Bonum Certa Men Certa

Fake Patents Granted by the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) and the EPO's Misleading Propaganda Video Series (Conflating Patents With Other Things) Exploits Dead People

As if science would not exist if it weren't for patents...



Benoit Battistelli
Not the first time EPO management is exploiting deaths



Summary: Europe's biggest and most powerful patent office (EPO), which is also Europe's second-largest institution, is misleading the public and exploiting the deaths of many Europeans for shameless, self-promotional marketing

THE EPO issues persist, assured us an EPO insider last week. This site may not seem to be focused on the EPO anymore. That's simply because not much is known about what goes on at the EPO, as we explained earlier this month. SUEPO has not been saying much and we don't fault it for that; aside from holidays there seems to be growing secrecy and some people aren't or haven't been working 'onsite' for a while.



The EPO itself has hardly said anything lately, with only two public statements in more than a month! We have not been seeing promotion of European software patents for a while, but that does not mean they're not being granted anymore.

"Many fake patents last their entire lifetime (a couple of decades typically) without a single challenge, so many out there will presume they're legitimate. This is what happens when so many monopolies are granted with little concern for facts."The other day we saw this report about a patent which was wrongly granted by the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) and then (mis)used for litigation. To quote a report in English: "The patent in dispute is protected as German Patent “Method and Device for the Generation of Print Data” (GER Patent No. 11 2004 002 429.3) since 2004 and also as international PCT patent (PCT/JP2004/018213). Patent holder is Ryobi MHI Graphic Technology Ltd. (Japan)."

Notice how long it took to revoke this fake patent. Many fake patents last their entire lifetime (a couple of decades typically) without a single challenge, so many out there will presume they're legitimate. This is what happens when so many monopolies are granted with little concern for facts. Sometimes the patents are not being challenged because so many of them are leveraged in bulk and in tandem, discouraging a full legal battle and pushing towards a settlement or cross-licensing (meaning tacit endorsement of low-quality and likely junk patents).

A few days ago the EPO went even further by issuing this truly ridiculous 'news' (self-promotional garbage), which merely exploits COVID-19 for shameless marketing like the EPO exploited terror attacks. (warning: epo.org link)

Let's examine what they said.

The EPO today has published Inventors against coronavirus, a new video series highlighting the inventors working on solutions to various COVID-19 issues.


This has nothing to do with patents. It's about invention. Patents don't beget invention; sometimes they suppress research (fear of litigation).

It comprises interviews with experts from several fields including vaccinology, satellite navigation, diagnostics and haematology, and explores the role of each in driving recovery from the pandemic.

[...]

Inventors against coronavirus is one of several measures implemented by the Office to disseminate information to keep the public informed with expert viewpoints, and help researchers make informed decisions.


This is not what patent offices exist for. This is just PR-centric propaganda from the EPO and it exploits a tragedy, as usual.

On it goes:

Earlier in the year, patent examiners and data analysts compiled datasets to support the important work of clinicians, scientists and engineers. These cartographies are available in the Fighting coronavirus pages of the EPO website.


This is a catalogue of monopolies; it details what cannot and should not be done. It's an impediment/barrier to researchers. Earlier this year French researchers studying COVID-19 got sued by a patent troll, using a patent the EPO granted to a literal fraud. The EPO later glorified this fraud using EIA, which this ridiculous 'news' item now celebrates!

So much for public service...

And get this:

They show recent developments in coronavirus-related technical fields as revealed in patent databases, including which countries and inventors have filed the most patent applications.


So they're equating number of "patent applications" with solution to coronavirus. What kind of fool would fall for it? It's basically an invitation to send in loads of low-quality patent applications, in the name of fighting with "Inventors against coronavirus" (as if coronavirus is afraid of monopolies, as opposed to open-ended collaboration to defeat and eradicate the virus as soon as possible).

"So they're equating number of "patent applications" with solution to coronavirus."Shallow propaganda such as this does not present the EPO as benevolent and mighty; instead, it serves to expose what a bunch of clueless and incompetent people nowadays run Europe's largest patent office. They don't understand the sector they're in, they shamelessly lie at the expense of almost a quarter million Europeans who lost their lives (soon a million worldwide), and they constantly attack their own staff, ruining these people's physical and mental health while claiming to fight for public health.

Recent Techrights' Posts

With 9 Mentions of Azure In Its Latest Blog Post, Canonical is Again Promoting Microsoft and Intel Vendor Lock-in, Surveillance, Back Doors, Considerable Power Waste, and Defects That Cannot be Fixed
Microsoft did not even have to buy Canonical (for Canonical to act like it happened)
Links 28/03/2024: GAFAM Replacing Full-Time Workers With Interns Now
Links for the day
Consent & Debian's illegitimate constitution
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The Time Our Server Host Died in a Car Accident
If Debian has internal problems, then they need to be illuminated and then tackled, at the very least in order to ensure we do not end up with "Deadian"
China's New 'IT' Rules Are a Massive Headache for Microsoft
On the issue of China we're neutral except when it comes to human rights issues
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 27, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 27, 2024
WeMakeFedora.org: harassment decision, victory for volunteers and Fedora Foundations
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 27/03/2024: Terrorism Grows in Africa, Unemployment in Finland Rose Sharply in a Year, Chinese Aggression Escalates
Links for the day
Links 27/03/2024: Ericsson and Tencent Layoffs
Links for the day
Amid Online Reports of XBox Sales Collapsing, Mass Layoffs in More Teams, and Windows Making Things Worse (Admission of Losses, Rumours About XBox Canceled as a Hardware Unit)...
Windows has loads of issues, also as a gaming platform
Links 27/03/2024: BBC Resorts to CG Cruft, Akamai Blocking Blunders in Piracy Shield
Links for the day
Android Approaches 90% of the Operating Systems Market in Chad (Windows Down From 99.5% 15 Years Ago to Just 2.5% Right Now)
Windows is down to about 2% on the Web-connected client side as measured by statCounter
Sainsbury's: Let Them Eat Yoghurts (and Microsoft Downtimes When They Need Proper Food)
a social control media 'scandal' this week
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Windows/Client at Microsoft Falling Sharply (Well Over 10% Decline Every Quarter), So For His Next Trick the Ponzi in Chief Merges Units, Spices Everything Up With "AI"
Hiding the steep decline of Windows/Client at Microsoft?
Free technology in housing and construction
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
We Need Open Standards With Free Software Implementations, Not "Interoperability" Alone
Sadly we're confronting misguided managers and a bunch of clowns trying to herd us all - sometimes without consent - into "clown computing"
Microsoft's Collapse in the Web Server Space Continued This Month
Microsoft is the "2%", just like Windows in some countries
Links 26/03/2024: Inflation Problems, Strikes in Finland
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/03/2024: Losing Children, Carbon Tax Discussed
Links for the day
Mark Shuttleworth resigns from Debian: volunteer suicide and Albania questions unanswered, mass resignations continue
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 26/03/2024: 6,000 Layoffs at Dell, Microsoft “XBox is in Real Trouble as a Hardware Manufacturer”
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/03/2024: Microsofters Still Trying to 'Extend' Gemini Protocol
Links for the day
Look What IBM's Red Hat is Turning CentOS Into
For 17 years our site ran on CentOS. Thankfully we're done with that...
The Julian Paul Assange Verdict: The High Court Has Granted Assange Leave to Appeal Extradition to the United States, Decision Adjourned to May 20th Pending Assurances
The decision is out
The Microsoft and Apple Antitrust Issues Have Some But Not Many Commonalities
gist of the comparison to Microsoft
ZDNet, Sponsored by Microsoft for Paid-for Propaganda (in 'Article' Clothing), Has Added Pop-Up or Overlay to All Pages, Saying "813 Partners Will Store and Access Information on Your Device"
Avoiding ZDNet may become imperative given what it has turned into
Julian Assange Verdict 3 Hours Away
Their decision is due to be published at 1030 GMT
People Who Cover Suicide Aren't Suicidal
Assange didn't just "deteriorate". This deterioration was involuntary and very much imposed upon him.
Overworking Kills
The body usually (but not always) knows best
Former Red Hat Chief (CEO), Who Decided to Leave the Company Earlier This Month, Talks About "Cloud Company Red Hat" to CNBC
shows a lack of foresight and dependence on buzzwords
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 25, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 25, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Discord Does Not Make Money, It's Spying on People and Selling Data/Control (38% is Allegedly Controlled by the Communist Party of China)
a considerable share exists
In At Least Two Nations Windows is Now Measured at 2% "Market Share" (Microsoft Really Does Not Want People to Notice That)
Ignore the mindless "AI"-washing
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Still Has Hundreds of Thousands of Simultaneously-Online Unique Users
The scale of IRC