THE thousands of EPO workers are concerned. The tens if not hundreds of thousands of EPO stakeholders are concerned too. Software developers like myself are growingly concerned about software patents in Europe, seeing what could soon become the European 'Eastern District of Texas' with Battistelli as its boss, having granted a lot of bogus patents. This article is an assorted mix of interrelated topics that we have sat on for a while, combined with the latest news. Readers might find these interesting.
They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom For trying to free the system from the plague I'm coming now I'm coming now to reward them First We Take Munich then we take the Hague.The famous original lyrics said:
They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom For trying to change the system from within I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin"With a bit of humour and philosophy," our reader noted, "one would notice that history repeats and many don't learn from the past mistakes. It is sad."
thank you again for the excellent coverage of EPO matters. Your contributions are certainly a key toward the solution. Allow to comment on one of the recent publications . About the brakes story (again!): It is now clear for anyone that this incident was created by Team Battistelli in order to introduce additional security measures. However that was an insult to the staff (again) and an extremely dangerous move. It is an insult because the staff of the EPO are utterly pacifists and if they really wanted to "illegally" get rid of the tyrant they could do it and no one would find who did it. After all you have there more than 4000 scientists and engineers and I am pretty sure they could have Battistelli "disappeared" in a far more efficient way than cutting brakes. It was thus an insult to their competence. The point that worries me is that by alluding that one may want to harm the boss, the management creates that perception that such things are possible and you know if there is a foolish thing to do, you will find a fool to do it. This is a recipe for a disaster. Mr. Battistelli is playing with death not only with the suicides that he has directly or indirectly provoked but also by orchestrating a, yet imaginary, plot against himself. Hence no wonder that he turns paranoid: his life must be a nightmare. He would be afraid to be in any public place, of traveling, taking a taxi, being in an airport, even being in the EPO basement carpark (which I would shut off as a precautionary measure because is is really a dangerous place), being in the lift or even shaking hands. All that is really dangerous, Monsieur le President, are you so tired of living? What about a stay in your beloved Haar nuthouse?
I have just heard this impressive figure: in 2016 over 60 persons retired at ages younger than 55, compared to 5 persons in 2015. Who says there is no brain drain?We are sad to see the EPO failing so badly. The USPTO, by contrast, is improving. US applications for EPs have in fact just nosedived; even 'artistic' statistics by the EPO could not hide this.
Recent research from IP analytics firm Darts-ip has identified China and Germany as the two major patent jurisdictions in which NPEs enjoy the most success in infringement proceedings. However, the relatively low volume of cases being filed by NPEs in China suggests that significant monetisation activity is still some way off ââ¬â though there are already signs that it is picking up. The Darts-ip study looks at lawsuits filed by NPEs in several major jurisdictions outside of the United States from 2011 to 2016. The researchers pinpointed just over 250 non-US NPE cases over that period, compared to more than 12,000 US cases. While the number may seem ââ¬Åtrivialââ¬Â, as Darts-ip concedes, it is the trend over the five-year timeframe that is telling.See what the EPO is doing to Europe? Same thing SIPO is doing to China. It's destroying the domestic industry. Under Battistelli the EPO became just "SIPO Europe", as we dubbed it back in December. The EPO moves from bad to worse while the USPTO is at least trying to improve. This new piece from Patently-O (also yesterday) speaks of "Regulatory Reform" using a new working group -- like the sorts of groups that existed when Battistelli seized power and then proceeded to shutting down. "Under the direction of the White House," Patently-O wrote, "the USPTO has formed a ââ¬ÅWorking Group on Regulatory Reform.ââ¬Â To implement the 2-for-1 regulatory agenda previously outlined on Patently-O. According to a release from Dir. Michelle Leeââ¬â¢s office..." Lee has done a lot to improve the image of the USPTO. It became a lot saner and among the reforms was the suppression of software patent trolls.
The changes will also alter the opposition process; this will move to a post-grant system like the EPO, except that the term for filing an opposition will be six months from grant rather than the EPOââ¬â¢s nine months. Harmony with the EPO is also achieved when it comes to ââ¬Ësecond medical useââ¬â¢ inventions; when patenting already known substances or compositions for use in new therapeutic applications the ââ¬ËSwiss typeââ¬â¢ form of claim is no longer needed. Also mirroring the changes that EPC2000 brought in, there remains an exclusion from patent protection for surgical, therapeutic and diagnostic treatment methods but the legal fiction that these methods lack industrial application is removed. The option will be available for post-grant limitation or revocation of the patent by the patentee. As with a central limitation or revocation at the EPO, a request can be made at any time during the life of the patent and will be retroactive in its effect."Since when are the Spanish people asking Franco for a comeback?" That is what an EPO insider thought of it. As we noted yesterday, Spain continues to reject the UPC. Seeing what happens in Germany right now should be a strong defense of this decision. it's possible that 4 days from now the UPC will be more or less officially dead in the water. ââË