Bonum Certa Men Certa

Updates Regarding EPO and BoAC: Unrest and Injustice Carry on

Hanging in the balance of Battistelli's gross injustice

Hanging mugs



Summary: Some of the latest information which is publicly and privately available to us, in particular regarding the case of a suspended judge which represents unprecedented erosion of the appeal boards' independence (and hence lack of justice in the Organisation)

THE EPO is in a very sad state. The culprits -- those who have ruined it -- still keep their jobs and even have their contracts extended/renewed. Insiders can now get the Administrative Council's minutes from June. They came out several days ago. What took so long? Are those minutes so secretive and is the EPO afraid that outsiders will exploit them? We are going to publish these quite soon. June's meeting was all about BoAC, whereas back in March Battistelli came under fire (or the pretense of it). Things don't appear to have moved onwards; the latest (October) meeting gave room for hope, but December is unlikely to bring the well-overdue sacking of Battistelli. The crowdfunding of a Battistelli departure (or firing) party just continues and the money piles up. Fireworks?



"One day we hope to release more material from the March and June meetings of the Administrative Council."For those who forgot, the June meeting was all about BoAC, brushing aside the social issues as if they didn't matter, after the March meeting promised they would be dealt with urgently and even sort of set an ultimatum for Battistelli -- one which he obviously ignored.

A person who has seen the Administrative Council's minutes from June told us that "[i]t makes an interesting comparison with how the meeting was perceived at the time. Turns out that the BoA reform only just got through. Some great quotes from Battistelli as well about SUEPO."

One day we hope to release more material from the March and June meetings of the Administrative Council. We already have such material, but we never got around to publishing it due to lack of time (no urgency at the time).

We have meanwhile noticed an additional comment with some links in it, relating to claims that the EPO lied about what had happened in the midst of the above meeting. The comment in IP Watch says:

The entire text of the AC’s March resolution can be found at http://www.hipo.gov.hu/en/news/sztnh-hirek/hirek-esemenyek/147th-meeting-of-the-administrative-council-of-the-european-patent

The background of the issue is explained here: http://kluwerpatentblog.com/2016/03/18/supervisory-board-european-patent-office-votes-for-reforms-increasing-the-pressure-on-president-benoit-battistelli/


Looking over at IP Kat for updates (the site itself is self-censoring, but comments continue to come out), we have:

Why is this post still in the top 5? What happened afterwards? Is the guy dismissed or not?


There is no coverage anymore. The people from IP Kat seem to not care about the EPO scandals, especially after the EPO banned the site for a day. They are self-censoring, specifically regarding EPO scandals (they still mention the EPO, but only in a positive context and UPC promotion). Not by accident, certainly!

Here is one response to the above:

No. Battistelli is still there. The AC didn't take any disciplinary action against him. Casado and Topic were also renewed.


Another person wrote:

Not dismissed. Under the new regulations adopted in June, he remains suspended. Without any running procedure. In a clear violation of judiciary independence....

So, it looks like he'll remain suspended until his end of term, and with current management no chance of reappointment. This is a hidden disciplinary measure... If new allegations pop up, these are likely to be the result of the previous investigation, which under national procedures would not be permitted to be used during a different procedure...


"Is there something rotten in the state of Denmark," another comment added, linking to "Danish Press Coverage of the EPO by Berlingske" (Techrights).

A few more (newer) comments say:

Quite frankly, this is unacceptable. The EPO's whole purpose is to uphold the law (on patents). How can they be trusted to do that properly when they do not even follow their own internal rules and procedures, let alone common principles on the rule of law (or human rights)?

The EPO (and the AC) would do well to remember the importance of ensuring that not only is justice done but that it is seen to be done. The damage to the EPO's reputation (and to that of all professionals working in the patent sphere) could be immense if this is not handled properly. Indeed, that ship may well have already sailed.




Quite frankly, this is unacceptable. The EPO's whole purpose [etc. etc.]

[Yawn] ...

Trop c’est trop. Battistelli doit partir (Philip Cordery, 11.10.2016)

[double Yawn] ...

"Enlarged Board publishes decision: EPO President violated judicial independence"

[more Yawns] ...

Et sinon, ces croquettes, ca vient?


A bit of sarcasm:

The EPO's whole purpose is to uphold the law (on patents).

Sorry, that was yesterday, before the "much needed" reforms to "modernize" the European Patent Office.

Now the whole purpose seems to be lining the pockets of the Representatives of the AC so that they can fake [mild] outrage at what is going on - or no outrage at all at the President violating judicial independence.




The ship sailed a long time ago.....3 years ago

And the silence here is not just embarrassing its highly suspicious


The above comment says that "Casado and Topic were also renewed" -- a subject we'll explore again later this week. These renewals were publicly mentioned in the EPO's latest update regarding the meeting of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation. The overview was published online several days later (the following week in fact) and it says:

The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation held its 149th meeting in Munich on 12 and 13 October 2016 under the chairmanship of Jesper Kongstad, Director General of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office.

After the Chairman's report on the most recent meetings of the Board of the Administrative Council, the Council noted the activities report given by the President of the European Patent Office, Benoît Battistelli (to be published shortly on this website). The Council was pleased with the excellent results achieved by the Office in terms of efficiency and productivity but again stressed the need to be conscious of any possible impact on quality. The Council urged staff and management to use the momentum of the Social Conference, held just ahead of the Council meeting, in order to further the social dialogue and work together to find solutions.

The Council then proceeded with a series of appointments and reappointments of members of the Enlarged Board of Appeal and a Chairman and of legally and technically qualified members of the Board of Appeals.

Later, under the heading Legal and International Affairs, the Council heard a status report on the Unitary patent and related developments, given by the Slovak delegation, representing the country holding the EU presidency for the second half of 2016.

The Council made the following appointments to the Boards of Appeal Committee each for a three-year term, starting on 13 October 2016

a) from among the delegations:

Mr Roland Grossenbacher(CH) and his alternate Mr Derk-Jan De Groot (NL),

Ms Patricia García-Escudero (ES) and her alternate Mr Jorma Hanski (FI),

Ms Bucura Ionescu (RO) and her alternate Ms Catherine Margellou (GR)

b) from among former or serving judges:

Mr Klaus Bacher (DE), Mr Justice Birss (GB) and Mr Are Stenvik (NO). Alternate members in this category would be appointed at the next Council meeting. The Council noted that the Board of Appeals Committee and the President would make a joint proposal for appointment of the President of the Boards of Appeal in time for the next Council meeting.

By way of further appointments to the Council's own bodies, in each case for a three-year term, starting on 15 December 2016, the Council:

-elected Mr Josef Kratochvíl (CZ) deputy chairman of the Council,

re-elected Mr Lex Kaufhold (LU) deputy chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee; and

-elected Mr Vojko Toman (SI) member of the Board of the Administrative Council.

It also elected Ms Delfina Autiero (IT) member representing the Administrative Council within the Supervisory Board of the Reserve Funds for Pensions and Social Security (RFPSS) with effect from 12 October 2016.

On a proposal from the President, the Council decided to extend until 31 December 2018 the appointments of Mr Alberto Casado (ES) and Mr ZeljkoTopic (HR), Vice-Presidents in charge of Directorate-General 2 and 4 respectively.

Finally, the Council noted, as a first step in a longer process, comprehensive social and financial studies and had an exchange of views on reviewing the disciplinary procedures framework.


The above is a somewhat 'sanitised' version of what was posted internally (and we leaked earlier this month).

Regarding that last line, stay tuned as later this week we have much to reveal about Željko Topić. It's not a done deal; Battistelli was rumoured to be behind this renewal.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Michael “Monty” Widenius: It Started in 1983 With Richard Stallman (RMS)
The other co-founder of MySQL is a bit notorious for confronting RMS rather viciously
For the Second Time in a Few Weeks Microsoft Lunduke Makes False Accusations Against Senior Red Hat Staff to Incite a Despicable 'Troll Army'
Nothing that Microsoft Lunduke claims of says can be trusted
su lisa && rm -rf /home/ibm/power
Novell was ruined by another person from IBM, Ronald Hovsepian
A Record Demand at Microsoft: Demand to Cancel
What we're witnessing is a very ungraceful destruction of XBox
Richard Stallman is Going to Finland to Give a Talk Next Thursday
A day later he speaks in Sweden
 
Links 02/10/2025: 'Open' 'AI' Resorting to Gimmicks and Fake Funding, Europe’s ‘Drone Wall’ Discussed
Links for the day
Links 02/10/2025: Brave Passes 100M Users Milestone, Kodak Selling Its Own Film Again
Links for the day
Microsoft is Losing Europe
Hence all the "support" and "discount" offers that are limited to Europe
The Free Software Foundation Starts Fund-raising for 40th Anniversary
New pop-up 2-3 days ahead of the 40th anniversary event
Systemd Breaks Networking in Debian and Microsoft Staff Rushes to Make Face-Saving Excuses in LWN
Microsoft's bluca is already there in the comments, his Microsoft money pays for LWN to let him leave comments early
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 01, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 01, 2025
What the End of XBox Will Look Like: a Fiery Crash
XBox is the next Skype. It won't last much longer. Expect many more layoffs.
Gemini Links 02/10/2025: SMTP Pipelining and End of ROOPHLOCH 2025
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Plagiarism, Fake Articles, and FUD About Linux
not a day goes by without Google News feeding FUD from slopfarms
Gemini Links 01/10/2025: Chat Control and End of Life
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: Long Covid Risk Reiterated, "Bitcoin Queen" Caught
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: EA $55 Billion Deal is Debt and Slop "Raises Vishing Risks"
Links for the day
Bluewashing at Red Hat Means Redundancies
The man who sold Red Hat to IBM meanwhile became a Microsoft Mono booster
After Killing OpenSource.com, IBM ('Red Hat') and OSI Told Us OpenSource.net Would Replace It (But That Didn't Happen)
Now it's time to move on, perhaps tarnishing the "Open Source" label some more (for whatever sponsor wants this)
Linux is Not a Community Project, It's a Wall Street Product
The core goal should be freedom
Bad Actors Abusing the Free Software Community, Vandalising It Using Rogue Politics and Old Tactics
Oil giants have long attempted to do this; now, the digital equivalent of Big Oil does this in technology
Social Control Media Isn't the Future, The Federation or Fediverse Isn't Growing, People's Accounts Vanish for Good
users' accounts will get deleted, not just become inactive
IBM is Failing, This Helps Show Wall Street is Entirely Detached From Actual Commercial Performance
IBM is unable to grow, it's just constantly shrinking
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Clerical Aspects of Publishing and Development
In Free software, the management aspects are considerably reduced
Slopwatch: Fake Articles and Google News Promoting "Linux" Spam or Bot-Generated Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)
These slopfarms help misplace blame
Third Wave of Microsoft Layoffs in September, This Time Many in Liverpool Affected
Be ready for more waves of layoffs ahead of the so-called "results" in late October
Gemini Links 30/09/2025: Motorcycling in Central Oregon, Protocol Styles and the Flag of Sark
Links for the day
Links 30/09/2025: Death Sentences, Internet Censorship, and Internet Shutdowns
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/09/2025: Social Control Media and ROOPHLOCH
Links for the day
Richard Stallman About to Give More Talks in Europe, Some Confirmed Already
In Göteborg
Links 30/09/2025: CERN in "Have I Been Pwned" and More Windows TCO Blunders
Links for the day
Microsoft Canonical is Selling Mass Surveillance and Back Doors as "Security for Ubuntu"
If you are looking for a GNU/Linux distro to use, just remember that Microsoft has Ubuntu in the bag
Justice for Wildlife
animals cannot speak to humans who hate animals
Cowboys Gonna Be Cowboys (on the Internet, They're Not a New Problem)
Boys will be boys
Cowboys of the "Left" and Cowboys of the "Right"
Don't believe the lie that this is some "leftist" thing
When Codes of Conduct Serve to Protect Criminals From Much-Deserved Scrutiny
CoCs are typically unfit for purpose because enforcement lacks context and suitable understanding of the full background (the "full story")
It Took the Open Source Initiative (OSI) 4+ Years to Address the 'Data Breach' or Data Protection Violation Reported to the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) in March 2025
We may never know the dialogue or its nature
Even Microsoft's Biggest Boosters (and Media Operatives) Are Turning Against Microsoft
Expect many more layoffs before the fake "results" next month
GNU Was Right 42+ Years Ago
Since then the abusive, user-hostile technology has spread like mushrooms
Old Isn't Always Inadequate
How many gadgets manufactured today (in 2025) will still work in 2075?
The Monkey Business of Rust People
Compatibility won't matter
Almost Half of the FSFE's Money (the Fake 'FSF', Misusing the Brand) Comes From Vodafone
That money always comes with strings, even if they're invisible to most of us
Microsoft Lunduke Spreads Deliberate Lies to Incite Online Mobs
Has he lost his reading comprehension skills?
Our 19th Birthday (in Just Over 5 Weeks From Now)
We meanwhile have ongoing, solid plans to cover patent-related issues when the FSF turns 40
British GNU/Linux Distro FydeOS Tops DistroWatch
That seems like a decent site and decent effort to keep an eye on
We'll Soon Have 75,000 GemText Pages
avoid many perils of today's Web
Google Used Free Software to Build a Monopoly. Now Google Kicks Free Software to the Curb
The "G" in "Google" does not stand for GNU. It never did. It's just another greedy company.
Gemini Links 30/09/2025: Retro Hardware, Federated Fragmentation, and Nex Server Written in C
Links for the day
4 More Days Till "4 decades, 4 freedoms, 4 all users"
We are now just 4 days away from the rare anniversary
Two Months After Merging to Hide GitHub Losses Microsoft is Doing It Again (This Time Windows)
Merging those two together is not a sign of strength but a tightening of budget
Speculations About the Next Large Wave of IBM/Red Hat Layoffs
the mass layoffs are likely to happen on week 3 or 4 in October
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 29, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 29, 2025