Bonum Certa Men Certa

António Campinos Continues to Conflate Speed With Quality

As if he's in a race against the clock

No comments for EPO



Summary: The EPO is just rushing patent examiners, urging for decisions to be reached in great haste rather than properly, based on available facts, evidence, prior art

THE observation that pendency was intentionally mistaken for quality goes a long way back. Staff representatives took note of it. Nothing has actually changed since Battistelli left, neither in terms of working atmosphere nor purely technical terms.



The EPO continues to grant a lot of patents; sure, it also rejects many applications. But that says nothing about quality. What really determines quality level is the number of false-positives etc. One can wrongly reject a decent patent application and also approve a ridiculous one. If there's not enough time and no sufficient workforce (sufficiently experienced), things will go wrong.

A few days ago we stumbled upon Korea Biomedical Review's "exclusive" coverage about rejection of a patent by the EPO. "EPO refused to approve the other two patents," it said, "apparently due to unmet conditions under the European patent law, officials said." Here's more:

The three patents of Invossa that the company sought were “gene therapy using transforming growth factor (TGF)-β,” “mixed-cell gene therapy,” and “cartilage regeneration using chondrocyte and TGF-β.”

The EuropThe three patents of Invossa that the company sought were “gene therapy using transforming growth factor (TGF)-β,” “mixed-cell gene therapy,” and “cartilage regeneration using chondrocyte and TGF-β.”

The European Patent Office (EPO) gave the nod for the patent on “mixed-cell gene therapy” last year in Europe except for six countries, 14 years after the company applied for the patent registration on March 28, 2003. However, the EPO refused to approve the other two patents, apparently due to unmet conditions under the European patent law, officials said.ean Patent Office (EPO) gave the nod for the patent on “mixed-cell gene therapy” last year in Europe except for six countries, 14 years after the company applied for the patent registration on March 28, 2003. However, the EPO refused to approve the other two patents, apparently due to unmet conditions under the European patent law, officials said.


Was the decision correct? It's hard to tell unless one researches the case for a very long time.

A new article by Martin Chatel (Dennemeyer Group) quotes António Campinos, who just keeps misusing the word "quality" while he actively crushes patent quality at the EPO (he has opened another gate for software patents in Europe, as noted in the previous post). To quote Chatel:

"We cannot (...) live in isolation, but instead form part of a rich IP ecosystem, with many different actors...". Back in July this year, the President of the European Patent Office (EPO), António Campinos, stressed the importance of intensifying co-operation between patent offices. The overall aim is to increase the efficiency of the filing and examination process for patents worldwide, and better meet user expectations in terms of quality,


When he says "efficiency" (above) he speaks of his measure of quality. It's not actually quality but arguably the exact opposite of that. The term "efficiency" can be interpreted as financial efficiency when it comes to Campinos.

An article by Chatel's colleague, Anthony Carlick (Dennemeyer Group), speaks of lowing patent quality by means of so-called 'efficiency'. "EPO oppositions tend to be costly and time consuming," it says. "Currently, the EPO is aiming to reduce the average processing time of standard oppositions from two years..."

Why? What's the rush? Is it more important to grant than to get things right (correct decisions)?

About 4% of European patents are opposed and, although the percentage has been declining, the annual number of oppositions filed at the European Patent Office (EPO) seems relatively consistent at around 3,000 to 4,000, since total granted patents are rising. In 2017, 3.7% of granted European patents were opposed, and the EPO issued 4,070 opposition decisions, of which 73% were upheld in amended form or as granted. However, EPO oppositions tend to be costly and time consuming. Currently, the EPO is aiming to reduce the average processing time of standard oppositions from two years, in 2016, to 15 months by 2020, but the timescales, uncertainty and cost may be a deterrent to filing an opposition at the EPO, especially for smaller or medium sized entities.


Exactly. We wrote about this many times before. Additionally, Battistelli has already fired warning shots at those handling appeals and oppositions, never mind fee hikes, time limitations and so on. The EPO used to take pride in high standards of examination; we don't fault examiners for the change as it's the management that wilfully put an end to patent quality. The motivations seem unclear unless the hidden agenda was to spur a lot more litigation -- even abundantly absurd cases/allegations -- to fatten the pockets of litigation firms.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Doing My Share to Tackle Online Slop and SPAM
Trying my best to 'fix' the Web
Slopwatch: Fakes, FUD, Duplicates, and Charlatans Galore
The Web as we once know it is collapsing. Some opportunists try to replace it with low-quality slop.
The Register UK Seems to Have Become American and Management is Changing (Microsofter as Editor in Chief)
The Register 'UK' is now controlled by the Directions on Microsoft guy
Microsoft Windows Lost 400 Million Users in a Few Years, Why Does The Register Double Down on Windows With New US Editor?
days ago they hired a new US editor
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 26, 2025
Misinformation in Social Control Media
Social control media passes around all sorts of tropes
Slopwatch: Fake Linux 'Articles' and Slopfarms With "Linux" in Their Names/Domains
throwing bots at "Linux" to make some fake articles
Links 26/07/2025: Amazon Shutdown in China, Russian Economy Slows
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: History of Time (1988) and Gemini Games
Links for the day
Links 26/07/2025: 50 Percent Tariffs in Amazon, Dying Intel Offloads Network and Edge Group (NEX)
Links for the day
Blaming Programming Languages for Users' and Developers' Bad Practices
That's like blaming cars for drivers who crash into things
Many People Still Read Techrights Because It Says the Truth, Produces Evidence, and Does Not Self-Censor
Unlike so many other sites
The Register is Desperate for Money, According to The Register
I decided to check how they're doing as a business
Microsoft Finally Finds a Use Case for Slop?
Create low-quality chaff to shift the media's attention?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 25, 2025
For Libel Reform One Must First Bring (or Raise) Awareness to the Issues and Their Magnitude
I myself know, from personal experience
Links 26/07/2025: Rationed Meals in the US and TikTok Repels Investments (Too Toxic)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: "Bloody Google" and New People in Geminispace
Links for the day
Response to Solderpunk (Father of Gemini Protocol) About the Gemini Community
Solderpunk responds to non-sequitur
HTML and the Web Used to be Something a Child Could Learn, "Modern" Web is a Puzzle of Frameworks, Bloat, and Worse
When the Web was more like Gemini Protocol
New US Editor in The Register is 84% Microsoft/Windows Booster
It'll be worrying if it carries on like this
Links 25/07/2025: Slop Blunders and China Has Code of Conduct for Lawmakers in HK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Some Books and Babies and Capital
Links for the day
Links 25/07/2025: NOAA Cuts Endanger Lives, "Europe's Self Inflicted Cloud Crisis"
Links for the day
They Try to Lecture Us on Ethics
They even removed "master" from Microsoft GitHub
The Future of the Web is One Rendering Engine or 'Flavours' of Chrome
The future of the Web does not look bright at all
Best Sites Are Not Optimised for Any Browser, They Work Equally Well With All of Them
Red Hat (IBM) is making rubbish sites
YouTube is a Spamfarm, Slopfarm, and Clickfarm (a Lot of Numbers There Are Fake)
Those who don't fake look unpopular and unimportant
We Don't Do JavaScript and Pages Are Small
Thankfully Gemini Protocol has nothing like JavaScript
'Tech' is Not Technology
Some people use terms like 'Old Tech'
IBM's Debt Rose by Almost 10 Billion Dollars in the Past 6 Months Alone
The "hey hi" circus is coming to an end
Yes, Master
Gaslighting by actual racists
Microsoft Bribes and Buys Politicians to Tell Europe What to Do About Free Software (Which It's Attacking)
Microsoft: we speak for the thing that we are attacking! Follow the money...
Making Backups Quickly and Reliably
Backups are imperative, more so in an age of uncertainty, unpredictable weather, and worsening standards (quality of products going down while prices go up)
Techrights Investigation: Estimating the Point in Time LinuxIac Turned Into LLM Slop (Part of the Time)
Bobby Borisov got lazy
10th Month, Ten Weeks From Now, at Ten AM
In Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 24, 2025
A Nadella Memo Distracts From Microsoft's Cheapening Of the Workforce
Right now the "MSM" (mainstream media) is flooded/overwhelmed by garbage pieces that relay lies for Nadella
Vanishing Faces of GNU/Linux
Free software projects do not depend on any one person or company to still exist
Microsoft Says It Lost 400 Million Windows Users, Now It's Waiting for GNU/Linux to Stop Booting on 'Old' PCs
When it comes to Windows, Microsoft is fully aware of the issue and statements it made earlier this summer suggest it lost 400 million Windows users
Slopwatch: LinuxTechLab, linuxsecurity.com, LinuxIac, and More
Also: The Register's Microsoft agenda (new editor)
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Gemtext Aware Titan Editor and Gemini Protocol Comeback
Links for the day