Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPOLeaks on Misleading the Bundestag -- Part 6: Dr Petri Starts the Ball Rolling…

Series index:

  1. The EPO Bundestagate -- Part 1: How the Bundestag Was (and Continues to be) Misled About EPO Affairs
  2. The EPO Bundestagate -- Part 2: Lack of Parliamentary Oversight, Many Questions and Few Answers…
  3. The EPO Bundestagate -- Part 3: A “Minor Interpellation” in the German Bundestag
  4. The EPO Bundestagate -- Part 4: Parroting the GDPR-Compliance Myth
  5. The EPO Bundestagate -- Part 5: The Federal Eagle's Disconcerting Metamorphosis
  6. You are here ☞ Dr Petri Starts the Ball Rolling…


Dr Thomas Petri



Summary: Our story begins with a letter from the Bavarian Data Protection Commissioner in May 2014

The events which form the focus of the present series began to unfold back in April 2014 when a member of the public requested the Bavarian State Data Protection Commissioner, Dr Thomas Petri, to investigate the EPO's data protection framework.



Dr Petri took up the matter and came to the conclusion that the EPO's data protection framework was not fit for purpose.

"Dr Petri took up the matter and came to the conclusion that the EPO's data protection framework was not fit for purpose."In particular he found [PDF] that there was no independent supervisory authority which could supervise compliance with data protection regulations at the EPO. This basically meant that "data subjects" had no effective means of enforcing their rights under data protection law.

However, Petri's examination of the legal situation noted that the authorised contracting party to the European Patent Convention was the Federal Republic of Germany, not the regional states ("Länder").

This meant that the deficient character of the EPO'S data protection framework was an issue that he could not pursue on his own.

It would need to be taken up at a national level by the competent national data protection authority, namely the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (German abbreviation "BfDI").

"In August 2014, Voßhoff proceeded to contact the Justice BMJV to draw the Minister's attention to the matter and to propose the establishment of an independent data supervisory authority for the EPO."Following the conclusion of his investigation, Dr Petri, contacted his counterpart at federal level, the BfDI's Ms Andrea Voßhoff, in a letter dated 5 May 2014 [PDF] in which he summarised his findings and expressed his concerns.

In particular, Petri proposed that the BfDI should "work towards the establishment of a data protection supervision at the European Patent Office by a fully independent oversight body." He noted that the competent government ministry was the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV).

Ms Voßhoff concurred with Dr Petri's legal assessment of the situation his concerns on the issue of independent data protection supervision at the EPO.

In August 2014, Voßhoff proceeded to contact the Justice BMJV to draw the Minister's attention to the matter and to propose the establishment of an independent data supervisory authority for the EPO. The Minister for Justice at the time in question was Heiko Maas of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD).

The BMJV responded to Ms Voßhoff's communication in November 2014 [PDF].

"Hubig explained that Germany could not unilaterally pursue reform of the EPO's data protection framework because of the EPO's "autonomous" status in international law and the fact that institutional questions were regulated in a multilateral treaty, the European Patent Convention (EPC)."The response was issued by Dr Stefanie Hubig, an SPD party member and State Secretary ("Staatssekretär") at the BMJV reporting directly to the Minister Heiko Maas.

Hubig's response is full of the usual pious platitudes about data protection being "an extremely important issue for the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection" and the typical waffle and hand-waving about how "the BMJV is committed to high data protection standards and their constant further development on many levels."

Hubig explained that Germany could not unilaterally pursue reform of the EPO's data protection framework because of the EPO's "autonomous" status in international law and the fact that institutional questions were regulated in a multilateral treaty, the European Patent Convention (EPC).

According to the BMJV, any revision of the EPC would require a diplomatic conference of all contracting states, "a time-consuming procedure by means of which changes cannot be implemented in the short term."

The letter ended with the standard run-of-the-mill assurance that "the BMJV will continue to work within the framework of the EPOrg to ensure that high data protection standards and an independent data protection structure are maintained and further developed."

"At that point it seemed as if the EPO file had been consigned to the BfDI's archives - at least as far as the German authorities were concerned - and that nothing further was likely to happen at a national level in the foreseeable future."In December 2014 Ms Voßhof wrote back [PDF] to Dr Petri to inform him of the BMJV's response.

She noted with regret that the BMJV did not take up her proposal to establish an independent external data protection supervisory authority over the EPO by amending the European Patent Convention (EPC) because of the necessity to convince a diplomatic conference of all 38 contracting states.

Ms Voßhoff described the BMJV's reluctance to push for a review of the matter within the EPO as "regrettable but understandable" in view of the large number of countries that would have to be engaged and convinced.

Because of the lack of uptake on the part of the BMJV, Ms Voßhoff thought that an approach that addressed many member states of the EPC simultaneously was likely to be more effective.

For this reason she proposed to raise the issue of independent data protection oversight of the EPO at EU level "within the framework of the [EU] Article 29 Working Group in Brussels", an advisory body of the EU made up of a representative from the data protection authority of each EU Member State, the European Data Protection Supervisor and the European Commission.

Voßhoff took the view that "a letter from the chair of the Working Group to the EDPS could provide the necessary European impetus for an amendment of the EPC."

At that point it seemed as if the EPO file had been consigned to the BfDI's archives - at least as far as the German authorities were concerned - and that nothing further was likely to happen at a national level in the foreseeable future.

However, as we shall see in the next part, not long afterwards in June 2015 the BfDI was prompted dust off the file following revelations in the press about unauthorised covert surveillance activities by Battistelli's Pinkertons, the notorious EPO "Investigative Unit".

Recent Techrights' Posts

Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
 
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025
Microsoft - Like IBM - Does the "Relocation" Tricks (Start Over Elsewhere, Then Get Sacked by Microsoft)
It is a "low blow" or a "dick move"
After the Free Software Foundation's Campaign to Raise Money Let's See Campaigns to Finish Off Microsoft (Vista 11, GitHub etc.)
Microsoft is in effect collapsing
Your Publications Have No Major Impact Unless or Until You "Get Some Heat"
we're on the right track
Slopwatch: A Cause for Hope, the Hype is Dying
For about a month we showed that becoming a slopfarm - for several weeks - resulted in utter failure and ruin for BetaNews
Links 11/07/2025: Censorship Worsening, 3D Printing Success Stories, UK and France Unite Around Nukes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Zorin OS and Scriptonite Updates
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Hardware, Russia, and China
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Intel Collapsing and Microsoft Resorts to Bribery to Push Slop Via Obligatory Education
Links for the day
The EFF Sided With the Team That Strangles Women and Tells Women to Kill Themselves
They say that apathy and inaction are a form of a "stance"
"Nat [Friedman] and [the Serial Strangler From Microsoft] Were Always Exceptionally Close," Says Former Housemate and Colleague
Now Alex (hiding behind another name when that suits him) not only attacks women but also people who merely report what he did to women
Exemplary List of Things That Are Not Artificial Intelligence or Even Intelligence
The "age of AI" or "era of AI" or "AI revolution" mostly boils down to rebranding, just like "the cloud"
New Letter From the European Patent Office Explains How the Office Plots to Grant Many Illegal Patents, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of 'Growth'
Open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) and Mr Aledo Lopez (COO)
Abuse of Process
5RB is employing people who help violent men
What Microsoft's Nat Friedman and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
"Get in da car; No time to explain, loser"
Microsoft and IBM Don't Have Much of a Future (They Mostly Pretend at This Point)
IBM and Microsoft are in some ways alike but in many ways different
It's Not Just Twitter (or X.com) That's Dying, Microsoft's Equivalent is Dying Also
Unable to find a business model
GitHub Copilot Can Cause the Bankruptcy of GitHub to Come Sooner and GitHub to be Shut Down Just Like Skype
Some publicly available information suggests that even for each paid subscriber for plagiarism (LLM 'coding') GitHub Copilot still loses more money than it makes
Wayland is Bad for the Planet
If you use Wayland, it'll take you longer to accomplish tasks and you will consume more energy (or battery life)
Legitimising Those Who Sabotage You
Microsoft is a very malicious company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 10, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 10, 2025
On Microsoft Layoffs
we might be looking at about 60,000 Microsoft layoffs since 2023
EPO Management Already Breaks Its Own Promise (Lie) on "Bringing Teams Together"
This gut-punching move happened just 2 days ago
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Occupation of 2025 and "Old Man Yells At Soundcloud"
Links for the day
Our Lawsuits Against the 'Cancel Mob' (Ringleaders) Helped Reduce Anti-Free Software Online Abuse
That's not to say that lawsuits are the best way to handle terrible people. But that can help.