Summary: A deeper look at Battistelli's succession (or contrast), which is rumoured to be Christoph Ernst from Germany

A number of readers of ours have been searching the Web for clues regarding Ernst's stance on software patents but were not successful. There's not much information about him in English and not even in German. It was reported that German delegates to the Administrative Council, based on what we learned back in December, had expressed concerns about Battistelli. That would probably have to include Ernst, who is rumoured (based on German media) to be the person who's going to replace Battistelli.

"Will that be enough to convince delegates (Administrative Council) to vote against Battistelli?"An injunctions-friendly^* UPC would go a long way in supporting software patents and we do know that Ernst previously worked towards the previous incarnations of the UPC. Here we have a longtime proponent of software patents and UPC doing it again. No word from this UPC booster (who profits from it in her recently renamed/rebranded employer) about the antidemocratic nature of the UPC or its many downsides, just the borrowing of the UK-IPO's name to make it seem like an imminent reality (it's the self-fulfilling prophecy tactics). Public input is currently an obstacle to the UPC, so the lawyers who conspire or collude to make it a reality behind closed doors pretend it's not needed. The public, in their view, is just a negligible nuisance. Battistelli has been acting the same way when it comes to the UPC, which is far from a reality. Spain is probably the biggest barrier to the UPC and it needs sufficient access to real information in Spanish (not PR/lies from Battistelli and his FTI Consulting-funded UPC propagandists).

Speaking of propaganda, the EPO has just sunk some propaganda into British sites too^**, probably serving to distract from reports such as "Deutsches Arbeitsrecht gilt hier nicht". As SUEPO put it yesterday: "The audio report is close to the report made by the Bayerischer Rundfunk on TV on 2 March 2016."

SUEPO also publicly shared the videos from Bayerischer Rundfunk some time yesterday (around lunchtime). "On 2 March 2016," it wrote, "the Bayerischer Rundfunk broadcast a 18-minutes report (from 12'25'') about the EPO. A similar report was broadcast via the radio (Deutschlandfunk; audio is available here) on Sunday 6 March 2016. Subtitles in English are provided."

This came out in time for the vote on strike action. Will that be enough to convince delegates (Administrative Council) to vote against Battistelli? Or is there still overwhelming fear of retribution? Is Kongstad on Battistelli's "naughty" (perceived enemies) list now, due to the letter he drafted? At the end of next week the EPO's staff will almost definitely go on strike and the Administrative Council should defend Kongstad, not the psychopath Battistelli. When Battistelli told Dutch media last week that his "relationships are excellent" he was probably thinking of Bergot and her husband, who is loyal to Battistelli. It's all one big happy family at the top [1, 2, 3, 4] (Team Battistelli), but the Administrative Council quickly reaches the verge of divorce. ⬆ ___ ^* MIP has this new report about EPO and injuctions, noting that "The Athens Single Member Court of First Instance recently granted a preliminary injunction based on a patent despite the fact that the Opposition Division of the EPO, a few days before the preliminary injunction hearing, had revoked the same patent." ^** MIP also has this new report about Battistelli and his new allies in Tunisia, as "[v]alidation of European patents in Tunisia will soon become a reality," making all sorts of jokes possible about Ben Ali Battistelli and other tyrants.