"Investigative" is an understatement, maybe even a euphemism

Summary: A closer look at what has become known as the 'gestapo' of the EPO, starting with the founder of the Investigative Unit (I.U.), Florian Andres

PARTS I and II examined the roots of the EPO's Investigative Unit, known internally as the 'gestapo'. Starting today, our plan is to explain what makes up the notorious Investigative Unit and who is doing what.

Our series is likely to upset some managers at the EPO, but we can assure the management that our new sources don't have a personal grudge. They just want to inform the world what is happening inside the EPO. The EPO's management likes to brag about "transparency", so we are basically trying to help. Seeing that the EPO sure does struggle when it comes to transparency, we believe that transparency can also come from below.

"The EPO's management likes to brag about "transparency", so we are basically trying to help."We begin our in-depth series with Florian Andres, former PD 0.6 and founder of the Investigative Unit. "Mr. Andres was appointed by Battistelli," explained a source to us, "as the Principal Director of Internal Audit and Oversight (PDIAO or PD 0.6) sometime in 2010 or 2011 and he held this position until his retirement in December 2014.

"Mr. Andres oversaw the establishment of the EPO Investigative Unit in 2012.

"In the article entitled "Staat im Staate" ("A state within a state") published in the weekend edition of the Süddeutsche Zeitung on 20/21 December 2014, he was described as "a friendly, bearded man from Switzerland" who was responsible for writing the EPO Investigation Guidelines."

"His most notable achievement during his time as PD 0.6 seems to have been the "whitewashing" of Željko Topić by means of a sham internal investigation."

This was reported on by Techrights earlier this year.

Some time ago an anonymous person sent us a photograph of Mr. Andres being confronted by protesting EPO staff in front of the EPO headquarters in Munich. That was on the 17^th of October, 2013. It was on the rare occasion of the 40^th Anniversary celebrations of the signing of the EPC (we strongly advise readers who work for the EPO not to click on this link as it can facilitate tracking by the Investigative Unit and its peripheral goons). To just quote what's on the page, it's self-glorifying hogwash which goes as follows:

Hundreds of people joined our celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the signature of the European Patent Convention (EPC) in Munich on 17 October 2013. They heard our keynote speaker Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council, and leading experts including Tian Lipu, Commissioner of the Chinese State Intellectual Property Office, Ferdinando Beccalli-Falco, CEO of GE Europe, and Harold Goddijn, CEO of TomTom. These panellists, moderated by Nina Dos Santos of CNN, debated the role of innovation in driving the European economy and how the EPC can continue to ensure that Europe maintains its place amongst the leaders in technological innovation.

It's interesting to see the CEO of TomTom in there. Remember what Microsoft did to TomTom in Europe using its now-maligned software patents (which probably should never have been granted in the first place).

In the next part we are going to look at other key (high-profile) members of the I.U. We won't delve into their personal lives; that's what the I.U. does to its victims and we won't descend down to its rather shameful levels.

The photo of Florian Andres was taken at demonstrations in a public space in front of the main EPO building in Munich and has been pixellated in order to obscure other persons present. ⬆