SOMETIMES we cannot help but feel watched, like EPO management reads our blog closely (we have actually been told this) and the FTI Consulting 'gurus' then tell them how to respond, e.g. with a blurb about patent quality (old news recycled) a day after this major leak of ours, changes to rules after this leak which made the EPO rather frantic or bashful (stakeholders complained), and now the above nonsense, which we already covered here in the middle of December (at least twice [1, 2] in a dedicated fashion). What is going on here and what is Team Battistelli hoping to accomplish? Is it going to spam some journalists and distract them from what we believe some of them already intend to cover? The PR staff may still have enough days in the week to do so and we more or less know how they do this.
epo.org link, which can potentially be used for unmasking people inside the EPO)
In his welcoming remarks, President Battistelli said: "Mr Josefsson's arrival in the post of President of the Boards of Appeal is of great importance. From the very outset, the reform has aimed to ensure the Boards reinforce their role as a judiciary body and can effectively serve users of a balanced and efficient patent system. We are confident that Mr Josefsson, who has a great deal of experience in judicial and international affairs, will help to ensure the reform delivers the benefits that it was designed to achieve."
"The whole Organisation has been compromised at many levels and a Vice-President currently faces corruption indictments."It would in itself become a scandal if Battistelli censored their report (a foolish move to even attempt), just serving to reinforce their point... and besides, we have already made a copy anyway. One thing that Battistelli can attempt to do instead is punish them for it, again, especially if/once discovered who inserted these 'Satanic verses' which dared criticise God, Battistelli. In the mean time, attention diversion is possibly attempts, hence the above.
Already, as is made apparent by the following new comment, there is serious brain drain, confirming what we have been warning about for a long time (replacement of experienced and 'expensive' workers, along the lines of ENA 'economics'). We couldn't agree more with the following thoughts:
The retirement age and resignation figures show a pretty clear trend. Compared to 2013, (experienced) people are now more keen to leave the employ of the EPO. Most likely the figures for 2016 will be even worse.
The shift to younger (ie lower cost) employees means a cheaper and likely more malleable workforce. This will mean increased "profits" for the EPO (especially given the ridiculous increases in fees that have been announced) and fewer problems with old hands who remember what it was like to be treated with respect. With such bumper profits coming through, it looks like it will be trebles all round for BB and his cronies at the AC!