Bonum Certa Men Certa

By Promoting the UPC, in Defiance of Public Will, the EPO Has Become Patent Trolls' Best Friend

Margot Fröhlinger and the rest of Team Battistelli actively intervene in policymaking, in the service of trolls

Margot Fröhlinger for UPC



Summary: The patent–industrial complex, aided by the EPO under Battistelli's iron-fisted reign, is trying to convince us that the Unitary Patent Court (UPC) is coming soon and that it is desirable (it's neither of those things)

THE EPO is in chaos in part because of so-called 'reforms' like the Unitary Patent Court (UPC), which understandably face considerable resistance.



"Remember that they said 2015, then 2016, then 2017. They just can't seem to make up their mind. It's always "next year", whatever that year may be.""The EU Unitary Patent," says this law firm this week about the UPC, "is expected [...] from very early 2018," but that is not true. It's not expected, just hoped or craved by trolls and patent lawyers (especially prosecutors). And it's not coming any time soon, for various reasons not limited to Brexit.

Tackling the relevant part from this new article (titled "The EPO Grant Phase - Briefing Note"): "It is expected that, from very early 2018, it will be possible to validate a European Patent as a Unitary Patent as well as or instead of as individual national patents. Validation as a Unitary Patent will give the European Patent legal effect in a number of participating EU states."

"They just try to attract business, even from trolls."Remember that they said 2015, then 2016, then 2017. They just can't seem to make up their mind. It's always "next year", whatever that year may be. They're the boy who cried "Wolf!"

The article goes on as follows: "The procedure for validating as a single Unitary Patent will be administered centrally and will be substantially streamlined compared to validating the European patent in each of the individual participating states. A single renewal fee, approximately equivalent to that of four individual states, will be payable to maintain the Unitary Patent in force. The cost of obtaining and maintaining a Unitary Patent will thus be less than validating in multiple individual states and those applicants who routinely validate in more than four EU states may find obtaining a Unitary Patent a cost effective way of maintaining protection in Europe. More information on the Unitary Patent can be found here."

"The reality of the matter is -- and we cannot emphasise this strongly enough -- Brexit is not compatible with the UPC and no matter which party wins next month's election, these problems will certainly remain."Marketing. They just try to attract business, even from trolls. Watch the latest marketing from Kluwer Patent Blog, part of Team UPC. (via)

The reality of the matter is -- and we cannot emphasise this strongly enough -- Brexit is not compatible with the UPC and no matter which party wins next month's election, these problems will certainly remain. Article 50 being invoked is a death knell to the UPC, probably not just in the UK. A new article about UPC and the UK, covering "how the complex relationship affects businesses," speaks a lot about "patent trolls" -- the reason why UK-based software companies oppose Unitary Patent ratification. Here are some relevant portions/passages from the article:

In the world of technology, intellectual property (IP) is the secret sauce that will determine how valuable the business is - now and in the future. Not only will it help to differentiate between tech companies, but it is vital for attracting future investment and supporting international expansion.

Yet, not everyone uses intellectual property in the same way. Some parties, patent trolls, base their business model on aggressive IP lawsuits and quick settlement payments.

Patent trolls fall under the so-called Non Practicing Entities (NPEs), organisations that hold a patent for a product or process without any intention of developing it. However, not all NPEs are patent trolls: universities, research organisations or individual investors who lack the resources to develop something they hold the patent for also fall within this category.

There are so many factors in a patent system that might influence or encourage activity by an aggressive NPE, including litigation costs, the cost risk involved, uncertainty around outcomes and the speed with which cases are decided on.

Currently the US system is more attractive than Europe for NPEs: with the losing side typically not paying the winner’s legal costs, NPEs feel encouraged to ‘have a go’. The US additionally is a large geographical area, so a single decision can be effective across the entire country.

In Europe it is still necessary to enforce patents country-by-country, but the arrival of the Unified Patents Court (UPC) could change all that.


Good for patent trolls, which traditionally use software patents (that are not patent-eligible in pertinent nations/member states).

The very fact that the most vocal supporters of UPC habitually promote trolls should give us a clue. We have noted this correlation before.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Someone Should Remind Microsoft Lunduke That Microsoft Hires Many Sexual Criminals and Pedophiles as Well
Microsoft Lunduke on an "expedition" to find one or more perverts, then generalise to everyone in the "community"
Cash Machines (ATMs) Make Mistakes and They're Proprietary Software
Correcting mistakes is a colossal challenge
Yes, Microsoft is the Problem
"I am no MS shill."
Another Failed Use Case for Chatbots (LLM): Legal Advice and Analysis
They're just some self-discrediting toy that costs way too much to operate
Nonfree Software in My Bank, by Richard Stallman
Updated 8 hours ago
 
Links 29/07/2025: Data Brokers Gone Wrong/Rogue and "Copyright Thicket"
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Linuxconfig.org, Linuxsecurity.com, Fagioli, The Register
Today's "Slopwatch" isn't the first article about LLM slop
We Cover Topics Other Sites Are Too Afraid to Cover (Even When They Know the Facts)
It's not that they doubt the truth, they just realise there may be consequences for talking about it
They Try to Tell Us the Free Software Foundation Inc is Dying, But Its Revenue Doubled Since the Dot-Com Bubble Burst
Being in "Activism" is never easy; but it does positive things for society
It's About the Cost of Workers, Not the Fictional Skills Shortage (That Does Not Exist, the Media Spreads False and Sometimes Self-Fulfilling Narratives)
This issue isn't limited to computing, some dub it "globalism"
Links 29/07/2025: More Pushbacks Against Slop and More Praises of Tom Lehrer
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/07/2025: Purple Yarrow and Understanding Op Amps
Links for the day
This Monday WebProNews Absolutely Flooded the Web With Fake (LLM Slop) 'Articles' About "Linux", Google News Promoted Them as Legitimate
All of the following are fake articles attributed to pseudonyms or authors that don't exist; the images are also slop. Why does Google promote these?
Linuxiac is Not a Slopfarm, But at Least Some of Its Articles Are Machine-Generated Fakes
what we said about it was correct
Expect More Microsoft Layoffs
"Are more job cuts coming?"
Microsoft Behaving Like It's Running Out of Money to Pay Salaries
Does that seem like the behaviour expected from a company which claims it is "worth" trillions?
LWN Downtime Due to Linode, Not LLM Bots
"I’ve received an email letting me know that there is a potential for data loss."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 28, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 28, 2025
Links 28/07/2025: Science, Health, and Conflicts
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Healthy Self-Image With Autism and a "New Life"
Links for the day
Links 28/07/2025: COVID-19 Sped up Brain Aging, "Circumvention is More Popular Than Compliance"
Links for the day
Richard Stallman is Usually Right Because He Thinks "Outside the Box"
he is able to observe society (mores and norms) as somewhat of an outsider
LWN Has Been Down for a Long Time, Another Casualty of LLM Bots?
Time will tell. How much time though?
Slopfarms Versus 'Linux' (and Against People Who Write Real Articles About GNU/Linux)
LLM slop in slopfarms by Brian Fagioli and Redazione RHC
Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray and Running pkgsrc in a FreeBSD Jail
Links for the day
Microsoft Turns News Sites Into Spamfarms
Is the site The Register MS the next IDG?
The Register MS/The Register US
On Saturday I contacted them for a comment (before issuing criticism)
Hacking revelations at Vatican Jubilee of Digital Missionaries
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 27, 2025
The Week to Come
Planning ahead
LLM Slop Has Only Been a Boon for Misinformation Online
The very same companies that were supposed to maintain quality (again, not limited to Google with PageRank) are now actively participating in generating and spreading slop
When They Tell You It's Free, Does That Mean No Charges (If So, Who's Paying and Why)?
there's "no free lunch"
We're Going to Focus Less on the Molotov Cocktail-Throwing Microsofters and More on Patents
We can get back to focusing on what we wanted to focus on all along
Just Trying to Keep Web Sites Honest (Journalistic Integrity)
the latest articles in LinuxIac are real
Links 27/07/2025: Political Affairs, Data Breaches, Attacks on Freedom of the Press
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: Hot in Japan and Terminal Escape Codes
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs Coming, Science and Hardware News
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: FSF Hackathon and "Hulk Hogan Was a Very Bad Man"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: DAW Mixer Chains and Simple Software
Links for the day
The Register MS is Inventing or Giving Air Time to New Conspiracy Theories so as to Distort the Narrative As High-Profile Agencies Fall Prey to Microsoft Holes
But the problem is holes, i.e. Microsoft making bad products; the problem is Microsoft
Most Editors at The Register Are American, Including the Editor in Chief, a Decade-Long Microsoft Stenographer (Writing Prose to Sell Microsoft)
It's not easy to tell where the site is based (we tried) because it's hiding behind ClownFlare and CrimeFlare hasn't been well lately
Pushers of systemd Rewrite History (Richard Stallman Said UNIX "Was Portable and Seemed Fairly Clean")
Unlike systemd
"New Techrights" Soon Turns 2 (A Few Days Before the FSF Turns 40)
We have a lot more to say about LLM bots
When Silence Says So Much
Garrett, a 'secure' boot pusher, will need to defend himself in the UK High Court
The Register in Trouble
There is not much that can be done at this point
Trajectory of The Register: From News Site/s Into "B2B"... and Into Microsoft Salespeople
Something isn't right at The Register
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 26, 2025
Misinformation in Social Control Media
Social control media passes around all sorts of tropes
Slopwatch: Fake Linux 'Articles' and Slopfarms With "Linux" in Their Names/Domains
throwing bots at "Linux" to make some fake articles