Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN) at the European Patent Office (EPO) Requests an Urgent Meeting to Avoid Abolishing the Office

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jul 30, 2025

Exactly a week ago a letter was sent by the EPO's Local Staff Committee Munich and it was later circulated among staff. The latest communication says:

Dear Colleagues,

Following our recent publication of 10 July 2025 regarding the ISAR building renovation and in response to the Office’s announcement “Two-year renovation of the ISAR building starting in 2025”, the Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN) kindly requests an urgent meeting with Social Dialogue.

The decision to abolish all allocated offices for more than two years raises serious concerns about staff working conditions and undermines the commitments made under "Bringing Teams Together." Since the announcement, numerous concerned colleagues have reached out to us, urging the staff representation to engage with the administration and explore alternative solutions.

In this open letter, we request that the decision is suspended, to have a discussion on the concerns outlined in our communication and to identify practical alternatives as soon as possible.

Here's the open letter in its entirety:

European Patent Office
80298 Munich
Germany

Local Staff Committee Munich
Comité local du personnel de Munich
Örtlicher Personalausschuss München

Email: mnstcom@epo.org

Date: 23.07.2025

sc25007ml

European Patent Office | LSC Munich | GERMANY

To: Social Dialogue

By email:
socialdialogue@epo.org

OPEN LETTER

Request for urgent meeting on abolition of allocated offices

Dear Social Dialogue,

Following our recent publication of 10 July 2025 regarding the ISAR building renovation and in response to the Office’s announcement “Two- year renovation of the ISAR building starting in 2025”, we kindly request an urgent meeting with Social Dialogue.

The decision to abolish all allocated offices for more than two years raises serious concerns about staff working conditions and undermines the commitments made under "Bringing Teams Together." Since the announcement, numerous concerned colleagues have reached out to us, urging the staff representation to engage with the administration and explore alternative solutions.

We request that the decision is suspended, to have a discussion on the concerns outlined in our communication and to identify practical alternatives as soon as possible.

Please let us know your earliest availability.

Sincerely yours

Ingrid Peller
Chair of the Local Staff Committee Munich City, Haar und Brussels

Tolerating the abuses of the EPO means that - as noted and emphasised by the author of this open letter - management can get away with all sorts of things, including European software patents - i.e. patents which are both illegal and undesirable. We need to push back, both outsiders and insiders of the EPO. This is dictatorship led by the most corrupt. █