Bonum Certa Men Certa

Revolving Doors of High-Level EPO Management: Jacques Michel and the Questel Deal With the EPO

Jacques Michel
Photo credit: Gao Lulin Foundation



Summary: A look at the old taboo, namely allegations of a conflict of interest involving the French for-profit Questel and the European Patent Office, where Jacques Michel held high positions before these two signed a lucrative contract to digitise about 67 million pages of patent collections

MOVING on to the next item on our busy EPO agenda (Christmas is an opportunity to keep abreast of the news whilst also coping with the ever-growing backlog), today we leave behind Europatis and move on to Questel. For those who missed what we wrote about Europatis, here it is in four consecutive parts:



  1. Jacques Michel (Former EPO VP1), Benoît Battistelli's EPO, and the Leak of Internal Staff Data to Michel's Private Venture
  2. Europatis: “Turnover of €211,800 and Zero Employees”
  3. Loose Data 'Protection' and Likely Privacy Infringements at the EPO: Here's Who Gets Employees' Internal Data
  4. Summary of the EPO-Europatis Series


Before Jacques Michel founded Europatis (we got hold of the corporate statutes of Europatis, a confirmation letter by a bank that the starting capital of €4000 had been duly deposited, and a shareholders' resolution naming Jacques Michel as the general manager) he had done numerous things, including some time at IIPI, a career at the EPO, and a career at Questel.

"Jacques Michel migrated from Questel to the EPO."Based on Questel's own Web site, in 1989 "Questel [was] chosen by the European Patent Office (EPO) to develop its internal search system, EPOQUE." Prior to that, in 1987, there was a "Cooperation between Derwent, INPI [French Patent Office], and Questel to open the Markush Darc service for structural searches in chemical patents." 7 years earlier, in 1980, there was a "Cooperation with INPI (French Patent Office) and first patent online database, INPI-1 accessible to the public début de la co-opération avec l’Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI): very first step for Questel in the IP space."

So Questel is yet another thing (like Team Battistelli) that migrated from INPI to the EPO. Jacques Michel migrated from Questel to the EPO.

"As to Jacques Michel's previous endeavours, please turn to exhibit #1," one reader told us, responding to our ongoing exploration regarding Michel's extra-curricular (or extra-EPO) activities. A copy is included with fresh, improved quality, OCR information [PDF].

"According to Questel's own Web site, EPOQUE dates back to 1989."It is a Masters thesis by one Jiaji Ma, submitted in 1992 at the ENSSIB, the "École nationale supérieure des sciences de l'information et des bibliothèques" near the French city of Lyon, which translates to something like "National Superior School of Information Science and Libraries".

"It was a different time and a very different EPO," this well-informed reader said to us, "and the public actually got something of value out of all of the Questel wheeling and dealing. The Masters Thesis does seem to confirm how really "convenient" all this business was, but we still don't know what exactly happened behind closed doors -- governments may have been involved directly.

"I just found my copy of an "official" history of the EPO. On page 192 it is written that Jacques Michel was VP1 from 1987 to 2003. That means he would have been hired after the 1986 Questel deal, so in appearance everything was theoretically above board."

"There is some uncertainty here, as causality is hard to concretely prove."According to Questel's own Web site, EPOQUE dates back to 1989. That's when the EPO enters the picture, based on their "official" history.

There is some uncertainty here, as causality is hard to concretely prove. "But I was told many years ago the story of someone who got immediately sacked," a reader told us, "when he dared raise that story. Unfortunately I never learned his name or the exact circumstances, and decades have passed, so proof is difficult."

Our reader has read the thesis and interpreted it as follows:

Its title is "Pouvoirs Publics et Serveur Questel", i.e., "Public authorities and the Questel Server"

In the 1970s, witnessing the rapid US developments in the database sector, the French government under Giscard d'Estaing wanted to develop its own national expertise in a field it perceived as being of strategic importance.

Questel was a result of this political will.

And Mr. Michel had a longtime association with Questel.

The thesis begins with the following interrogation on page 7:

French: 2. Une question centrale: quelles sont les relations entre les pouvoirs publics et Questel en France

English: 2. A central question: what is the relationship between public authorities and Questel in France?

On page 10:

Original: Questel a été créé sous l'impulsion de la politique nationale des pouvoirs publics. C'est un phénomène particulier à la France par rapport aux autres pays.

Translation: Questel was created as a result of a national policy of public authorities. It is a phenomenon peculiar to France which distinguishes it from other countries.

Original: De 1978 à 1982, les relations entre l’Etat, représenté par le Bnist puis la Midist, et Questel, représenté par Télésystèmes, s’inscrivent dans un “régime de régie intéressée” (voir fig. 1). C’est à dire un double régime: d’une part Questel est organisé comme une entreprise par la société Télésystèmes, une filiale d’une grande firme publique et d’autre part, elle se développe par les subventions de l’Etat. Son statut juridique est celui une entreprise privée, et son rôle est de fournir des services publics.

Translation: From 1978 to 1982, the relations between the State, as initially represented by Bnist and later by Midist, and Questel, as represented by Télésystèmes, are conducted within a "commercial public service regime" framework (see fig. 1). This means a dual regime: one the one hand Questel is organised as a commercial venture by the Télésystèmes corporation, a subsidiary of a large public corporation, and on the other hand, it develops itself through State subsidies. Its legal form is one of a private company, and its role is to supply public services.

An exact translation for the expression "régime de régie intéressée" isn't obvious. It is something of an an oxymoron, with a whiff of that nearly proverbial concept of "privatised profits and socialised losses"...

Original: A l’issue de cette période, le serveur national Questel n’est qu’une des cinq divisions de la société Télésystèmes, mais une convention lie Questel et les pouvoirs publics. Avec cette convention, Questel reçoit des aides importantes: 23 MF en 1979, 19 MF en 1980, 24 MF en 1981 et 26 MF en 1982. Pendant cette période, Questel ne peut pas vivre sans subvention de l’Etat (voir le tableau 1 et 2). De plus, dépendant d’une société informatique et logiciel, l’activité de serveur national est l’occasion de développer un savoir-faire en ingénierie documentaire qui dégage pour Questel en 1981, 8 MF. [...]

Translation: At the outset of this period, the Questel national server is only one of five divisions of the Télésystèmes corporation, but an agreement binds Questel and the public authorities. With to this agreement, Questel receives significant financial assistance: 23 MF in 1979, 19 MF in 1980, 24 MF in 1981 and 26 MF in 1982. Questel couldn't exist during this period without State subsidies (see tables 1 and 2). Moreover, as a part of a data processing and software house, the activity as national server allows it to develop a know-how in document and software engineering, which brought Questel 8 MF in 1981. [...]

According to the last row of table 1 on page 36, Questel received during its early years about 132 million Francs of public money overall.

But the first wave of austerity hit the first Mitterand government, in place since 1981, and Questel was essentially told it would have to learn to survive on its own -- eventually.

Original: En même temps que l’achèvement de la convention, un plan d’entreprise de 4 ans est élaboré pour 1983-1986 au terme duquel Questel doit atteindre l’équilibre financier. Pendant cette période dans le cadre d’un cahier des charges, l’Etat apporte une aide forfaitaire et plafonnée. Une subvention globale de 40 MF est répartie pour moitié entre le Ministère de l’industrie [...], et le Ministère des PTT. La figure 2 suivante montre les relations entre pouvoirs publics et Questel durent cette période.

Translation: At the same time the agreement was completed, a 4-year business plan is developed for 1983-1986 time frame, at the end of which Questel should reach the break-even point. During that period the State provides a capped lump-sum subsidy according to a predefined specification. A global grant of 40 MF is supported evenly between the Department of Industry [...] and the department of Post and Telecommunications. Figure 2 shows the relationships between public authorities and Questel during that period.

Let's meet Jacques Michel on page 39:

Original: Il faut indiquer que pendant cette période, il n’y a plus de subvention directe pour Questel, mais les aides indirectes de l’Etat existent encore: les produits du CNRS, comme Francis et Pascal, les produits de l’INPI, notamment les brevets et les marques, sont toujours diffusés sur Questel, ce qui constitue une aide administrative. Il y a également des aides du personnel: les directeurs de Questel sont quasiment tous venus des organismes publics. Prenons un exemple plus clair comme celui des titres de Jacques Michel dans les différentes périodes: il était chef du Bnist, de la Midist, puis directeur de Questel, actuellement il est chef [sic] de l’Office Européen des Brevets, et ces brevets sont commercialisés par Questel!

Translation: It should be stated that for this period, although there are no more direct grants for Questel, indirect aids from the State still exist: the Francis and Pascal [bibliography databases] of the CNRS [National Scientific Research Centre], and those of the INPI [French patent office], namely patent and trade-mark information, are still distributed through Questel, thus constituting assistance from public bodies. Let us also look at staffing assistance: practically all Questel directors come from public bodies. Let us take as case in point the titles held by Jacques Michel during the different periods: he was the chief of Bnist, of Midist, then became the director of Questel, and is now chief [sic] of the European Patent Office, whose patents are marketed by Questel!

Note the use of an exclamation mark at the end of the paragraph.

Michel was in fact VP of the former DG1, which in its former organisation was in charge of prior art search services at The Hague and Berlin. It subsumed the forerunner organisation called "Institut International des Brevets", and thus remained vertically integrated with its own support and IT services. Michel may not have been the President of the EPO, but his position as VP1 wielded considerable power and influence.

Nowadays, DG1 is in charge of search and examination. Support services and IT are now the province of other DGs led by "virtuosos" of the likes of Željko Topić and Alberto Casado Cerviño.

Now, if you turn to p. 52-53, you see that something of a miracle occured...

Original: En 1986, Télésystèmes-Questel est retenu par l’Office Européen des Brevets pour la numérisation de ses brevets publiés en Europe depuis 1920, soit environ 67 millions de pages.

Translation: In 1986, Télésystèmes-Questel is retained by the European Patent Office for the digitisation of its patent [collections] published in Europe since 1920, representing about 67 million pages.

Isn't in an amazing coincidence? Questel was still rather unprofitable and there comes suddenly this large contract... And Jacques Michel becomes VP of the very organisation which rescued Questel.

Nearly three decades later, the exact order in which these events occurred ago have become blurred. It was however common knowledge that whoever dared to voice at the EPO questions or opinions about that deal was essentially committing a career limiting move, with potentially immediate and prejudicial consequences.

But Questel's existence was now secured.

Original: Dès 1986, Questel détient un tiers du marché mondial de l'information en ligne sur les brevets ce qui représente 25% des heures de connexion de Questel, et ce marché augmente de 10% par an. Questel est devenu un des premiers fournisseurs des informations en ligne sur les brevets dans le monde. D'après Jacques Michel, l'activité des brevets assure à Questel une notoriété, une crédibilité et une dimension internationale de premier plan (Infotecture, no. 133, 1986).

Translation: Questel owns in 1986 one third of the world market for online patent information, representing 25% of connection time, and this market grows by 10% per year. Questel became one of the lading leader of online patent information throughout the world. According to Jacques Michel, the patent-related activities provide Questel notoriety, credibility and a first-rate international stature (Infotecture, no. 133, 1986).

Not bad, ain't it?

It's OK for France or Europe to have an industrial policy. After all, the Americans have DARPA, NASA, Boeing, three armed services, etc. But is it the task of an international organisation with shared ownership? And did other member states have a say in this?

Could that be the reason why a later project involved other European partners in addition to the French one?

Original: Une plus grande coopération européenne apparaît en 1989. L'Office Européen des Brevets signe un contrat de 10 millions de DM avec trois sociétés: Télésystèmes Questel, Bertelsmann Computer Beratungsdienst (Allemagne) et Sarin (Italie) pour développer le projet EPOQUE qui permet de développer l'information sur les brevets et représente 24 million de documents avec une croissance de 800 000 par an.

Translation: A greater European cooperation project appears in 1989. The European Patent Office signs a 10 million DM contract with three different companies: Télésystèmes Questel, Bertelsmann Computer Beratungsdienst (Germany) and Sarin (Italy) for developing the EPOQUE project which permits the development of patent information and represents 24 million documents, with an annual growth of 800,000 documents.

Footnote: EPOQUE is the EPO's workhorse worldwide patent database. It is for example used for the backend of the Espacenet service. It used to run under a heavily modified IBM mainframe database engine with roots extending back in the 1960s. The EPO has developed it's own in-house, improved and up-to-date search engine from scratch. This project took a long time to come to fruition, but now license fees no longer must be paid.

The conclusion on p. 59:

Original: Notre analyse permet de faire comprendre que les relations entre pouvoirs publics et Questel sont très étroites.

Translation: Our analysis allows one to understand that the relationship between the public authorities and Questel is a very close one.


Whether that's a fair analysis of the machinations or not, on the balance of probabilities it seems likely that Questel was almost bailed out by the non-French EPO after Michel had entered the EPO (a couple of years earlier he became VP1 at the EPO).

When Team Battistelli makes an argument about the independence of the boards and other such nonsense (as if sending them to a different country/city would somehow improve institutional independence or perception of integrity) people ought to ask themselves whether EPO management itself is as ethical and pure as it wishes to present itself, all while appointing family members to top positions under dubious circumstances [1, 2, 3, 4].

Recent Techrights' Posts

Who Asked Software in the Public Interest (SPI) for a Refund? ($100,000, Resulting in Losses of $267,201 in 12 Months, Highest-Ever Losses)
The IRS does not reveal who or what's tied to this refund (or the cause/reason)
"Cloud Computing" Was Always a Joke, But This Week Was the Punchline
Maybe stop following tech trends and fashions
 
When "AI Layoffs" Mean Layoffs Due to the "AI" Bubble Popping
many people that are laid off by Microsoft claim to be specialists in "AI"
Mysterious grant forfeited, $100,000 from Software in the Public Interest accounts 2023
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Evidence: bullying, student union behaviour: Armijn Hemel's FSFE resignation
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Evidence: psychological abuse, stalking, Galia Mancheva, Susanne Eiswirt ignored by FSFE judgment for Matthias Kirschner
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Helping FSFE scam victims and conference organisers
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Nigerian fraud in FSFE constitution
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Worrying and Amusing Stories of "Clown Computing" Gone Awry
Many of these disasters could be avoided
Some Large German Media Covers Richard Stallman's Talks in Germany Earlier This Week
LLM-based chatbots are just "bullshit generators" (as he has long called them)
Links 22/10/2025: Amazon Plans to Replace Workers With Robotics, AWS and Clown Computing in General Ridiculed
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/10/2025: Niri Completely Changes Multitasking and Overview of Diff-ers
Links for the day
Links 22/10/2025: Study on Misinformation by Slop and Heavily Debt-Sabbled Microsoft OpenAI (ClosedSlop) Uses "Browser" as Gimmick/Distraction
Links for the day
They've Already Spent Close to a Million Dollars on Lawyers and Sent Us About 50 KG of Legal Papers (Sponsored by Mysterious Third Party) to Try to Censor Techrights, Without Success
They try to overcompensate with sheer volume for a lack of solid, clear arguments (we are the victims here)
Trouble in Red Hat/IBM and a Retreat to Ponzi Economics in Search of Wall Street Market Heist
Would you invest your life savings in this kind of crap?
12 Months Ago the 'Hulk Hogan of UEFI' Officially Went 'Tag-Team'
We're actually sort of flattered or proud that such despicable people are so desperate to censor us
"Cloud Computing" Does Not Mean Safety
Fault tolerance is related to the notion of software freedom
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 21, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 21, 2025
The Fall of Windows: From Something to Nothing
Of course Microsoft will pretend everything is fine and "just trust the hey hi" (AI)
Sounds Like Fedora is Ready to Become Less of a Slave of Microsoft (GitHub)
This seems like a belated move in a positive direction
XBox is a Dead Microsoft Product in a Dying Industry
It's probable that another wave of XBox layoffs is just over the horizon (maybe even before month's end)
Progress on Techrights Site Search
Fun times
IBM's Bluewashing of Red Hat Means the Layoffs Are Silent, Barely Reported
Don't wait to hear about "Red Hat layoffs"
Gemini Links 21/10/2025: Happy Disconnection, AWS Falling Apart, Closing of Gemlog Blue
Links for the day
Full Audio of Today's Richard Stallman Talk in the Technical University of Munich
Free/Libre software and freedom in the digital society
Microsoft XBox is Just Vapourware (Promises of Hardware That Doesn't Exist), Real Products Perish
just as developers lose interest in developing for XBox Microsoft is increasing the costs imposed upon them
Slopwatch: Fake Articles (Slop) in "Linux" Clothing in Google News (Noise)
all about what Google does
Links 21/10/2025: Even "Inventor of Vibe Coding" Rejects Vibe Coding, USPTO Experiments With Slop in Examination
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Talk Now Available for Viewing (Archived Copy, Not Live-streamed)
This recording is over 2 hours old
Links 21/10/2025: AWS-Induced Chaos and Social Control Media Curbs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/10/2025: Programming, StarGrid, Brand-New Palm OS Strategy Game in 2025, and Chatbot as Addiction Mechanisms
Links for the day
The African Lion and the American Cowards
Safaris exist for people to watch and enjoy animals
Amazon Web Shenanigans Perfectly Timed for Today's Talk by Richard Stallman
Maybe listen to him instead of looking for excuses to ridicule the messenger
Mission:Libre Has Taken Off (Project by Carmen Maris)
there will be a lot more to report on next month (after the event)
Techrights to Publish More EPO Leaks Next Week
We're meanwhile also doing lots of work on search, whose interface now looks better
Links 21/10/2025: 'The Lost Art' of Neon Signs and Twitter (X) to Enable Identity Theft (or Handle Theft) as a Service
Links for the day
Plagiarism With LLM Slop: Hindustan Times (HT Digital Streams Limited) Has Become a Slop Factory/Hub
What a disgrace
A radical proposal to keep your personal data safe, by Richard Stallman
"The surveillance imposed on us today is worse than in the Soviet Union. We need laws to stop this data being collected in the first place"
Next Week We Launch Search at Techrights
We're planning to launch it some time next week. Maybe Tuesday, maybe Thursday.
Talk by Richard Stallman Will be Live-streamed in Less Than 10 Hours
Happy hacking
"No Kings" in the Software World (GAFAM Should Not Exist, Either)
"No Kings" is a good slogan. Let's start by ridding ourselves of masters, not only those who reside in DC or visit DC
Every Morning
Bugs/edge cases combined with automation can spell disaster
Insane, Deliberately Dishonest, or Just Another Bigot?
very intellectually-dishonest human being
A Lot of Techrights is Built on Perl
Perl also runs the sister site
The Register MS Selling Slop for Microsoft (Vapourware, Ponzi Scheme, False Claims)
What will be left of The Register MS if it keeps repeating falsehoods and looking to profit from Ponzi schemes?
analytics.usa.gov Says Less Than 14% of Web Requests (to Government Sites) Come From Vista 11
Vista 11 was released more than 4 years ago!
People Who Attempt to Take Down Correct Information Need a Doctor a Day
“Journalism is printing something that someone does not want printed. Everything else is public relations.” ― George Orwell
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 20, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 20, 2025
Vista 11 is Sinking While Microsoft is PIPing (Mass Layoffs But Silent Layoffs)
We're witnessing a shift in platform dominance
Richard Stallman is Having a Good Week Already (Stallman Was Right About 'Clown Computing')
That alone is worth bringing up in his talk
An Update About Soylent News, With Jan Rinok "Back in the Saddle"
Burnout or "near burnout" a possibility when having to curate abuse
When Prominent GNU/Linux Distros Are Run by Spies
What has Microsoft Canonical become?
More Publishers and Companies Nowadays Say "GNU/Linux", Not "Linux"
It's not to see InstallAware saying GNU/Linux this week
Google News is Now Promoting a Parasitic Slopfarm Called "findarticles.com", Where Plagiarism of "Linux" Articles is Rampant
Does Google even care about the slop epidemic? Google itself is a vendor of slop now (and it calls it "Gemini")
Gemini Links 20/10/2025: Pumpkin Carving, "Hey Hi", and Other Buzzwords
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Google News Promoting Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)
What is the value of Google News if so many results in it are fake 'articles?
Rejecting 'Snoop-Phones' and Turning "Old" Phones (or Tablets) Into Freedom-Respecting Appliances
Paul Fernhout (pdfernhout.net) wrote back to Akira Urushibatathis this past weekend
Our Uptime This Year Was Better Than AWS (Also a Lot Cheaper)
We never used "the cloud"
Amazon Web Shenanigans
An ongoing, experimental endeavour
Death of Elias Diem: FSFE mailing list archives hidden
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 20/10/2025: Louvre Museum Reveals Weakness, About 7 Million Protest US Turning Into Oligarchy/Monarchy
Links for the day
They Should Have Listened to Techrights Over a Month Earlier (Xubuntu Site Compromised)
we reported this issue about 40 days earlier and nobody did anything about it
Richard Stallman to Give Another Talk Today in Bavaria (Bavarian Academy of Science)
Tomorrow at 6 PM he speaks in Munich
Apple is the Company of Dictators and Worse
Apple is just another greedy corporation in search of sweatshops and even pedophiles (especially the high-profile ones)
Counting Unhatched Eggs Is Not Counting Chickens
Everything here will persist as normal
Barry Kauler Explains That Puppy Linux and EasyOS Exclude Systemd to Keep Things Simple
Barry Kauler's Puppy Linux is in the community's hands. He now focuses on EasyOS and more.
The "Infinite Bread"
The biblical story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 has software parallels
Half a Year After Brian Fagioli Got Kicked Out of BetaNews for Slop He's Still Doing LLM Slop and Slop Images Targeting 'Linux' (Plagiarising Original Works)
If the Web gets polluted or flooded by slopfarms such as these, and Slashdot then sends traffic so these slopfarms (Slashdot probably doesn't do this intentionally), then real writers with real knowledge of GNU/Linux will lose the spark for publishing
In Many Cases and in Many Different Ways, Technology Became Less Durable and Less Reliable Over Time
The "modern" things are more complex. And complexity is a foe or reliability and repair-ability.
Microsoft's LinkedIn is Losing Money, Traffic, and Hope; Now It Wants to Sell Its Users' Lifeblood (and Data)
Let this be a reminder of what social control media really is about
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 19, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 19, 2025
Campaign of FUD Against Framework Laptops and GNU/Linux (Using Microsoft's Attack on Linux, 'Secure Boot')
Ritual Defamation Cult has turned its attention over to Framework
Microsoft Lunduke: Freedom of Speech Means Spreading What I Have to Say and Banning People I Disagree With
4Chan is one he aims for and he is siccing 4Chan trolls at people he doesn't like
Liberation From 'The Feed'
They rank things based on the editor's choice/ideology (he or she knows the sponsors, hence the masters)
Microsoft's Killing of Vista 10 Seems to Have Resulted in More Articles About GNU/Linux (But Also FUD)
We not only saw a rise in traffic, we also saw a remarkable rise in the number of articles