Bonum Certa Men Certa

Adding Insult to Suicide: European Commission's Site Publishes Benoît Battistelli's EPO Puff Pieces

Helping Battistelli market/lobby for patents on life

European Commission and EPO



Summary: The European Commission's Web site has resorted to publishing puff pieces of Benoît Battistelli, whose input on the subject at hand comes from ignorance and lies, not any substantial scientific understanding of the associated/underlying issues

THE Office which Battistelli undermines is committing institutional suicide, not just driving workers and former workers to suicide.



Some courageous MEPs, such as Marc Tarabella whom we last mentioned yesterday, are trying to do something about it and that's really appreciated by those affected. To quote a comment from yesterday:



New question of MEP Marc Tarabella (Belgian) about the situation at EPO

https://suepo.org/marc_tarabella_office_europeen_des_brevets_oeb_et_abus_sociaux/d-44022

Thanks god it exists politicians like Mr Tarabella, Mr Cordery, Mr le Borgn', Mr Yung, Mr van Nispen, and dozens of others who dare to raise their voice to denounce what needs to be denounced.


But where are the European Commission and Parliament? Why are they so silent/passive/apathetic when such serious abuses and gross violations are committed by Battistelli and his thugs? Why aren't EU officials doing anything? They, collectively speaking, basically spoil their own reputation and judging by comments we habitually see in The Register, this harms the EU as well (people use this to justify/rationalise Brexit).

Last night we saw this new press release (one among many like it) bragging about truly pathetic patents granted by the EPO. "Intellia Therapeutics Inc.," it said, "announced that the European Patent Office (EPO) has decided to grant a patent broadly covering the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology."

"But where are the European Commission and Parliament? Why are they so silent/passive/apathetic when such serious abuses and gross violations are committed by Battistelli and his thugs?"At the same time we saw this new 'article' (more like lending the platform and making a puff piece in the form of an 'interview' -- a PR classic!). This morning we saw it mirrored verbatim in europa.eu, which seems to have stooped this low on ethical grounds. So the EU publishes puff pieces for Battistelli now? While failing to enforce the law against him, due to supposed immunity? It was posted in the European Commission's site and its purpose is to help the Liar in Chief justify patents on genome -- a subject he clearly does not understand (he is no scientific background at all!).

The 'article' by Damon Embling is not really an article but an introduction which goes as follows:

The European Patent Office (EPO) has faced opposition in the past, for instance, over patents relating to processes for re-engineering genes, for use in medical research into cancer treatment. These processes could apply to various animals, including great apes – and that became a magnet for criticism from animal rights campaigners.


The rest is more of less composed by the Liar in Chief (and patently a crook) along with his PR department. This site should know better than to speak to this man, let alone let him print such nonsense. To quote: "Youris.com spoke to Benoit Battistelli, President of the EPO, about the role of patent protection and how it can aid biotechnology innovation and the wider bioeconomy – despite the obstacles faced by some."

"It was posted in the European Commission's site and its purpose is to help the Liar in Chief justify patents on genome -- a subject he clearly does not understand (he is no scientific background at all!)."Battistelli knows not a damn thing about biotechnology. Heck, it wasn't until his mid-fifties that he even got involved in anything "IP". All he knows is autocracy. Look at his career record.

Further down it says this: "This article is part of the communication of the ProBIO project, a support action for KBBE projects which identifies research results to facilitate their uptake into the relevant sector."

So it's acting almost like a think tank. And then it gets fed into the European Commission's Web site. Wonderful!

"EPO workers ought to know that they have somewhat of foe (passive and unsympathetic) in the higher echelons of the EU."The bizarre relationship between EU officials and the EPO continues to be mystifying. It's almost as though the top officials are virtually in cahoots. Earlier today the EPO wrote: "The deadline for the PanEuropean Seal Programme is approaching. Recommend it to anyone you think might be interested..."

This is an EU thing. It makes one wonder if the EU will adopt the EPO after its imminent collapse and reinvention for litigation alone (as UPC hopefuls insist).

EPO workers ought to know that they have somewhat of foe (passive and unsympathetic) in the higher echelons of the EU. They have done virtually nothing to help. The same goes for the German government, unlike Bavarian authorities. Who is rubbing whose back? Is this a case of one hand washing the other and both hands washing the face? And if so, whose face? Why is there endless tolerance of sheer abuses (like the Sicilian Mafia) at the very top tier of European authorities?

Recent Techrights' Posts

Instant Bluewashing at Confluent: Mass Layoffs Alleged at IBM
So the main question is, did IBM just fire 800 people?
 
Links 18/03/2026: Commodore's Hedley Davis Dies, Apple Not Good Enough, Cheeto "Floats Treason Charges for Iran War Coverage"
Links for the day
A Step Close to Shutting Down the European Patent Office (EPO)
Not going to work all month long
EPO Staff Demonstration Today
The demonstration will be live-streamed for those thousands of colleagues who don't live in Munich
Gemini Links 18/03/2026: Brazilian SYN Attacks and BGP
Links for the day
LibreLocal Also Coming to Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, and Spain
It helps raise awareness of Software Freedom
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 17, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 14 Out of 200: Men Who Strangle Women (and Worse) Trying to Force Us to Write Public Apologies to These Men
For those who never before saw a SLAPP, they basically make many demands
"Vibe-forking" and Why It'll Ultimately Fail (Hype on Top of Hype)
Code made with LLMs sucks; converting solid, human-tested code into slop only complicates matters and increases risk
Updates About Richard Stallman's Free Software Foundation
After all those years (a decade) and in spite of phony scandals many people out there still respect him
LLM Slop With "Linux" in the Domain Names
This is becoming a pain and a problem also in the arts and in software engineering
The EFF Has a Bug, Fixing This Bug is Likely Not Possible Anymore
"the EFF's continued existence impairs the arrival of a replacement organization, one which will actually champion digital rights."
Sophie Brun, Raphel Hertzog & Debian sexual conflicts of interest
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 17/03/2026: Microsoft Windows Broken by Samsung, Afghanistan-Pakistan War Escalation
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/03/2026: Newcomers and False-Positive 'Slop'
Links for the day
Héctor Orón Martínez & Debian shadow candidate pressure on Sruthi Chandran
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 17/03/2026: American Fentanylware (TikTok) Investors Implicated in Kickbacks, "Big Oil Knew It Was Wrecking Louisiana’s Coast"
Links for the day
For Third Time in a Week The Register MS Runs Google SPAM That Paints Google as an Ally of Women (Which is False, They're Womanisers)
What does that make The Register MS to women?
British Justice Minister Sarah Sackman Blasts Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
The "legal industry" is due for "some reckoning"
GAFAM Deprecating Old Videos ("Content") by Removing the Support for Their Format for No Good Reason
"Security" is not a valid excuse
Credit/Debit Cards Have Long Been Called Plastics, Over Time They're Becoming More Like Pure Plastics
They cost less than a dollar to manufacture
The European Patent Office (EPO) Holds a Public Demonstration Tomorrow and It'll be Live-streamed
The EPO's workforce was meant to be capable of speaking many languages and have extensive experience in the sciences
People Who Attacked Techrights Also Attacked My Mother
Picking on old ladies because you don't like Free software advocates is never OK
Little Community Element Left in CentOS
CentOS, unlike Fedora, was meant to be long supported and solid
Social Control Media is Cancel Culture (Companies Like Facebook Also Punish/Ban Accounts for Mentioning "Linux" and Lobby for Anti-Linux Legislation)
The masters of Social Control Media decide what ideas can and cannot be expressed
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 16, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, March 16, 2026
Someone at Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is Censoring the Birthday Greetings to Richard Stallman
Some people remember
The European Patent Office (EPO) Illegally Transitioning Into 'Gig' 'Economy' Equivalent (a Shop for Patent Monopolies in Europe)
for scabs aka SEALs
At Least Six EPO Strikes Next Month (Yes, Six!)
The pressure intensifies over time
Several MPs Blast Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for Inaction and Ineffective Action This Week
"Four MPs have written to the SRA"
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 14 Out of 200: The Abusive Cases of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft and His Litigation Buddy Garrett Did Cause "Serious Harm"
claims were de facto abandoned at the trial
Today's Discussions About How IBM Pushes Workers Out
The corporate media keeps trying - baselessly and in vain - to paint everything that happens with the "hey hi" brush
Linux Teck (linuxteck.com) and Ubuntu PIT (ubuntupit.com) Are Botspam
now they just keep experimenting by trashing their sites and reputation
Links 16/03/2026: Moscow Experiencing Cellphone Internet Outages, "Salman Rushdie Is Tired of Talking About Free Speech"
Links for the day
Links 16/03/2026: Arctic Security and 'Mr. Nobody Against Putin'
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/03/2026: KN95 Skins and CSS Surprises
Links for the day
Debian is Dying for Some of the Same Reasons IBM's Fedora is Rapidly Dying
Prioritising CoC censorship, not communities
The Register MS is Again Femmewashing GAFAM (Which Makes Widows) in Exchange for Money
This is a moral issue because they betray or harm women and prop up authoritarian regimes
Gemini Links 16/03/2026: AB 1043, Lagrange Android Beta 47, and Poetry
Links for the day
"Slop-forking" or "Vibe-forking" as the New 'Noble' Plagiarism
New Cloudflare Slop Project?
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part VII - Cult Mentality, Mobbing, Nepotism
Does the EPO actually believe in the law?
2026 Microsoft Layoff Rumours
Surely if we had properly-functioning media, then someone would investigate this rather than rely on official statements from Microsoft and WARN notices
EPO Strike This Week
contact your national representatives about it
Gemini Links 15/03/2026: "Create Opportunities for Good Things to Happen", DOSbook, and Bitcoin Criticism
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 15, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, March 15, 2026
Pirate Praveen Arimbrathodiyil & Debian denouncing volunteers, hiding romances
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock