Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Last month: EPO: Neglecting Children to Promote American Monopolies by Shielding Them From European Competition
Are workers at the EPO "allowed" to get pregnant? Benoît Battistelli has a couple of kids and António Campinos has a bad kid that gets drunk, crashes the car, then asks "dad" for immunity (because, like his dad, he's basically a criminal).
What about ordinary EPO examiners? Are they allowed to reproduce and still keep the job? Or is their sole life purpose to forcibly grant European software patents - i.e. patents which are both illegal and undesirable?
Before the weekend some people at the staff representation made clear to workers the right if they get pregnant or have a birth:
Dear members, dear colleagues,
In case you are an expectant or new parent, you should have received a document from HR with relevant information. The considerations in this paper might also be of interest and cover:
- Maternity leave and pay
- Nursing - breastfeeding
- Some allowances may be actively requested
- Requesting allowances retroactively
- Update your personal details
- Other types of leave and relevant regulations
- Other considerations
Here's the full document they distributed:
INTERNATIONALE GEWERKSCHAFT IM EUROPÄISCHEN PATENTAMT
STAFF UNION OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
UNION SYNDICALE DE L'OFFICE EUROPEEN DES BREVETS09 July 2025
su25007hp 0.2.1.Guidance for expectant and new parents
Dear SUEPO members, dear colleagues,
In case you are an expectant or new parent, you should have received a document from HR1 with relevant information. The following considerations might also be of interest:
Maternity leave and pay
Your remuneration during maternity leave is based on your working percentage immediately prior to the maternity leave, e.g.:
• if you worked at 80% immediately before your maternity leave, you would receive 80% pay during your maternity leave.
• if you worked at 100% immediately before your maternity leave, you would receive 100% pay during your maternity leave.
Nursing - breastfeeding
Breastfeeding and pumping during working hours are permitted and a nursing room is available (The Hague: NM03C09)2. Although no time budget is foreseen3, “[r]eporting officers will take into account the personal and family circumstances of nursing staff members when assessing performance”4.
_________
1 See “Becoming a mother” / “Becoming a father”.
2 Munich: Isar 208, PH3472 and Berlin: 5th floor, B05A60.
3 Our position – in line with ILO C183 (Maternity Protection Convention) - is that time budget should be granted for breastfeeding. If you are breastfeeding and would like to help us change the EPO’s policy, please contact us. For more information, see: The Case for Introducing a Breastfeeding Policy at the EPO, CSC, 04.07.2025.
4 See note from VP4 dating back to 13 January 2010.
Some allowances may be actively requested
Even if HR is aware of your situation and you meet the eligibility criteria, certain allowances will not be granted automatically, unless you specifically apply for them.
For example, the “double childcare allowance” may be requested via MyFIPS. This allowance is regulated by Articles 70a, Circular 411, Article 1 and is set forth in Annex IV of the Service Regulations (Codex, direct link: q/codex). It states:
“The amount of the young child allowance shall be doubled whenever the costs invoiced by that childcare facility amount to at least twice the amount of the young child allowance.
For the purpose of determining entitlement to the doubled young child allowance the average costs invoiced by the facility over a year will be taken into account.”The young child allowance in 2025 is €411.
The dependant’s allowance is regulated by Art. 69 and is set forth in Annex III Serv. Regs. The allowance is doubled in case your child has a disability (Art. 69II). You also have the right to be partially reimbursed of any educational or training expenses incurred due to your child’s disability (Art. 69II (7)).
We recommend checking the Codex (Title V, Chapter 1, Section 3: Allowances) and the HR intranet page5 for an overview of all allowances you may now qualify for.
Requesting allowances retroactively
Article 65(1) (c) ServRegs stipulates:
[…]Where entitlement to any of the allowances provided for in Article 67 commences at or after the date of entering the service, the employee shall receive such allowance as from the first day of the month in which such entitlement commences, provided that any request for the allowance is submitted within six months of the date on which entitlement commences, unless otherwise provided in these Regulations. If an allowance is requested after expiry of the above six-month period, it shall be granted retroactively but only for the six months preceding the month in which the request was submitted, except in a duly substantiated case of force majeure.[emphasis added]And Article 65(1) (e) ServRegs reads:Without prejudice to any other time limitations for retroactive payments, except in duly substantiated cases of force majeure the Office will not______
5 The codex always takes precedence over the intranet, i.e. if both texts contradict each other the text of the codex prevails. However, the HR intranet pages are easier to navigate.
make such payments for periods longer than three years as from the date on which they were requested. [emphasis added]Update your personal details
Consider whether you need to update your death insurance declaration: Go to q/myfips > My situation, personal and family data > Death insurance declaration.
Other types of leave and relevant regulations
• Part-time work is regulated by Article 56 and Circular 34 Serv. Regs.
• Parental leave is regulated by Article 44a of the Serv. Regs. (2c, Article 8a for Young Professionals).
• Special leave: see also our recent publication “Reminder special leave - illness in the family”, SUEPO TH, 25.06.2025.
• The recent reform on parenthood leave removed the unequal treatment between parents who welcomed a child through birth or adoption, with those who welcomed a child via other means. For more details, see the GCC opinion on GCC/DOC 06/2025 here.
Other considerations
If needed, it may be possible to obtain an exemption or reduction of the 60 days of presence on EPO premises from OHS.
To receive the KinderOpvangToeslag (KOT) from the Dutch Government, your child needs to be registered at the municipality.
As always, do not hesitate to contact us for questions, comments or assistance.
Kind regards,
Your SUEPO TH committee – M18B10 and De Bruyn Kopsstraat, 15, Rijswijk
[...]
A long time ago my wife and I decided to never bear kids, but many people are still into it (maybe social pressure, family traditions etc.) and it really compromises all sorts of life goals.
If European society ceases to reproduce (never mind migration as a factor), there will be shortages in some critical services. Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids? █