Bonum Certa Men Certa

Staff of the EPO is Going Out in Protest (Munich and The Hague) While EPO Management Buys European Media to Control This Media, Promote UPC

The latest increase in the FTI Consulting deal/contract targets German and Dutch media specifically

Sheldon Adelson’s Purchase of Las Vegas Paper Seen as a Power Play
Full article: Sheldon Adelson’s Purchase of Las Vegas Paper Seen as a Power Play
Remember who attacked a judge in the German and Dutch media very shortly (a few weeks) after signing the FTI Consulting deal



Summary: The staff union of the EPO (SUEPO) is planning another couple of demonstrations next week and the EPO's payments to European media bear fruit, serving to demonstrate the corrupting influence of Battistelli's bizarre budget choices and mind-boggling priorities (managing perceptions, not changing behaviour)

THERE IS PLENTY to be angry about at the EPO and SUEPO will lead a march next week, having just announced that the next demonstrations are to take place on the 11th and 13th of October, coinciding with the meeting of the Administrative Council. To quote the full announcement:



On 11 October Mr Battistelli will hold his much publicised (yet another “first in the history of the Office”) Social Conference where he will be trumpeting his achievements just before the meeting of the Administrative Council on 12/13 October. Meanwhile, the attacks against SUEPO officials are continuing in The Hague with three investigations/disciplinary proceedings. SUEPO organises a demonstration on Tuesday 11 October in Munich in front of the EPO Isar building starting at 12.30h, and on Thursday 13 October in The Hague.


No doubt the media will hardly cover it, having been given a lethal injection by the EPO. The EPO is paying to control the media in the Netherlands and in Germany. It is also PAYING some French publishers like Les Echos (for self-censorship and habitual propaganda), which Battistelli later cites in his private letters as 'proof' of his dubious claims. Here in the UK the EPO pays FT (Financial Times) for UPC propaganda (as recently as last week) and one EPO insider found some new UPC material in relation to Brexit. It comes from Les Echos (EPO-funded) and the insider called it "Pro UPC Propaganda as expected - Le €« paquet brevet €» suspendu au Brexit" (published and mentioned earlier today).

Expect more of the media manipulation from the EPO's top-level management. It's their spiel now. They have no compelling story to tell, so instead they're trying to sell. They literally pay the media, which in turn publishes puff pieces and even fields social media accounts to spread the EPO's talking points (FT did this some months ago).

"Expect more of the media manipulation from the EPO's top-level management. It's their spiel now."Remember the time IAM attempted to distance itself from the EPO after the EPO's foreign PR agency had paid IAM for UPC propaganda? Well, IAM has just published a new issue of its totally completely honestly objective 'magazine' and in it appears to be the big lie about EPO patent quality. It is paywalled, so it's hard to say exactly what's in it. They do, however, help the EPO and Battistelli lie about patent quality (they are the only citation the EPO and Battistelli use for such a claim, with Battistelli repeatedly mentioning IAM privately and publicly). It is really that bad and it's verging the pathetic. Does the Administrative Council not mind that Battistelli is wasting millions of Euros buying (one might say "corrupting") European media? And all this to mislead the public and mislead the Council's delegates? If not, then it makes these delegates complicit.

To be sure, the UPC propaganda will end pretty soon, at least as far as its relevance to the UK and Brexit is concerned. IP Kat wrote so much on the subject (usually in favour of the UPC) and here we have a new article about EU-wide injunctions. Well, EU-wide injunctions (even beyond the EU) would be a standard occurrence if UPC (litigation chaos) was ever to sneak into Europe.

"We hope that EPO staff will join us in opposing the UPC."One new comment, among other such comments (a thread initiated by the UPC proponents, like most others), said today: "Of course, a solution would be for the UK to enact legislation to the effect that any judgement of the UPC in respect of an EP patent for which there is a GB part to be automatically enforceable in the UK. Maybe not so good for UK litigators but good for industry."

The self-serving Team UPC is mostly a litigation industry, hence it's craving for the UPC (more money for them at the expense of plaintiffs and defendants in Europe). We hope that EPO staff will join us in opposing the UPC. All it does is (and we've been writing about this for nearly a decade*), it threatens to eliminate EPO jobs and reduce Europe into litigious chaos that's enriching the litigation industry. The very fact that Battistelli has been pushing for the UPC for many years (previous incarnation) raises questions as well; who does this man work for? _____ * Techrights is turning 10 next month and the early efforts to unify patent litigation in Europe go even further back than that.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Changing One's Name Won't Change One's Past
People who have earned a bad reputation are not magically "entitled" to reset
People Who Assault Women Are Not Victims of "Distress"
It seems like an American tradition. In a country with almost 50 presidents, not even one was a female.
Adoption of Gemini Protocol Still Growing
Gemini Protocol is being obscured by the media - it doesn't help that Google 'hijacked' the word "Gemini" - but people still manage to find out about it, download a client, and use it
Brett Wilson LLP "Takes it Personal" (Character Assassination, Not Professionalism). Everybody Can See That.
On behalf of violent men
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
 
Ubuntu is Becoming GAFAM-Like
What does that say about Canonical and Ubuntu?
Slopfarms Which Take Real Articles About GNU/Linux and Turn Them Into Copycats Which Are False
Even before the LLM hype those were quite common
The Firm That Picks on Techrights is Accustomed to Working With Criminals
Techrights never did anything illegal. So why is it being picked on by people who work with criminals?
Microsoft Said the Mass Layoffs Were for "Investment" in "AI", But It's Also Laying Off the "AI" and "Copilot" Staff
Months ago we showed many so-called "AI" people were getting the boot and this time it's the same
DryDeadFish is Dead, Long Live DryDeadFish
We kept checking, hoping it can recover from some temporary technical issue
For Quite Some Time Already Microsoft Attracts Crackpots, Scams, and More
Occasionally we talk about the situation at IBM as there are many parallels
Links 14/07/2025: Chatbots Broken Again, McHire LLM Shows Limits of the Hype
Links for the day
Slashdot Media Turned Linux Journal Into a Slopfarm and Now Slashdot Actively Promotes Anti-Linux Slopfarms
Yes, "no-nonsense" apparently means actual nonsense
Links 14/07/2025: Arresting Photographers, Threats to Revoke US Citizenship Over Criticism
Links for the day
More EPO Leaks on the Way
We hope that Mr. Rowan will actually try to refute what we say and show, not merely point the finger at the messengers
Decommodification is a Corporate Strategy Against Communities
systemd is led by Microsoft and hosted by Microsoft
copyleft.org 'Hijacked' by the People Who Attack the Person Who Created Copyleft
So far there's nothing "tasteless" in copyleft.org, but that can change at any time in the future
Asking People to Take Down Articles and Videos Only Makes These More Popular and "Viral"
If you do something bad, one of the worst things you can possibly do it try to silence those who speak about it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 13, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 13, 2025
Two-Thirds Towards FSF Goal, Richard Stallman to Give Talks in Europe
There are 67 left before reaching the target
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: Politicised Tech and "Leaving GitHub"
Links for the day
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025