Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Strikes Further Diminish Chances of UPC Ever Materialising (in Any Shape or Form)

Another EPO strike
Credit: MSServices Global



Summary: The EPO crumbles under the weight of its own corruption while an increasingly-insane Team UPC pretends all remains normal and a patent trolls-friendly system is ready to take off

IT IS becoming a busy week (and maybe weekend) down in Munich. SUEPO has had the final straw. We expect more to be said, maybe in light of the Kötter Group as well. Is the EPO about to become infested with thugs and goons from a firm founded inside the Third Reich? And apparently participated in the occupation and exploitation of the Netherlands?



"What we're seeing here is a gradual shift; the public does not view the EPO as an ally or a regional protector; rather, it's an exploitative foe that extracts money from the European public and gifts rogue entities, both contractors of the EPO (connected to EPO chiefs) and patent trolls."Earlier today we took note of the upcoming strike (assuming staff votes for it and it's approved), adding the above banner. As it turns out, it was made by a Dutch firm. "Sorry to bother you with this," one reader told us, "but it seems that you used the wrong source for the published picture ("Credit: Anonymous Twitter account“); however credits go to "MSServices Global" (a Dutch registered business). I've heard from a reliable source (from within the Union) that this company supports the union. Many thanks in advance for correcting it." (We've just corrected it)

What we're seeing here is a gradual shift; the public does not view the EPO as an ally or a regional protector; rather, it's an exploitative foe that extracts money from the European public and gifts rogue entities, both contractors of the EPO (connected to EPO chiefs) and patent trolls. The public is only going to suffer and Europe's reputation too is being harmed.

Earlier today we saw this press release in PRNewswire about "Formal Requirements of the European Patent System"; which system? The one foreseen and set up by the EPC or the sordid mess we have today, operating outside the rule of law and even defying the EPC itself?

"The EPO basically violates the law; the EPC, the courts, the European Parliament..."On May 16th this long blog post was published in Spanish (Spain opposes the UPC and is no friend of the EPO in general). Benjamin Henrion had a go at translations with [1, 2]: "Where the European Parliament did have a starring role was in the rejection of the Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions in 2005. [...] However, the EPO has continued to do what it has wished in this area [...] EPO has continued to do what it has wished in this area, so the rejection of the European Parliament did not result in the elimination of "software patents" and certainly leads to the EU's inhibition in patents, leaving initiative to the EPO..."

The EPO basically violates the law; the EPC, the courts, the European Parliament...

"Putting aside illegal software patents, how about patents on life and nature?"No sane judge would ever entrust or assign anything legally-sensitive to the EPO, which also violates the privacy of stakeholders (underreported issue that corporate media did not bother covering, as usual).

Putting aside illegal software patents, how about patents on life and nature? CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP's Robert Stephen has just published this article about Broad Institute’s CRISPR patent loss. Will the EPO's examiners manage to defy management and patent maximalists who infest the management level? Then deny patents on life itself? (Patents in violation of EPC)

To quote Robert Stephen:

The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard owns several key patents related to the CRISPR technology. One such patent is EP2771468 (“EP ‘468”), which relates to a fundamental aspect of the CRISPR technology in eukaryotic cells. EP’468 was granted in February 2015 and opposed by nine opponents. Following an oral hearing in January 2018 the Opposition Division of the EPO revoked the patent due to lack of novelty over two pieces of intervening art, i.e. documents published after the earliest priority date. These two documents became part of the state of the art after it was decided that the application was not entitled to its earliest two priority dates.

The Broad Institute has appealed the Opposition Division’s decision. Their grounds of appeal rely on attacking the EPO’s current approach to determination of priority entitlement.

The EPO applies an “all applicants” test for priority. The right to claim priority belongs simultaneously and jointly to applicants when there is more than one. The right to claim priority to the two earliest applications belonged simultaneously and jointly to Mr Zhang, Mr Cong, Ms Habib, and Mr Marraffini, yet neither Mr Marraffini nor his successor in title (Rockefeller University) were named as applicants on the PCT, and neither had assigned his right to claim priority to any of the named applicants. The PCT could not, therefore, validly claim priority to the two earliest applications, and thus EP ‘468 was deemed to have a priority date of 30 January 2013.


At the moment, with referrals and appeals impending, all sorts of European Patents are just 'hanging in the air' (great uncertainty over their fate). The FCC in Germany is certainly aware that EPO judges lack independence (the judges themselves say so), so we very much doubt the UPC can get off the ground. To make matters worse, there's an imminent meltdown at the Office because staff will revolt.

"They're dressing up corpses or embalming dead bodies."What do the bullies/litigators think of the UPC? Well, they live in another universe. Team UPC's Vanessa Rieu (who describes herself as "experienced litigator specialised in all areas of intellectual property" [sic]) makes it pretty obvious that Bristows were the ones writing this latest UPC propaganda in Kluwer Patent Blog (albeit anonymously). Just compare the texts. One says: "The latest development shows preparations are going on despite the uncertainty about the future of the UP system due to the German constitutional complaint which was filed against the UPCA in 2017."

That's similar to their obsession over/with robes. They're dressing up corpses or embalming dead bodies. In their official blog they said: "The building that will, at least initially, host the UPC is located on the Quai de la Mégisserie, overlooking the Ile de la Cité, and it is reported that a few years after the Court opens (and there are more cases) the Court may move to the Palais de Justice on the Ile de la Cité."

"Bristows continues to discredit itself each time it tries to reattach these clipped wings to their 'fallen angel'."Haha, they said something similar about venues in the UK up until Brexit. "The Paris offices of the future Unified Patent Court have been disclosed," writes the anonymous person in Kluwer. Guess who...

Bristows continues to discredit itself each time it tries to reattach these clipped wings to their 'fallen angel'. They must be in a lot of pain. Battistelli is meanwhile 'hiding' in CEIPI, presumably praying for a UPC (which he's hoping to head while António Campinos brings him back to the Office as a judge!).

Bristows EPO



Recent Techrights' Posts

Professor Eben Moglen Recovering From Open Heart Surgery
From his public pages (this is not secret)
There Are Red Hat (IBM) Layoffs, But Google News is Infested With Slopfarms
It contributes a lot to misinformation and it encourages plagiarism
USA Not a Place for Free Speech
In America, as in the US, the attacks seem more enhanced or advanced these days
"Use Wayland" Isn't a Bugfix for X (X11 is Still Necessary)
They tell us X is "dead" and we must all be herded into Wayland ASAP
 
Just What LibreOffice Needs? Another Language? (Rust)
what's all this concern about memory safety?
Many Microsoft Managers Are Leaving
"Hey hi" chaff or chaff about "hey hi" cannot eternally distract from the difficulties inside the company
Tomorrow, Microsoft's Tim Anderson's 'The Register MS' Offshoot Will Have Been Inactive for 2 Months (There's Also a Slop Problem)
We've already caught The Register MS using LLM slop for articles
Microsoft's Chief Legal Officer Leaves Microsoft After Nearly 30 Years
And not retiring
Even Windows Users Are Having Problems With "Secure Boot"
When it comes to security - Microsoft strives for the very opposite
Another Competition Crime of Microsoft, Long Facilitated and Advocated by a Bad Actor, Who is Funded by a Third Party to Commit Extortion Against People Who Have Correctly and Repeatedly Warned About It for Over 13 Year
We must always go back to the core issues
3 More Reasons to Replace Mozilla Firefox With LibreWolf
Thankfully there are de-enshittified versions of Firefox
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 16, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Links 17/09/2025: Google Layoffs in "Hey Hi" (AI), Perplexity Hit With More "Hey Hi" (Plagiarism) Lawsuits
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/09/2025: Reclaiming Things in a Digital Age and Moon Phases in CGI
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Google News is Slop, Google News is Plagiarism, Google News is Dying
Google is off the rails
Links 16/09/2025: "The Censorship Alarm Is Ringing in the Wrong Direction" and ASRock Does Microsoft E.E.E. on GNU/Linux
Links for the day
Serious "Breach of Confidentiality of Personal Data" in Europe's Second-Largest Institution, the EPO
Yes, the same EPO that routinely uses "data protection" and "GDPR" as a pretext for hiding or covering up its corruption and white-collar crimes (it even uses that as an excuse for refusing to obey courts' orders)
Adrienne Rockenhaus Says Her Husband Was Arrested for Running Tor and Denied Basic Rights in the United States
the US seems to be getting "russified" in its approach towards Tor
This is What Happens When Microsoft Canonical Lets Decisions on Ubuntu be Made by a Youngster From the British Army (Where He Did Mass Surveillance)
"Is Ubuntu Compromised?"
Back Doored Windows Giving GNU/Linux a Hard Time (Under the Guise of 'Security')
Is this complication intentional? Most likely, yes
Links 16/09/2025: Science, Security, and Conflicts
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/09/2025: Command-line Options in POSIX Shell and Introducing Acre 0.9
Links for the day
Microsoft 'Secure' Boot Versus Dual Boot With GNU/Linux
they're meant to assume everything is OK
Links 16/09/2025: While Oracle Pretends to be Rich It's Firing About 70 MySQL Workers, "Oracle's Revenge" (Faking Demand With "AI")
Links for the day
Microsoft Has Just Published a New Web Page About "Secure Boot Update Process" (Microsoft Also Admits Issues; PCs Can Stop Booting)
Why was this page issued and published only hours ago?
Microsoft Lunduke: I Spread Hate and Then I Receive Hate
Cry us a river, Microsoft Lunduke
"Disable Secure Boot and Fast Boot. Wipe and Start Over."
At least they didn't say, buy a new computer...
The Oracle Ponzi Scheme
Oracle isn't doing well, but it's nowadays fashionable to say "clown" and "hey hi" to prop up one's stock, even based on nothing at all
The New Head of OSI is an "Hey Hi" (AI) Obsessed Person
when Bryant says "AI" that doesn't mean AI
Taking Out the Battery, Opening Up Your Computer, Just Like a "Normie" Would
At this stage, any person who still says "enable Secure Boot" is misguided or persuaded by companies that sell rootkits
Slopwatch: Serial Sloppers and Slopfarms Still Infesting Google News (Fake 'Articles' About "Linux" Spreading FUD)
searching for "Linux" today yields a lot of FUD
"Governments, local authorities, schools and hospitals can lead by example by procuring only Free Software"
Crossposted from Tux Machines
Cindy Cohn Leaving the Electronic Frontier Foundation While Its Co-founder John Gilmore, Whom She Apparently Helped Oust, Will Celebrate 40 Years of the Free Software Foundation, Inc.
EFF has been busy hoarding GAFAM money, whereas the latter is where all the real activism is done
The Reach of Techrights Has Broadened
We nowadays cover a broader range of issues
"Google is Googlebombing KDE's Project Banana"
So is Google googlebombing KDE's Project Banana? You decide.
Complicating Things for No Actual Benefit, Just Added Risk and More Difficulties Adding GNU/Linux and BSDs
Watch what it's like for people who wish to use BSDs
Some Very Large IRC Networks Are Growing
IRC will turn 38 next year
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 15, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 15, 2025
Links 16/09/2025: Autumn Party, RPG Planet, and Optical ROOPHLOCH
Links for the day
Geminispace Growing at Pace of Over 10% Per Year
Contrary to what some pessimists try to claim
Linux Mint Forums Today: Disable 'Secure Boot', It Doesn't Improve Security, It's Just a Microsoft Obstacle to GNU/Linux Users
They also mention MOK
What Ruben Amorim and Stefano Maffulli Have in Common
Censors Wikipedia and Social Control Media
Microsoft Won't Cooperate in Trying to Tackle EPO Corruption (Microsoft Profits From This Corruption)
Use something like BigBlueButton, Jami, Ring, and Jitsi instead
Solved Less Than an Hour Ago: Trying to Escape Windows, 'Secure Boot' Gets in the Way
'Secure Boot' wasn't meant to even exist in the first place
Stefano Maffulli, Executive Director of the Open Source Initiative, Resigns or Gets Removed (We'll Continue Covering OSI Scandals)
A dozen mentions of "AI", not much about "Open Source"
Andy Has Just Nailed It (Regarding Complexity and Failure, a la UEFI)
The users no longer own or control what they buy
Compatibility Support Module (CSM) Versus GNU/Linux Simplicity
what Andy recently called "solutionism"
Links 15/09/2025: "Postal Traffic to US Down by Over 80%" and 'Smart' Spinozacampus Laundry Room Goes AWOL
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/09/2025: Dungeon Hustle and Deleting Oneself From the Net
Links for the day
Breach of EPO's Duty of Care or Cigna Reimbursement Issues
This is the sort of thing that motivated Luigi Mangione to assassinate a CEO
Ask Ubuntu About "Secure Boot" Violation and Laptops That Don't Boot GNU/Linux
Does anyone still believe that "Secure Boot" has anything at all to do with security?
We Are Sad to Hear the Story of Jonathan Riddell, Champion of KDE and GNU/Linux on Desktops/Laptops
I have enormous respect for Jonathan and everything he has done
Talking About the Problem vs Talking to the Problem
Wanting an audience is never a good excuse for compromising one's values and principles
Focusing on Patents
The reason we cover the EPO so much is that it's close to home
"Secure Boot Violation": The 'Joys' of Fake Security Gone Wrong
Not everyone reboots every day
Links 15/09/2025: Russia Invades Romanian Airspace, Penske Media Sues Google Over LLM Slop
Links for the day
Links 15/09/2025: Bitcoin ATMs Scam and "Conservative Cryptography" (Backdoors Fantasies)
Links for the day
EPO Imitates Microsoft: "Three Days or More Per Week" Inside the Office to Get a Desk to Work on; "the Office Breaches Its Promise Towards Staff and Acts in Breach of Its Duty of Care"
The EPO serves no actual function in Europe
Links 15/09/2025: Political Affairs, Censorship, and Copyrights
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/09/2025: Music Genres, Invisible Networks, and Akademy 2025
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 14, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 14, 2025