Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Policy (Squashing Examination) is Already Crashing Stocks, Destroying Companies

When patents are granted and then revoked (due to examination error) the collective cost can be vastly higher than all "revenue" EPO ever got

Investing



Summary: The value of accurate patent examination -- something that the US came to grips with -- is underestimated by patent maximalists who measure their 'success' by the number of granted patents and those who profit from patent bureaucracy (litigation, application, appeals and so on)

IT WAS only yesterday that we wrote about a company that had crashed due to low patent quality at the European Patent Office (EPO) amid EPO scandals. The decline in quality of examination is noted by examiners themselves; many are upset about having to grant software patents in Europe (the EPO's management just frames these as "ICT", "CII", "4IR" and so on).



"Europe depends on patent justice, not patent maximalism (granting as many patents as possible)."Each time a patent gets granted (or refused) in error the impact can be tremendous. One wrongly-granted patent can literally cause billions in damages. A wrong denial can cause billions in losses.

Several hours ago a couple of articles [1, 2] said:

Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) toppled Tuesday afternoon on news European officials may reject a patent covering key blockbuster drug Soliris, an analyst said.

[...]

The European Patent Office issued a negative preliminary opinion on a patent protecting Soliris, RBC analyst Kennen MacKay said. The office set oral arguments for February. Then, officials will make an official decision to uphold or reject the patent.


Whether or not the patent application has merit, the profound impact on the company is clear. In another press release 51Degrees has just said:

European Patent Office rejects Afilias Technologies' opposition to 51Degrees' Patent

On 8th May 2018, the European Patent Office (EPO) rejected the patent opposition, submitted by Afilias Technologies, upholding 51Degrees' European Patent EP2871816 "Identifying Properties of a Communication Device" with one minor change to remove four words. 51Degrees' position as the only innovator in the device detection space is now affirmed.


Europe depends on patent justice, not patent maximalism (granting as many patents as possible). But Team Battistelli embraces the latter, especially with the UPC, which we shall cover in our next post.

Recent Techrights' Posts

"What Comes After Free Software?" Wrongly Insinuates We've Reached the Goal (Prison is Not the Goal)
The oil tycoons use similar tactics against environmentalists, giving them fake "wins"
Making More Work Space
I learned the hard way that less is more in circumstances where more means distraction
MAHA is a Lie, Public Officials Never Valued Citizens' Health (They Still Value Private Businesses, Their Sponsors)
Reject demagogues
New Techrights Turns 2
Today starts the third year of the SSG-based Techrights
What Scares Them the Most is Independent News Sites That They Cannot Control and Censor
Wikileaks was a good example of this
If You Don't Control Your Online Platform, Then Someone Else is Controlling You
be (or become) independent
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Has a Policy on Racism and Sexism
In then future we'll show the misogyny and racial slurs
Links 22/09/2025: Murdochs Might Join Fentanylware (TikTok) 'Investors' (Masters), United Kingdom Recognises Palestinian Statehood
Links for the day
 
Code of Censorship
Extortion is peace
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has Un-cancelled the Best People, Just in Time for the Big 4-0
Mr. Oliva should have been there all along (since 2019)
Most "Modern" Technology Makes You Slower and Dumber
Because proprietary software makes you worse off
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has a New Press Kit for the Weekend After Next Weekend (40th Anniversary)
miles better than social [sic] media [sic] quips, moderated by narcissists and oil tycoons.
Microsoft Had Two Waves of Mass Layoffs This Month (That We Know of) and It'll Get Worse for Microsoft Soon
Will the axe fall again by month's end?
Gemini Links 23/09/2025: Happy Equinox, Photronic Arts, and Perception Cognition
Links for the day
Lessons We've Learned After 17 Years of American Hosting
GAFAM is "all-in" with the "Trump agenda"
Back to Normal Now, We Plan to Do More In-Depth Series (or Multi-part Stories)
Articles (or series thereof) that contain philosophy are important to us
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 22, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 22, 2025
Microsoft Media is Panicking Amid Mass Layoffs Every Month, H-1B Fees, and "Seattle’s Tech Scene in Trouble"
In "late stage Microsoft", copyleft becomes proprietary
The Next Wave of IBM/Red Hat Layoffs Being Discussed Already
Red Hat is sort of disappearing the way Tivoli did
Oracle Started This Year With Slop. Then It Stopped.
Passing fads are like this
Distros That Run on PCs Made 20 Years Ago and Don't Use Systemd
Betas for now
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part I - Abusing British Women on Behalf of American Men Who Abuse American Women
Transparency is important to us, so we've decided to make this series
Slopwatch: Google News and the Evident Slopfarm Infestation
This is what people get about Linux when they query Google for Linux
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Esperanto Music History and Apps For Android
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: More American 'Censorship' (Retaliation for Journalism), Cheeto "Might Be Losing His Race Against Time"
Links for the day
The Blob Slop
Give me more words, give me some text
The 50-Pound Note Experiment and the "War on Cash"
Britain is actually seeing a rebound in cash payments, and it's not a temporary phenomenon
Slopwatch: Blaming the Victims for Microsoft's Failures and Plagiarising Phoronix
That's what Google has been reduced to: slop and slopfarms
Links 22/09/2025: Breaches, Windows TCO, and Arrests
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Rabbit Hole and DeGoogling Fairphone
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: Russian War Planes Invade NATO Airspace While Dihydroxyacetone Man Escalates Attack on Free Speech Because of Critics
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 21, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 21, 2025
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025