Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Budget (Users' Money) Has Been Corrupting Media and Academia

Money down the drain, draining everyone's reputation

More budget cuts



Summary: EPO stakeholders (mostly users who apply for European Patents and their renewal) have inadvertently contributed to quite a disease which not only jeopardises the integrity of the Office but also the worth of patents, the integrity of media, and integrity of academia

THE EPO certainly knows how to control the media. The secret? Throw money at the media. Failing that, threaten the media.



The EPO has, for at least a decade, notoriously used IAM for all sorts of propaganda (UPC, patent 'quality' etc.) -- to the point where IAM now seems to shy away from even covering EPO matters. It's a sensitive relationship. Well, reposted from IAM earlier today was this article regarding "Deferral Of Examination" at the EPO -- a subject previously covered here (when it was posted in IAM's Web site and the firm's own). There's not much to see there because it was composed by UPC and software patents proponents. It's one big club and litigation is its currency. And speaking of UPC (litigation), recently the EPO had two universities (academia) paid in order to promote the UPC. This means that the EPO moved on from corrupting media to corrupting academia. Some allege that this was done very specifically in order help influence the German courts system regarding the UPC (i.e. against Europe's interests). "Read more about the impact of #patent protection on trade & FDI in innovative industries in this study," the EPO wrote today, not quite noting who was behind this so-called 'study'.

The EPO's corruption of the media/public outlets, including stacking of panels and manipulation of public debates, is truly troubling. It's like we're dealing here with Monsanto/Bayer (a big scandal in Germany about this today), not a public institution.

And speaking of media, watch today's terrible puff piece from World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR). It's about the interview we've mentioned 3 times already (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday). They found a way to spin it and this spin was poorly-received (by EPO staff [1, 2]). Regarding the spin on this, one insider said: "Let me guess who's next in-line publishing a preposterous article about the disturbed situation at the EPO? Perhaps IAM? It would add insult to injury..."

It's a lot of gross revisionism by those willing to put their name behind their words, i.e. those who suck up to the EPO rather than risk alienation. It's a salad of supportive words for Battistelli basically; "A spokesperson for the EPO said the office was pleased with the interview," said the author, "which reflected the “overall support of the Council to the reforms and the acknowledgement of their very positive results, in particular in terms of quality of products and services delivered by the EPO”."

Incredible! What a bunch of liars. Here is how it started:

Benoît Battistelli’s tenure at the European Patent Office (EPO) has been “undoubtedly positive” but there has been a “heavy-handed approach”, the chairman of the Administrative Council has said.

Christoph Ernst was interviewed in November by legal news website JUVE, which asked him the following question: “The EPO is constantly dogged by infighting between the Council’s management and its staff; the launch of the Unified Patent Court is clouded with uncertainty. The outlook is rather dismal, isn’t it?”

His response was that the situation was “certainly not as bad as that”.


Then starts a series of (almost) compliments to Battistelli. Shame on WIPR for quoting the firm the EPO sent to bully me several times. Here it is:

Joshua Marshall, associate at Fieldfisher, said: “Battistelli's tenure has not been without its challenges. Many of the issues have been internal in terms of the EPO's procedures and the staff which it employs.”


They are belittling the issues after Battistelli paid them to literally threaten me and try to silence Techrights (several times in fact, through several members of staff).

The EPO is a sick, sick place. Seeing it from the outside is enough to sicken. One can only imagine how dark and sickening (depressing if not leading to literal illness) it is from the inside. The sickness is infectious and now we have media and academia falling ill, too. The 'virus' propagates using stakeholders' (users') money and spreads in a fashion that severely undermines Europe's reputation and European democracy.

Recent Techrights' Posts

LLM Slopfarms: LinuxSecurity.com and FUDZilla Doing 'Linux' (Fake Articles)
It's 2025. Everything on the Web is getting worse, except SPARTAN.
Red Hat's Bluewashing to be Further Completed This Year
Do not wait for some announcement from redhat.com - it's already covered by IBM
LLM Slop is Now Filling the Web With Pure Fiction/Fabrication/Misinformation About Linux
The timing of this lie/fiction is curious because Torvalds is being brigaded for defending C
FUDZilla Has Turned Into LLM Slop and Machine-Generated FUD (New York Times Has Also Just Admitted Moving in That Direction)
Failing news sites, instead of calling it quits with some remaining dignity, are handing control over to LLM slop (pretending to still be active)
By Buying Twitter, MElon and Cheeto Now Control EU Politicians, Even at the Highest Levels
"the top level politicians make the egregious mistake of trying to treat Xitter as if it were a communications medium"
How to 'Sell' Software Freedom to People
In my experience, it helps when one speaks about control, not freedom, including confidentiality
 
A Gift That Keeps on Giving: Microsofters Reveal a Campaign of SLAPP, Seeking to Censor Critical Information About Lawsuits Against Microsoft
All they can get here or mockery and ridicule
Two Years After Issuing Ridiculous Threats and Choosing a Law Firm in Debt (Probably Desperate for Clients) Matthew J. Garrett Gets Help ('Bailout') From Microsofters
The karma won't be good
How Americans View 'Free Speech' in Practice
"No good deed goes unpunished"
Threats Against Techrights Always Come From Outside Britain
Over the coming days we shall write about an example of our own and we'll show how Americans have the audacity to bully people using a foreign (to them) court
Links 18/02/2025: More DeepSeek Bans and Supreme Court Patent Challenges
Links for the day
Links 18/02/2025: FAA Layoffs and EU Betrayed
Links for the day
On Technical Contracts of Employment and Why People Must Read Before Signing
The wave of layoffs under MElon will worsen prospects of finding alternate/better employment
Gemini Links 18/02/2025: Reading Books and Oneiric Monk
Links for the day
Swiss corruption, Greens, Liip & Debian human rights violations
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Swiss police TIGRIS unit, World Cat Day, Swiss-corruption.com & Debian
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/02/2025: “Hey Hi Video Surveillance” and YouTube at 20
Links for the day
The Washington Post (Jeff Bezos) Dies in Darkness
spread it on
Gemini Links 18/02/2025: Downloading Gemini Files with Emacs and Elpher, Gopher on Devuan
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Confirms His Next Talk, "Free/Libre Software and Freedom in the Digital Society" (Next Monday in Free University of Bozen-Bolzano)
He could already advertise this more than a week ago
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, February 17, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, February 17, 2025
IBM's Chronic Neglect Won't Save Anything and It Might Even Get IBM Sued
The problem is likely a lack of manpower, not deliberate shoddiness
Gemini Links 17/02/2025: Ideal OS, AuraRepo Alpha, and Simple Code
Links for the day
The "Cool Kids" Are Already Using GNU/Linux, Microsoft is Just Cheating
The future and the present are Linux
Links 17/02/2025: War on Dissent and Bloggers, Nationalism a Growing Theme
Links for the day
IBM Going International (and India)
It's Monday and a national holiday
GeekWire: Microsoft Bribes Us While We Cover Microsoft Affairs (Spin Doctoring), Hence We Are "Independent"
What good is a "journalist" sponsored by the very same company he or she writes about?
The Attacks on LinuxQuestions.org
Going to Clownflare only worsens the problem
The GNU Manifesto Turns 40 Next Month
The guardian of Free software (definition, licences, philosophy, hosting and so on) has managed to endure and persevere for 40 years. Very few others can say the same.
Microsoft Lunduke Belongs in 4Chan
Assuming Microsoft Lunduke is aware of the full context, he is now trolling not one but two decent organisations
In Europe and in India Richard Stallman Need Not Duck Anymore, People Trying to Cancel His Talk Have No Sway
the last time a talk by Dr. Stallman got canceled was about a year ago
Back From a Short Break
We can now resume and try to stick to the usual pace
Links 17/02/2025: LLMs Failing and Patreon Support Becoming a Burden to Bloggers
Links for the day
Links 17/02/2025: Blogroll Conundrum; Research, Scientists Under Siege
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, February 16, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, February 16, 2025
Links 16/02/2025: Nostalgia for Physical Media and the US Government Actively Promotes Pro-Kremlin Politicians in the EU
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/02/2025:Life, Cynicism, and languages
Links for the day
Links 16/02/2025: Oligarchs "Collect Your Data and Control Your World", Global Temperatures Shoot Up
Links for the day
Promoting Microsoft Windows With LLM Slop
What is the policy at BetaNews regarding LLM slop?
Alex Oliva, the Potential 'Successor' of RMS, Has a New Web Site
More freedom for Alex Oliva
Links 16/02/2025: "Microsoft Is Laying Off Employees" and Internal Dissent Brewing at Facebook Over Regime Complicity
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, February 15, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, February 15, 2025