Bonum Certa Men Certa

Justice is Dead Not Only at the European Patent Office But Also the Whole European Patent Organisation

In the name of 'security' (not of staff), so-called 'reforms' are passed without proper scrutiny but growing complicity

A shocked Battistelli



Summary: The whole mechanism of justice at the EPO (notably separation of powers) is more or less defunct after Battistelli asserted God-like powers not just over the Office but the entire Organisation, including the above-mentioned Boards of Appeal

YESTERDAY culminated in this article about the Boards of Appeal (BoA) openly complaining about Battistelli. They don't feel like they have independence anymore and it impacts their decisions. In the EPO's propaganda mill, as of today, the Enlarged Board of Appeal's recent ruling is explained/analysed by Carpmaels & Ransford LLP, but one has to wonder -- as we have for at least a couple of years -- to what extent the reign of terror (by Battistelli) played a role in these decisions.



"Dutch media said that Battistelli's regime had become comparable to terror from Battistelli himself, not against him."Jakob Pade Frederiksen of MIP (which hasn't covered EPO matters for a while, perhaps for fear of backlack) explains just how insane and terrifying Battistelli has made the EPO. In the post titled "Update on BoA and security" one sarcastically wonders if he alludes to growing need for protection from Battistelli (e.g. protecting BoA from Battistelli's retaliations) or something else. To quote: "Turning to the physical safety of the EPO's staff and visitors, a variety of enhanced security measures have been implemented recently. The bags of visitors, including patent attorneys, are now being routinely inspected at the entrances of the EPO's buildings, and the EPO has put in place a procedure for inspecting documents and other items sent by ordinary mail. The EPO may return suspicious items to the sender, or it may hand it over to national authorities for destruction."

Maybe it's all just intended to guard Battistelli's alleged bicycles, which are alleged to have been tampered with. Dutch media said that Battistelli's regime had become comparable to terror from Battistelli himself, not against him. Considering the growing number of suicides, the death toll at the EPO is usually the fault of Battistelli's abusive management. In addition, many people are leaving, often by their own choosing. For EPO brain drain in numbers, see the latest comment in IP Kat's latest (3-4 months old) article about the EPO conflict. It says:



About retirements and brain drain - the social reports 2013-2015 provide some data: 2012 retirements 095 resignations 15 ends of service total 153 2013 retirements 108 resignations 17 ends of service total 191 average retirement age 63.1 2014 retirements 143 resignations 16 ends of service total 183 average retirement age 62.7 2015 retirements 216 resignations 23 ends of service total 269 average retirement age 61.1 Average age upon retirement dropped by 2 years in 2015 compared to the two preceding years. The data for 2016 has not been published yet.


The EPO is in a very bad shape. Justice lost legitimacy not just in internal tribunals but also external ones and judges that are supposed to be entirely separate from the Office also complain about loss of independence. This week, as in most weeks, the EPO says (in the cited page, not anchored here in the interests of privacy) that "transparency in all our operations" is a priority, yet they are very secretive for a public institution and transparency is what Techrights does FOR the EPO. Very few people knew about what had been going on inside the EPO until last year or the year before that (2015). Accordingly, fewer politicians bothered bringing up the subject and publicly intervening. Gag orders are very common a routine at the EPO; they also used a sort of gag order to hide their threats against yours truly.

"Justice lost legitimacy not just in internal tribunals but also external ones and judges that are supposed to be entirely separate from the Office also complain about loss of independence."The EPO has just posted something about tenders etc. It did it again today (second time in a few days, citing a Microsoft site where they supposedly claim to be all "open" about procurement practices that the EPO is notorious for). As we hinted yesterday, we are currently investigating a potentially criminal element inside the EPO but are still verifying information. As a side note, since we've brought up Microsoft and procurement, mind this tweet (same pattern that has repeated almost every week lately) and remember that online filing is not as simple as using a browser. Proprietary software is required and it helps to be a Microsoft customer. Watch Microsoft Windows 'ads' in the background of this photo uploaded by the EPO yesterday. No EPO event would be complete without the patent thugs and bullies, or those who rig procurement processes with bribery (we covered examples in the past).

Justice and EPO don't blend; with abuses and immunity the EPO has in fact become antithetical to the concept of justice.

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
 
Links 03/10/2025: Lawyers Caught Using LLM Slop Explain Why They Did It, LibreSSL 4.1.1 and 4.0.1 Released
Links for the day
FSF Board Grew 50% Since Last Year, Has New President, Turns 40 in Two Days
It's a good move for the FSF and - by extension - for software freedom
Links 03/10/2025: Conflicts, Death of TypePad, and TikTok/CheeTok Gives a Boost to Far Right Groups in Europe
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 02, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 02, 2025
Slopwatch: Linux Journal, Google News, and LinuxSecurity
They carry on polluting the Web with fake articles
Gemini Links 02/10/2025: Kubernetes With FreeBSD and robots.txt
Links for the day
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
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
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.
Richard Stallman is Going to Finland to Give a Talk Next Thursday
A day later he speaks in Sweden
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