Bonum Certa Men Certa

Benoît Battistelli's Group of 'Loyals' Crushes Not Only the Independent Boards But Also 'Unwanted' Directorates-General

Everyone loves Benoît

Voroshilov, Molotov, Stalin, with Nikolai Yezhov



The Commissar Vanishes



Summary: Having 'infiltrated' most key positions at the EPO, Benoît Battistelli now ejects everything that remains potential threat to his unquestionable total domination

THE EPO isn't viewed as a villain for no reason. TPP apologists and lobbyists (the corporate media being a big part of it) try to paint TPP critics as clueless (with no access to the text because it's intentionally kept secret), paranoid (assuming the worst), irrational haters and the EPO's management hopes that the European public will view internal backlash as just a few disgruntled employees (or laid off staff seeking revenge).



Those who hate the TPP ought to take a closer look at the UPC and the EPO, which is privately and even publicly pushing for the UPC (to essentially change the law, meaning that the EPO does politics now). The EPO is totally out of control and anyone who dares to say so is being eliminated, if at all possible, by stretching the law (or by simply changing the rules). We are among the victims because Techrights has been permanently blocked by the EPO (for the first time in history) and put under rogue surveillance. Nothing and apparently nobody -- not even outside the EPO --- can escape the ire of Benoît.

Techrights has become an eyewitness to something rather disturbing. Based on a circulated PDF from people who are familiar with the EPO's abuses, Battistelli and his cronies are definitely going to crush the boards and even go further than that. To quote the text of relevance:

Are the Boards of Appeal dying out?



Some public debate already took place at the beginning of the year 2015 as regards staffing of the Boards of Appeal (BoA). The business distribution scheme revealed in June an increased number of posts as chairpersons or members left vacant as a result of the decision of the President of the EPO to refuse to propose to the Administrative Council (AC) any new appointment to the BoA, which is his exclusive prerogative according to Article 11(3) EPC. Some AC delegations already questioned this decision, to no avail until now.

The problem obviously worsens with time, in particular with chairpersons and members choosing to leave the Office before a new pension system comes into place. At the beginning of 2016, it is already certain that 7 chairperson posts, 13 technical member posts and 7 legal member posts will be vacant. The situation is particularly critical for chairpersons and legal members, where roughly one post out of four is not staffed. Moreover, some technical fields might become orphaned when the competent technical members retire.

In the meantime, the production of the Boards per capita increases. The President of the Office presents this as a confirmation for his very personal decision to block appointments, neglecting to mention that part of the increase stems from the efforts of the Board members and chairs, but also, and to a non-negligible amount, from increased withdrawal rates (see Rule 103 EPC: Reimbursement of appeal fees). It thus seems that the President applies for the Boards the same recipe as in other departments, most notably DG1, where statistics and production figures are misused to justify policies and reforms.


We kindly ask anyone with information about the status (or fate) of Wim Van der Eijk (Chairman of the Enlarged Board of Appeal) to contact us anonymously. We need to get to the bottom of it because some people hypothesise that he too was dismissed/terminated using some loophole or misinterpretation of the rules. Sources told us that he had stood up to Battistelli and that therefore there might be a correlation, leading not to resignation or firing but something rather vague, judging by history. If Wim Van der Eijk is really ill, then some of the EPO's AstroTurfers in IP Kat would probably have stated something to that effect by now.

There is a tendency to think that only the boards are in Battistelli's crosshairs; Not so! Based on what we have seen, DG4 (Directorates-General) is also in a bad state (Wim Van der Eijk is Vice-President of DG3). To quote:

Musical chairs in DG4



We all know the game of “musical chairs” where – when the music stops – n participants rush for n-1 chairs. The one who did not get a chair is out. We do not know whether this game was played for real in HR, but we know many did not enjoyed the music. Since Ms Bergot took over the HR department as PD43, four (out of five) HR directors have gone elsewhere, the last one being about to do so (the fifth and last one, director 433 should soon leave elsewhere in the Office). Heads of unit have also changed. We are not aware that any of these managers have volunteered to give up their posts. As a consequence several positions are now held by happy few - none of them belonging to the "old" team - who enjoy the trust of Ms Bergot (at least for now...). For such an - almost military - efficiency in getting rid of so many people in so little time Ms Bergot certainly deserves a bonus at the end of the year!


Remember how Ms Bergot is connected to Battistelli and that her husband, a former colleague of Battistelli, is now Director at the EPO. Well, maybe just a coincidence...

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Same People Who Attacked Richard Stallman (RMS) Are Attacking Daniel Pocock to Discourage People From Listening to His Information
Pocock is being demonised for the same reasons and by the same people who attack RMS
We Are Safe in a Modern "Tech" Society, Right?
People are safer if they control their own computing
The Way Things Are Going, They May Soon Stop Saying "Web Address" and Instead Say "Chrome Address"
The Web isn't built or based around open Web standards anymore. It's centered around user-agent.
Microsoft as a Golden Cage
"I was laid off by Microsoft and can't find a job. I'm weeks away from giving up my apartment and moving across the country to live with family."
Weekend Discussion About How IBM's Bluewashing of Red Hat Will Cause "Enshittification" for Users
"I worked at a software company that was acquired by IBM so I knew it was game over for RedHat the day they were acquired"
Brett Wilson LLP Getting Sued by Its Very Own Clients, a Legal Story That Has Made the Mainstream News (Law360)
Law360 or Law.com are about as mainstream as one can get in that "sector" (litigation 'industry')
Lucas Nussbaum & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
 
Vincent Danjean (not INTERPOL), Claire Bardel & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Christmas lynchings: Martin Krafft (madduck), Penny Leach (mjollnir) & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 13/10/2025: Birthdays and "Committee Unable to Contact Nobel Prize Winner"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 12, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 12, 2025
Your Typical Anti-Richard Stallman (RMS) Cancellist
"About the RMS cancellation"
Richard Stallman (RMS) Has Announced His Talk in Rome Less Than 20 Hours in Advance (and on a Sunday)
Why did he wait until the night before?
GNU Tools Cauldron Event in Portugal: Videos Now Available via Invidious
Go have a look
Slopwatch: GNU/Linux Sites That Became Slopfarms and Spamfarms
The Web is a mess and "Linux" or "Ubuntu" sites became part of the problem
Richard Stallman's Talk 25 Hours Away, Aula Magna Palazzo del Rettorato (CU001), Sapienza Università di Roma (Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5)
The talk is 25 hours away and we see some QR code for it
Gemini Links 12/10/2025: Watches, the Depression of 2026, Gamboling with Odds
Links for the day
Links 12/10/2025: 'False' DMCA Claims and Slop Facing Perils Again (the Hype Wears Off)
Links for the day
Microsoft Has Just Lost Privacy Case in Austria and Its Latest Moves Make a Complete Ban Seem Imperative
Microsoft is not a software company, it's a spying agency that uses software to collect data
The Register MS: Microsoft is the Security Expert, Not the Prime Culprit, So Buy More Microsoft
This front page feature is devoid of any actual substance, it's just Microsoft copypasta
Paris 'Love Nest' & Debian Outreachy: from Lycée Lakanal to ENS Cachan, Cr@ns, nepotism
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Stefano Zacchiroli (Zack) & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 12/10/2025: "Palm Computering", Further Exploration of Slide Rules, and Key Takeaways from The Well-Grounded Rubyist
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 11, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 11, 2025
Tomorrow: Founder of the Free Software Foundation and of GNU/Linux, Richard Stallman, Speaks in Roma (Rome), Italy at 4PM
GNU/Linux is more important than ever in this dystopian world
Microsoft and Apple Are Rare Topics in Geminispace
in Geminispace it's rather safe to assume everyone is into BSD, GNU/Linux, and sometimes retro
Qualcomm and Manchester United Appear to Have Dumped Microsoft (Qualcomm Now Invests More in Linux, Apparently)
It's a relief to no longer see Microsoft logos and brands on a local football club's gear (I'm not a Manchester United fan, but not a foe either)
As Guest of Honour in Rome, Founder of the Free Software Foundation to Speak ("Distinguished Lecture") After Introduction by Leonardo Querzoni
Happy hacking...
All Things Open is Proprietary
The OSI has become a front group of proprietary software openwashers, led and sponsored by proprietary giants
When Microsoft Lays Off Lots of Workers They Say It "Invests in AI" (a Lie), Now It's "Reshuffles" or "Microsoft Tightens"
Microsoft "news" by bots
"I saw Richard Stallman give a talk in the mid 80s, which began my fear and loathing of software patents" and "Richard Stallman was always right."
"By betraying the legacy of our ancestors, we’ve set ourselves on a path toward self-destruction — moral, intellectual, economic, and ultimately biological."
There Were Several Waves of Microsoft Shanghai Layoffs in 2025, Western Media Continues to Turn a Blind Eye to Chinese Layoffs of an Epic Scale
Sometimes select Taiwanese news sites (published in English) or automated translations are all we have
Brett Wilson LLP Spreads Trumpism to the United Kingdom, Looking to Profit From 'Legal Colonialism' (Overriding Sovereignty)
There's growing recognition of this conundrum worldwide
The Demise of Shopping in Person
In a world like this, how valued is the customer?
This Past Friday, "Nearly 700 People Came to Listen to RMS!" (Richard Stallman)
"Nearly 700 people came to listen to RMS!"
Distinguished Lecture by Richard Stallman This Coming Monday in Rome
After "Free software, Crucial for Freedom in a Digital World"
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT Churning Out Plagiarism and the Slopfarm LinuxSecurity Turns to Pseudonyms
Our hunch is, UbuntuPIT will sooner or later realise that this toxic approach is just harming UbuntuPIT and tainting the reputation of past articles
The Lawsuit by Clients of Brett Wilson LLP Against Brett Wilson LLP is Officially On, It is Progressing, The 'Experts' Pick Outside Law Firms (RPC and Mills & Reeve) to Spare Them From Litigants in Person
So it is probably quite potent
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: Nyctography, Gerrymandering, and Lurking
Links for the day
The 'Culture Wars' in Free Software Have Gone Out of Control
Social control media amplifies such utterly infantile discourse
Teaser: To Compensate for the Fact Our Clients Are Terrible Human Beings Who Strangle Women (While on Microsoft's Payroll) and We Get Paid by Mystery Parties We Bombard You and Your Wife With Almost 10 Kilograms of Legal Papers
If you can't win an argument, then drown the other side with papers?
Links 11/10/2025: World Mental Health Day 2025, Another European Legal Defeat for Microsoft 360
Links for the day
MIT Technology Review is Part-Time SPAMfarm of Billionaires and Mega-Corporations
Does MIT operate its own "b2b" SPAMfarm?
Open Source Initiative Executive Director Leaves, Replacement Sought by Monopolists, Not the Community or OSI Members
Serves to show who runs this show...
Links 11/10/2025: China-US Tensions Grow Again, "Hey Hi" More Widely Recognised as Bubble Made of Capital That Doesn't Exist
Links for the day
Now Confirmed in Western Media: Microsoft Azure Layoffs This Month
Affirmed by more sources moments ago
Peter O'Callaghan QC represented grandparents, Westernport Hotel, at Liquor Royal Commission
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Either The Register MS Divests From FOSS Coverage or Liam Proven is on Long Holiday
Publishers perish when their audience loses trust in them
Microsoft Cancelling Another Datacentre is a Sign of Financial Trouble and Lack of Growth
The debt continues to grow
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: An Evening at the Fair and Fast Fourier Friday
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 10, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 10, 2025