Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Unitary Patent (UPC) is Not Delayed; It's Dead and Without Any Major Rework It Will Go Nowhere

Delay



Summary: The Unified Patent Court (UPC) isn't just delayed but likely canceled; however, people who planned to make a fortune from UPC-centric lawsuits don't want the public to know that or see it that way

THE EPO hasn't mentioned the Unitary Patent in nearly two months. António Campinos said something about it in his first week in Office and that's about it. The EPO does, however, promote software patents every single day now, even at the USPTO. Yesterday the EPO did that thrice (yes, three times!) in one single day, outdoing its usual once or twice per day. In that regard, Campinos is a lot worse than Battistelli.



"The UPC is nowhere near a reality; it's very, very far from it. Simply put, the UPC isn't happening. It is already dead. "The Unitary Patent (or UPC) is itself a Trojan horse for software patents, among other bad things. It is a crude and cycnical attempt to bypass national patent laws and even directives against software patents. It's just insane and no democratic society should allow this to happen. The German Constitutional Court has already taken that abomination to task, but Team UPC keeps pushing two lies which depend on dismissal of a complaint and elimination of lots of other barriers. The UPC is nowhere near a reality; it's very, very far from it. Simply put, the UPC isn't happening. It is already dead.

Managing IP, which worked with the EPO on some UPC advocacy/events, has this new article with a loaded headline: "How patent-heavy businesses are planning for the UPC and unitary patent" (as if it's about to start).

"Counsel at pharmaceutical, telecommunications, car and plastics manufacturers and medical charities tell Managing IP about their considerations for the unitary system," Managing IP wrote, hiding all the pertinent quotes behind their paywall (so only people who agree with this agenda can read and scrutinise).

"No, there are no "delays" for UPC. The UPC just isn't happening. Unitary 'patents' do not exist and the foreseen framework is already dead. It's abandoned. Hardly anyone speaks about it."What Patrick Wingrove does here is that self-fulfilling fantasy-type of propaganda, i.e. pretty much the same old tactic used by Managing IP for a number of years. On almost the very same day another article emerged, this one titled "Bulgaria ratifies the Protocol on Provisional Application of the UPC Agreement but delays still in store for the UPC" (what an incredible understatement, as if it's only a matter of time).

No, there are no "delays" for UPC. The UPC just isn't happening. Unitary 'patents' do not exist and the foreseen framework is already dead. It's abandoned. Hardly anyone speaks about it. It's gone with the wind, gone with Battistelli, whom nobody has heard anything from since he left at the end of June. Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, which is responsible for the above, is just wanting us to think otherwise and being Team UPC opportunists (litigation 'industry') they're looking really hard for signs of UPC progress, jumping a whole month back to a country with barely any European Patents (a fraction compared to a country like France or Germany). Bulgaria was mentioned on August 21st (but that only showed up yesterday) regarding something that happened back in July. To quote: "On 24 July Bulgaria ratified the Protocol on Provisional Application of the UPC Agreement (Protocol). Four more ratifications/declarations are needed, including Germany, for the Protocol to come into effect and allow the practical workings of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) to be established in preparation for the court coming into operation, which will happen once the UPC Agreement (UPCA) itself has been sufficiently ratified. In both cases, ratification by Germany is a prerequisite. Recently reported comments from the Chairman of the UPC Preparatory Committee have revealed that there may be at least a 6-8 month delay once Germany is ready to ratify the UPCA, given how much needs to be done for the UPC to be ready to open its doors. It therefore looks increasingly unlikely that the UPC will take effect before Brexit unless Germany ratifies the Protocol in the next few months."

"The EPO does not obey court rulings, it does not care about the law, the management engages in corruption, and the founding document (EPC) doesn't mean a thing. While this remains the case (António Campinos has not tackled this in any way whatsoever), only a madman would entrust or give the EPO authority/leverage over a legal system, as per the UPC."Notice their nonchalance; as if they're already sure about the outcome of the complaint in Germany. As if it's without merit. What sheer arrogance.

Meanwhile (also yesterday) Mitscherlich PartmbB's Christian Rupp talked about an upcoming/past case for the Boards of Appeal. The EPO has already attacked its judges pretty viciously; the Boards of Appeal can therefore not rule independently and that's a persistent problem which even the German Constitutional Court is well aware of. Rupp wrote:

In the decision T2563/11 the Boards of Appeal of the European patent had to deal with a divisional application having identical claims to a parent application (on which in the meanwhile a patent had been granted), but having differences in the specification – which, in the opinion of the applicant, lead to a different scope of protection vis-à-vis the scope of the granted parent.

The Board decided that, for the double patenting prohibition, it is the “matter for which protection is sought” defined in the claims (in line with the wording of Art. 84 EPC) which matters, but not the scope of protection, or more exactly “the extent of the protection conferred by a European patent” as defined in Art. 69 EPC. According to Art. 69EPC the “extent of the protection” shall be determined by the claims, however wherein the description and drawings shall be used to interpret the claims.


The EPC is no longer applicable in the EPO however; it was repeatedly violated by Battistelli, who faced no consequences for violating the EPC. The reality of the matter is -- and the German Constitutional Court has ample evidence of it -- the EPO now operates above the law. The EPO does not obey court rulings, it does not care about the law, the management engages in corruption, and the founding document (EPC) doesn't mean a thing. While this remains the case (António Campinos has not tackled this in any way whatsoever), only a madman would entrust or give the EPO authority/leverage over a legal system, as per the UPC.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft XBox is Dying as More Retailers Stop Stocking It and Massive Layoffs Planned Again
Microsoft is circling down the drain
Linux and the Freedom Paradox
Linux is losing freedom if some external actors who only use Microsoft tools for development wrest control
Watch the FSF Party Live (via Livestream)
It's in WebM format, which is widely supported by now
Advocacy of Software Freedom Changed, LUGs Became Less Relevant
The way we see it, support groups like LUGs sort of outlived their usefulness when it became easier to install GNU/Linux
 
Links 05/10/2025: Slow News Day and Wondering About the Canada Post Walkout
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/10/2025: Telnet Debugging and The Programmer’s Brain
Links for the day
More Than "Just a Rumour": XBox Seems to Have Just Died
At this point, why would any studio out there target or partner with XBox?
How to Tell Your Community, Project or Company is Being Infiltrated by Saboteurs
How to identify nefarious social engineering
The Fortieth Birthday of the FSF Made Us Extremely Happy
It feels like the 'hacker community' is regrouping to discuss things and prepare for the next Big Challenge
Chat Control 2 Them, Not 2 U
Follow the advice of Dr. Patrick Breyer
Mozilla: Throw Away Your "Old" PC and Enable "Digital Rights Management (DRM)"
This is heading in a bad direction
Controlling Our Computing for Another Forty Years
40 years of freedom
Motivational Small Place to Run Large Sites
We deem this scenery motivational and inspiring
Techrights' Text Version (Daily Bulletin) Turns Five This Month
our plain-text bulletins are turning 5 this month
We'll Continue Covering the Moribund OSI and Other Dysfunctional if Not Hostile Institutions
Stefano Maffulli's departure is due to his defection and due to him failing the mission in pursuit of money (his salary)
Links 05/10/2025: Lufthansa Layoffs (4,000) and More Spotify Woes (Aside From Massive Debt)
Links for the day
The Free Software Foundation's Livestream Has Ended, Video/s Might be Online Next
I've asked whether they'll upload video of some of the event; I still wait for an answer
The Register MS Does Not Know the Difference Between Microsoft GitHub and GitLab
At the time of writing (October 5) the article from "Thu 2 Oct 2025" remains uncorrected
"Bullshit Generators" (What RMS Calls LLMs) and Fake Images Already Target the FSF
Why does Google News promote fake articles about the FSF while omitting all the real ones?
Software Patents as a Bubble
Don't invest resources in hype; if you detect a bubble, run away from it
Links 05/10/2025: Political Leftovers, Climate Change, and Security Incidents
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 04, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 04, 2025
For the Second Time in a Few Weeks Microsoft Lunduke Makes False Accusations Against Senior Red Hat Staff to Incite a Despicable 'Troll Army'
Nothing that Microsoft Lunduke claims or says can be trusted
When Microsoft "Integrates" Something With "AI" It Means It's Losing Money and Is Generally Hopeless
how did Bing fare after 36 months of LLM slop being hyped up as "replacement" for search?
Most Certificates Don't Improve Security, They Mostly Increase Downtime (for No Good Reason)
The 'Gemini sites' (capsules) are a growing force
The statCounter Site Has Data Integrity Problems
Maybe we'll get back to statCounter when its data becomes more "stable" again
10 Ways to Combat Software Patents
software patents are loathed also by proprietary software developers
"Just a Little Bit of Meat..."
Free software "absolutism" is not a radical stance, more so if the only "radical" belief the user possesses is that he or she must be in control of his or her software, and by extension his or her computer
Compromised by NVIDIA Proprietary Library
Meanwhile in Boston there are "[r]oundtable talk with FSF volunteers (both in-person and online)"
Red Hat is Ignoring the Free Software Community, It's a "Fortune 1000" Vendor
Red Hat's blog also participates a lot in promoting of Wall Street's latest pump-and-dump "AI" scheme
Free Software Foundation Party Has Begun
We shall be focusing a lot on software patents today
Former Head of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Lina Khan Knows Whatever Microsoft Touches Will Die
Just like Skype (as recently as months ago) [...] When Microsoft grabs things, or when it buys things, it almost never ends well
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About LibreOffice in Austria and Wine 10.16
very short
Links 04/10/2025: "attempted Coup" Noted in Facebook, Russia Kills Journalists via Drones
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/10/2025: Anesthesia and Baudpunk
Links for the day
How Software Patents Were Viewed or Their General Status Changed Over Time
A rough summary
Links 04/10/2025: "Privacy Harm Is Harm", Criticism Outlawed in US
Links for the day
Garmin Uses Linux for Some of the Garmin Products, Now It's Sued by Strava Using Software Patents
Software patents should never have been granted in the first place
Richard Stallman Will Give a Talk in Sweden in 6 Days
Dr. Stallman, despite his battle with cancer is still alive and mentally sharp
FSF Turns 40
We'll be focusing on patent-related topics this weekend
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 03, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 03, 2025
Gemini Links 04/10/2025: Distro Hopping and "Part Time"
Links for the day
We Are Turning 19 in One Month, FSF Turns 40 in 3 Hours (CET)
For our anniversary next month we still have no concrete plans
Patent Docs (or PatentDocs) Learned the Wrong Lessons From the Death of TypePad
Had they gone ahead with an SSG, they'd become a lot more future-proof
USPTO Patent Bubble Already Imploding, After Decades of Artificial Inflation, Entire Offices Close for Good
we can deduce that financial pressures (lack of "demand" for monopolies) play a role
TikTok is Not Harmless (Being CheeTok in the US Will Advance Orange Agenda)
Social control media isn't "fun and games"; it's a digital weapon that lets hostile groups or nations infiltrate others, then turn them against themselves
Andy Farnell and Helen Plews Explain What "Modern" Tech Does to Old People
Imposing terrible tech "religion" on people is not helping them
Tomorrow the Free Software Foundation (FSF) Turns 40 and Its Web Site is Still Slow Due to DDoS by LLM Slop Bots
For an advocacy group, uptime is important (for its message to remain accessible)
Slopwatch: Google News as a Firehose of LLM Slop About "Linux"
Google News is really bad
Datamation, Where I Used to Publish Articles, Appears to Have Been Sold to TechnologyAdvice Only to Become a Slopfarm
I'd prefer to not associate with that site anymore
Links 03/10/2025: "NPR’s Economics Lessons Come With Neoliberal Spin" and Canada Post at Risk
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/10/2025: Panic Attacks and Food Adulteration
Links for the day
Links 03/10/2025: Lawyers Caught Using LLM Slop Explain Why They Did It, LibreSSL 4.1.1 and 4.0.1 Released
Links for the day
FSF Board Grew 50% Since Last Year, Has New President, Turns 40 in Two Days
It's a good move for the FSF and - by extension - for software freedom
Links 03/10/2025: Conflicts, Death of TypePad, and TikTok/CheeTok Gives a Boost to Far Right Groups in Europe
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 02, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 02, 2025
Slopwatch: Linux Journal, Google News, and LinuxSecurity
They carry on polluting the Web with fake articles
Gemini Links 02/10/2025: Kubernetes With FreeBSD and robots.txt
Links for the day