressive law firms (including the one which Battistelli hired to SLAPP me), are the driving motor behind of these lies. Why is Sam Gyimah trying to impress these dangerous patent zealots?

It's clear why they delete comments. Any debate of actual facts puts UPC in danger.

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