Bonum Certa Men Certa

When the EPO's PR Team Says About UPC (Unitary Patent) That It Can be Delayed It Means Derailed or Called Off

The 'Unitary' patent will quite possibly end up like 'EU' patent or 'Community' patent, i.e. a failed project that never quite got off the ground

A shipwreck of UPC
Has it sunk yet? Multinational corporations won't quit without a fight.



Summary: The UPC might be derailed -- not just delayed -- before it even gets started, based on reluctant admissions not just from Benoît Battistelli himself but also the EPO's latest statement (issued in response to WIPR's inquiry)

Yesterday we wrote about the UPC's latest news, namely Benoît Battistelli's admission that the UPC can soon be derailed, perhaps much to the chagrin of Team Battistelli but the delight of most EPO workers, especially those who deal with appeals. Appeasing multinational titans at the expense of Europe as a whole isn't the original goal of the EPO, or at least oughtn't be.



Joining the voice of Benoît Battistelli for 'damage control' are now his PR drones:

The European Patent Office (EPO) has told WIPR that the unitary patent system could be delayed if the UK votes to leave the EU on June 23.

EPO president Benoît Battistelli spoke about the upcoming EU referendum vote in the UK.

“In case of a Brexit vote it is not clear what happens, and the implementation of the unitary patent system could be delayed,” he said.


"The strategy du jour is pretending that UPC is inevitable (and act as such, e.g. by advertising jobs and setting up courts in the UK), but that's just a Clintonite approach where you declare victory prematurely in order to induce defeatism (or surrender) among the opposition."The (Benoît Battistelli's) EPO mouthpiece (PR team) is creating a parallel reality where, if Battistelli says "delayed" about the UPC for example, it might as well mean demolished, as it has been 'delayed' for many years now (it used to be called other things and it never quite took off, even when unity or harmony in the EU was far better). The strategy du jour is pretending that UPC is inevitable (and act as such, e.g. by advertising jobs and setting up courts in the UK), but that's just a Clintonite approach where you declare victory prematurely in order to induce defeatism (or surrender) among the opposition. It's an abhorrent if not abusive strategy.

Regarding the EPO's PR, they are in full denial mode. It's all about creating an illusion of invincibility and might, even when there's none. It's about pretending that Battistelli's "relationships are excellent" (to quote his ludicrous remarks to Dutch/European media earlier this year) when they're utterly terrible and all the staff (most managers included) dislike him with a passion, except perhaps the cronies whom he brought with him, mostly from France (we refer to them as "Team Battistelli" -- a term that recently grew feet). Speaking of Team Battistelli, or Battistelli's "circle" as SUEPO typically alludes to it, we recently became aware of what seems like cracks in it. "The rumour is that Ciaran McGinley left because a clash with Elodie Bergot," one person told us about the wife of Battistelli's old INPI minion. "He was a president€´s minion, too, but was also regarded as somebody who stood up for his people. He wanted to get a bonus for one of his staff who had disappeared from a bonus list and went to Elodie Bergot who refused. Since [neither] the VP2 nor anybody else supported him he left, but I cannot believe that somebody like him would leave in a fit." VP2 is Alberto Casado Cerviño, whom we wrote about before in relation to some 'funny business' [1, 2, 3]. "He must've been annoyed by other things," our source told us about McGinley.

"The EPO's management forgot what it's supposed to actually do and It'll run out of money if this carries on (stakeholders will realise that EPO patents rapidly lose value)."But don't worry. Everything is fine, insists the EPO's PR team and media mouthpieces. These people are still milking their own very expensive festival from over a week ago (up to 7,000,000 Euros are getting wasted on a few hours of silly ceremony which is essentially Battistelli lobbying). Today's EPO is paying for lots of spurious nonsensical activities which have nothing whatsoever to do with patent examination. The EPO's management forgot what it's supposed to actually do and It'll run out of money if this carries on (stakeholders will realise that EPO patents rapidly lose value). How many of the several millions of Euros were paid to media companies and so-called 'artists' which try to dress up a lobbying event as "science"? Waste and abuse of biblical proportions is what it is (an effort to change public perception), but sooner or later everyone will know what really became of the EPO. The more people know, the angrier they get and the more likely they are to get involved.

Recent Techrights' Posts

IBM SkillsBuild as Microsoft Training, Microsoft Vendor Lock-in, Microsoft Surveillance
Microsoft benefits from IBM's "training"
 
Dr. Richard Stallman @ Georgia Tech Next Week
More Than One Week From Now
EPO People Power - Part XXXII - Little Hope That European Press Will Attempt to Expose Drug Abuse in Europe's Second-Largest Organisation
What does this tell us about the press in Europe?
Three most controversial Australian authors linked to St Paul's, Coburg
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 11/01/2026: Data Breaches and Recent (Early 2026) Political Developments
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/01/2026: Insomniacs After School and Boycotting Amazon
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, January 11, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, January 11, 2026
Brett Wilson LLP 'Dropping' the LLP, Is This Rebranding?
It's not a coincidence or a glitch, there was a formal change somewhere in the system
Can IBM Still Control the Narrative?
We'll see what comes out through the grapevine later this week
EPO People Power - Part XXXI - Almost No Crime is Possible Without Enablers and Complicit Colleagues
By the middle of January 2026 we'll have taken things up another gear
Aruba's GNU/Linux Adoption Seems to Have Reach All-Time High This Year
ChromeOS rose by a lot too
After the LLM Slop Frenzy...
In every way, slop is no better than spam
Links 11/01/2026: 'Nothing to Lose' in Iran and Kyiv Restores Electricity
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/01/2026: "Late To The Party" and "Thinking About Software Licences"
Links for the day
Links 11/01/2026: Bob Weir and Stewart Cheifet Perish
Links for the day
Higher Adoption Rates of GNU/Linux in Cyprus in Recent Years
there are some Cypriots who are championing Free software
Microsoft's linkedin.com is Shrinking, Expect LinkedIn Layoffs to Carry on in 2026
Expect the mass layoffs and office closures to carry on there, maybe as early as next week
Gemini Links 11/01/2026: Scott Morgan and 'The Unix Way'
Links for the day
IBM to Be 'Reorganised'
The rich look for ways to 'monetise' what's left IBM
Dr. Andy Farnell Explains Why He'll Stop Sending E-mail to Microsoft and Gmail Users
The article is long and well worth reading
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, January 10, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, January 10, 2026
Monday, January 12, Red Hat Layoffs Allegedly Planned
We'll update this post or follow up if or when we get more information
Slop Still Becoming Rare as Another Week Ends
Generally speaking, calm and quiet is desirable, it's what we hope for (an absence of slop, a lack of need to keep abreast of it, ultimately)
Links 10/01/2026: Iran Offline, Venezuelans Decry Civilian Casualties
Links for the day
GAFAM Wants War
Go war! Go bailouts! Go debt! Go Wall Street!
GNOME Foundation's Microsoft Developer Account
"Lately they're teaming up with Mozilla to eliminate middle click paste - something which I use continuously."
GNU/Linux and Chromebooks Rose to Almost 10% in Haiti
What's noteworthy is that this month GNU/Linux is measured at around 8% and ChromeOS at about 2%
Links 10/01/2026: "Abolish ICE or GTFO", Calls to Ban X/Twitter From Apple/Google App Stores (or Implement National Blocks) Over MElon Turning It Into Non-consensual Deepfake Porn Site
Links for the day
EPO People Power - Part XXX - New Year Starts, Cocainegate Still Discussed a Lot, António Campinos Desperate for Distraction From It
Why the sudden change or 'generosity'? [...] Actual cocaine addicts caused nervous breakdowns among sober people
2026 Might be the Year Microsoft Replaces Layoffs With Mass Firings (No Severance Payments to Dismissed Staff)
It's hard to "see" PIPs unless insiders blow the whistle
IBM and Microsoft Hiding Layoffs in Similar, Overlapping Ways
Performance Improvement Plans aplenty
IBM is a Cancer That Attaches Itself to Everything
Red Hat should have remained an independent company
Links 10/01/2026: STV Layoffs (Scottish TV), “CBS Evening News” in Chaos (Culls and Censorship by the US Regime)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, January 09, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, January 09, 2026
Gemini Links 10/01/2026: Blackout, E-Waste, and Secondary Smartphone
Links for the day