A Day After EPO Strikes an Escalation to Heads of Delegations to the Administrative Council

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Feb 03, 2026

One business day later. You too can contact your representatives.

Industrial actions at the EPO carry on. António Campinos is more interested in covering up cocaine use than in running the Office.

We've meanwhile noticed Techrights articles in Spanish (the cocaine use came from Alicante). There's also this open letter to the Administrative Council's people, which got circulated this week:

Dear SUEPO members,
Dear Colleagues,

EPO staff are standing up to the planned further erosion of their salaries. At all locations, large majorities voted in favour of industrial action. Work-to-rule actions are already having a measurable impact on output, including the number of published patents.

The first warning strike on 30 January 2026 already showed very high participation. Further industrial actions will continue, and the unease among the staff is clearly noticeable.

In an open letter sent on 2 February 2026, SUEPO Central makes a clear call upon the Administrative Council: The new salary adjustment procedure shall at least preserve the purchasing power of our salaries and pensions. The so-called underlying method, which is based on (a) the development of salaries of national civil servants and (b) the parities of purchasing power at different locations provided by the OECD, is a proven procedure for achieving this result.

The EU and the COs have used variants of the underlying method for many decades (as also did the EPO until 2020). The EU methodology in place since 2014 was even confirmed for a second 10-year term.

We note that delegations are currently attending technical meetings with the EPO administration on the new salary adjustment procedure. Regrettably, the Office has avoided the trilateral format. Therefore, SUEPO would like to invite delegations to discuss the demands with SUEPO to ensure the Council is fully informed before making a decision.

They take note of the low quality or lack of compliance of European Patents. Corrupt management or corrupt officials try to fake 'growth' by illegally granting many European software patents - i.e. patents which are both illegal and undesirable.

The open letter speaks of "legal certainty" (knowing many European Patents would be deemed invalid by courts outside the EPO's kangaroo courts):

INTERNATIONALE GEWERKSCHAFT IM EUROPÄISCHEN PATENTAMT
STAFF UNION OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
UNION SYNDICALE DE L'OFFICE EUROPEEN DES BREVETS

Zentraler Vorstand
Central Executive Committee
Bureau central

2 February 2026
su26001cl 0.2.1 – 0.3.2

Mr Josef Kratochvíl
Chairman of the Administrative Council
of the European Patent Organisation

Heads of Delegation to the Administrative Council
of the European Patent Organisation

– by email –

cc: Mr António Campinos, President of the EPO

OPEN LETTER

Industrial action in defence of purchasing power and legal certainty

Dear Mr Chairman,
Dear Heads of Delegation,

We are writing to you at a time when staff have contributed to the best results the European Patent Office has ever achieved in its history. In 2025, the output of published patents was above 119 000, the productivity was at 115.6 products per FTE, and the operating result is forecast at EUR 519.7 million. The Reserve Funds for Pensions and Social Security showed a high score market value of EUR 14 733.8 million resulting in a funding level for the pensions clearly above 100%. These results are the outcome of sustained commitment and professionalism by EPO staff across all sites.

Despite these excellent results, a new salary adjustment method is under discussion that aims to save a further EUR 1.4 billion in salaries and pensions. This would come on top of EUR 2 billion in long-term liability reductions and EUR 120 million in cash savings from the expiring method (see CA/79/25). The adjustments of EPO salaries have already lagged significantly behind those of the European Union (EU) and the Co-ordinated Organisations (COs) over the last six years. Staff had to face a decline in the purchasing power of their salaries, which is now set to become even worse.

The members of the Staff Union of the European Patent Office (SUEPO) are standing up to this erosion of their salaries. At all locations, large majorities voted in favour of industrial action. Work-to-rule actions are already having a measurable impact on output, including the number of published patents. The first warning strike on 30 January 2026 already showed very high participation. Further measures will follow, and the unease among the staff is clearly noticeable.

We hereby make a clear call upon the Administrative Council: The new salary adjustment method shall at least preserve the purchasing power of our salaries and pensions. The so- called underlying method, which is based on (a) the development of salaries of national civil servants and (b) the parities of purchasing power at different locations provided by the OECD, is a proven procedure for achieving this result. The EU and the COs have used variants of the underlying method for many decades (as also did the EPO until 2020). The EU methodology in place since 2014 was even confirmed for a second 10-year term.

The expiring salary adjustment method has deviated too far from the underlying method and thus triggered a wave of litigation that is unprecedented not only in the EPO but in all international organisations. The Office already had to set aside high provisions for a scenario where the ILO Administrative Tribunal would follow the unanimous opinion by the Appeals Committee regarding the legal flaws of the expiring method introduced in 2020. We must emphasise that the method now being proposed once again breaks new legal ground by introducing several elements that cannot be found in any other international organisation. It also removes any measure of wage inflation, when the whole purpose of a salary adjustment procedure is to measure the evolution of national salaries and calibrate EPO salaries accordingly. This situation creates further legal uncertainty (and financial risks) that are neither in the interest of staff nor of the Organisation.

We note that delegations are currently attending technical meetings with the EPO administration on a new salary adjustment method. Regrettably, the Office has avoided the trilateral format. Therefore, we would like to invite you to discuss our demands with a SUEPO delegation to ensure the Council is fully informed before making a decision.

Please rest assured that it is our central concern that the European Patent Organisation can continue its success of more than fifty years. This requires that the salaries and pensions of those who have contributed to this success be adjusted in a fair and appropriate manner in future.

Yours sincerely,

Isabelle Brandt
Acting Chair of SUEPO Central

Derek Kelly
Chair of SUEPO Munich

Michael Sampels
Vice-Chair of SUEPO Berlin

Fausto Ciotta
Chair of SUEPO The Hague

Johannes Schaaf
Chair of SUEPO Vienna

They probably won't even respond and instead hide behind fake "sick leaves". They rely on the European media playing along, helping them to hide major blunders, even crimes. █