Bonum Certa Men Certa

Independent Dutch Investigation to Commence Into the Working Conditions at the European Patent Office in Rijswijk

Photograph below published by Dutch media today

EPO protest



Summary: Dutch politicians are taking further steps in order to tackle extreme abuse at the European Patent Office (EPO), where staff is being herded like sheep and staff representatives are facing mock trials

AS we have anticipated for a while, after increasing levels of communication with European officials, political actions against the EPO are starting to become more visible as plenary investigations finally bubble up to the surface. While there's plenty more on the way, today we are being notified of Dutch actions, in addition to ongoing actions in France (there's more on the way from the UK and other countries).



"Battistelli clearly touched a nerve when firing Hardon, who is Dutch."This post, as one might expect given the location of today's protest, will focus on the Dutch actions. So far we have published two articles about the outcome in the media (even television) and some background information was posted before the protest.

Battistelli clearly touched a nerve when firing Hardon, who is Dutch. Now he has a Hardon problem that no bodyguards and limousines can make up for. Another article about the EPO has been assigned for translation and gradually we expect to have more pieces of this latest Dutch storm. According to the following article and its translation, an independent investigation is coming. Hardon asked for it.



Martijn van Dam (Secretary of Economic Affairs) begins in March an independent investigation into the working conditions at the European Patent Office in Rijswijk.

He will shortly also a meeting with the chief executive of the European institute, whose staff has long been dissatisfied with the business.

Thursday protesting workers from the poor working atmosphere and against the dismissal of colleagues who criticized the Frenchman Benoît Battistelli, the boss of the European Patent Office. The agency is reorganizing and the Cabinet and parliament showed earlier that it would be more careful.

To improve the situation the next six months will be given to all matters that could affect the ''social situation'' of their employees, career development, remuneration and the position of the trade unions. Van Dam expects the investigation was completed before the summer.

The European Patent Office is an international organization with 38 Member States, including all members of the European Union. The office in Rijswijk with its 2800 employees, mostly highly skilled engineers and scientists, the largest international organization in the Netherlands. The agency protects the patent rights of inventors.


As one person correctly put it: "Dismissing Mrs. Hardon - a Dutch citizen - has really touched a raw nerve with the Dutch." Another person said: "The "independent enquiry into the situation at the EPO" announced by the Dutch Minister is the so-called "social audit" agreed upon by the Administrative Council in December."

"It’s an improvised Stasi put together by the grossly underqualified Team Battistelli.""Details of the Minister's statement can be found here (in Dutch)," the person added. "How "independent" the enquiry will be remains to be seen." This is another thing which probably requires a translation from Dutch into English. It's a statement regarding the abuse of EPO staff in the Netherlands.

"Dutch authorities today have announced an independent enquiry into the situation at the EPO," wrote another person, "which cannot but reveal great mental stress and suffering among staff. Office "doctors" might have a difficult time answering uncomfortable questions about EPO€´s health policy."

We have separately learned that Battistelli downgraded the medical directors of the EPO to technicians in 2015. Elodie Bergot then ordered them to remove any traces of any in-house medical malpractice. She forbade them to log or report medical emergencies from now on. Elodie Bergot oversees all medical cases now. She has access to every employee's medical file, but has no medical background herself.

"The Investigative Unit does have its 'scouts' like Sebastian Bauer, but they don’t do video recordings or anything like that (as far as we can tell based on information we have)."This is a recipe for disaster. It's an improvised Stasi put together by the grossly underqualified Team Battistelli.

"Many journalists and cameramen joined today's demo," wrote this person some hours ago. "Either it was the investigative unit taking pictures of individual protesters, or there will be wider press coverage in coming days."

The Investigative Unit does have its 'scouts' like Sebastian Bauer, but they don't do video recordings or anything like that (as far as we can tell based on information we have).

Noting that Battistelli exacerbated the penalties for staff representatives (discarding the recommendations from disciplinary committees), this one comment said only one dismissal "was (more or less) the recommendation of the Internal Inquistion a.k.a. Disciplinary Committee. Although they actually recommended one dismissal, one downgrade and one "freeze on promotion" for the next three years. The decision of the President was to dismiss two and downgrade the third. In all three cases he exceeded the recommendation of the Disciplinary Committee because he "supplemented" one of the dismissals with a 20% reduction in pension rights."

"There are not only obvious sanctions against union officials and staff representatives but also more subtile ones," a commenter added later, "like denial of awards and promotions despite excellent performance and forced transfers."

We have heard of that before. We also saw how illnesses get shamelessly exploited to punish staff and rob such staff over the long run/long term (e.g. compensation, pensions). Financial sanctions such as these are intended to weaken coordinators, so we strongly urge staff to support sacked representatives and their families. It would ultimately help everyone, collectively. Try to disrupt the union-busting games of Team Battistelli, the Investigative Unit, and external thugs like CRG. Surprise them.

As this comment put it earlier tonight, "you never have 100% of the workforce present but rather ca. 75 to 80 % due to all kind of missions, training, part-time, sick leave + managers + wanna be managers. 900 is therefore a very high number for The Hague. This being said the pathetic VP1 stating "his door is always open" when he is one of the most aggressive ones towards SUEPO officials is an absolute must see" (here is the direct link).

"Try to disrupt the union-busting games of Team Battistelli, the Investigative Unit, and external thugs like CRG."We are working on some video editing in order to make more of this material easily accessible and neatly organised for future reference (some Dutch journalists and politicians evidently access Techrights for information today).

"The Dutch are overreacting," one person wrote sarcastically, in order to highlight what German yis doing wrong. "They should take example from the Germans, for once: no press or TV reports about the last demo in front of the EPO (1300 people), no journalists challenging the press releases of the Office, no politicians expressing their worries, absolutely no reaction at all from the Minister of Justice. Btw, who said in a comment to the other post that "the flow of money from the EPO is what funds (almost entirely) the entire Justice Ministry of Germany."?"

"EPO governance is broken by design," the President of the FFII wrote earlier today, as "money flows to ministries, as long as that flows."

Germany hardly has any incentive to admit that there is an issue and then address the issue. Here is the latest comment in IP Kat. It says:

just seen on SUEPO Facebook : :o)))))))))))))))))))))))))))

AMAZING : Minnoye declaring to the NL TV that should the Cassation case be lost for the EPO they will simply disregard its application ....

and also mentioning the on-going investigations against staff reps in The Hague which would be just a coincidence if they concern SUEPO officials ...

We have a new hero !!!!!

what a bunch of clowns


As one other person put it several hours ago, "Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich = seat of EPO) still silent about the protests in The Hague. Check via http://www.sueddeutsche.de/news?search=[query …]"

Yes, Süddeutsche Zeitung has gone rogue (the writers changed too) and it now seems like the EPO management's mouthpiece in Germany. Either it says nothing (a conspiracy of silence) or it spreads misinformation and libel which suits the Investigative Unit's Inquisition.

Recent Techrights' Posts

"Use Wayland" Isn't a Bugfix for X (X11 is Still Necessary)
They tell us X is "dead" and we must all be herded into Wayland ASAP
The New Head of OSI is an "Hey Hi" (AI) Obsessed Person
when Bryant says "AI" that doesn't mean AI
"Governments, local authorities, schools and hospitals can lead by example by procuring only Free Software"
Crossposted from Tux Machines
Cindy Cohn Leaving the Electronic Frontier Foundation While Its Co-founder John Gilmore, Whom She Apparently Helped Oust, Will Celebrate 40 Years of the Free Software Foundation, Inc.
EFF has been busy hoarding GAFAM money, whereas the latter is where all the real activism is done
"Google is Googlebombing KDE's Project Banana"
So is Google googlebombing KDE's Project Banana? You decide.
Some Very Large IRC Networks Are Growing
IRC will turn 38 next year
 
USA Not a Place for Free Speech
In America, as in the US, the attacks seem more enhanced or advanced these days
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 16, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Links 17/09/2025: Google Layoffs in "Hey Hi" (AI), Perplexity Hit With More "Hey Hi" (Plagiarism) Lawsuits
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/09/2025: Reclaiming Things in a Digital Age and Moon Phases in CGI
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Google News is Slop, Google News is Plagiarism, Google News is Dying
Google is off the rails
Links 16/09/2025: "The Censorship Alarm Is Ringing in the Wrong Direction" and ASRock Does Microsoft E.E.E. on GNU/Linux
Links for the day
Serious "Breach of Confidentiality of Personal Data" in Europe's Second-Largest Institution, the EPO
Yes, the same EPO that routinely uses "data protection" and "GDPR" as a pretext for hiding or covering up its corruption and white-collar crimes (it even uses that as an excuse for refusing to obey courts' orders)
Adrienne Rockenhaus Says Her Husband Was Arrested for Running Tor and Denied Basic Rights in the United States
the US seems to be getting "russified" in its approach towards Tor
This is What Happens When Microsoft Canonical Lets Decisions on Ubuntu be Made by a Youngster From the British Army (Where He Did Mass Surveillance)
"Is Ubuntu Compromised?"
Back Doored Windows Giving GNU/Linux a Hard Time (Under the Guise of 'Security')
Is this complication intentional? Most likely, yes
Links 16/09/2025: Science, Security, and Conflicts
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/09/2025: Command-line Options in POSIX Shell and Introducing Acre 0.9
Links for the day
Microsoft 'Secure' Boot Versus Dual Boot With GNU/Linux
they're meant to assume everything is OK
Links 16/09/2025: While Oracle Pretends to be Rich It's Firing About 70 MySQL Workers, "Oracle's Revenge" (Faking Demand With "AI")
Links for the day
Microsoft Has Just Published a New Web Page About "Secure Boot Update Process" (Microsoft Also Admits Issues; PCs Can Stop Booting)
Why was this page issued and published only hours ago?
Microsoft Lunduke: I Spread Hate and Then I Receive Hate
Cry us a river, Microsoft Lunduke
"Disable Secure Boot and Fast Boot. Wipe and Start Over."
At least they didn't say, buy a new computer...
The Oracle Ponzi Scheme
Oracle isn't doing well, but it's nowadays fashionable to say "clown" and "hey hi" to prop up one's stock, even based on nothing at all
Taking Out the Battery, Opening Up Your Computer, Just Like a "Normie" Would
At this stage, any person who still says "enable Secure Boot" is misguided or persuaded by companies that sell rootkits
Slopwatch: Serial Sloppers and Slopfarms Still Infesting Google News (Fake 'Articles' About "Linux" Spreading FUD)
searching for "Linux" today yields a lot of FUD
The Reach of Techrights Has Broadened
We nowadays cover a broader range of issues
Complicating Things for No Actual Benefit, Just Added Risk and More Difficulties Adding GNU/Linux and BSDs
Watch what it's like for people who wish to use BSDs
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 15, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 15, 2025
Links 16/09/2025: Autumn Party, RPG Planet, and Optical ROOPHLOCH
Links for the day
Geminispace Growing at Pace of Over 10% Per Year
Contrary to what some pessimists try to claim
Linux Mint Forums Today: Disable 'Secure Boot', It Doesn't Improve Security, It's Just a Microsoft Obstacle to GNU/Linux Users
They also mention MOK
What Ruben Amorim and Stefano Maffulli Have in Common
Censors Wikipedia and Social Control Media
Microsoft Won't Cooperate in Trying to Tackle EPO Corruption (Microsoft Profits From This Corruption)
Use something like BigBlueButton, Jami, Ring, and Jitsi instead
Solved Less Than an Hour Ago: Trying to Escape Windows, 'Secure Boot' Gets in the Way
'Secure Boot' wasn't meant to even exist in the first place
Stefano Maffulli, Executive Director of the Open Source Initiative, Resigns or Gets Removed (We'll Continue Covering OSI Scandals)
A dozen mentions of "AI", not much about "Open Source"
Andy Has Just Nailed It (Regarding Complexity and Failure, a la UEFI)
The users no longer own or control what they buy
Compatibility Support Module (CSM) Versus GNU/Linux Simplicity
what Andy recently called "solutionism"
Links 15/09/2025: "Postal Traffic to US Down by Over 80%" and 'Smart' Spinozacampus Laundry Room Goes AWOL
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/09/2025: Dungeon Hustle and Deleting Oneself From the Net
Links for the day
Breach of EPO's Duty of Care or Cigna Reimbursement Issues
This is the sort of thing that motivated Luigi Mangione to assassinate a CEO
Ask Ubuntu About "Secure Boot" Violation and Laptops That Don't Boot GNU/Linux
Does anyone still believe that "Secure Boot" has anything at all to do with security?
We Are Sad to Hear the Story of Jonathan Riddell, Champion of KDE and GNU/Linux on Desktops/Laptops
I have enormous respect for Jonathan and everything he has done
Talking About the Problem vs Talking to the Problem
Wanting an audience is never a good excuse for compromising one's values and principles
Focusing on Patents
The reason we cover the EPO so much is that it's close to home
"Secure Boot Violation": The 'Joys' of Fake Security Gone Wrong
Not everyone reboots every day
Links 15/09/2025: Russia Invades Romanian Airspace, Penske Media Sues Google Over LLM Slop
Links for the day
Links 15/09/2025: Bitcoin ATMs Scam and "Conservative Cryptography" (Backdoors Fantasies)
Links for the day
EPO Imitates Microsoft: "Three Days or More Per Week" Inside the Office to Get a Desk to Work on; "the Office Breaches Its Promise Towards Staff and Acts in Breach of Its Duty of Care"
The EPO serves no actual function in Europe
Links 15/09/2025: Political Affairs, Censorship, and Copyrights
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/09/2025: Music Genres, Invisible Networks, and Akademy 2025
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 14, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 14, 2025