Bonum Certa Men Certa

Corruption at the EPO Should be a Subject Anybody Can Speak About, Even Insiders

Certainly the independent (in principle) judges at the Boards of Appeal

Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan at EPO



Summary: The latest ILO-AT rulings, which included the cases of at least three staff representatives, as analysed/interpreted by longtime EPO observers

RECENTLY, in light of some truly dodgy moves from EPO management, we became a lot less reluctant to refer to the EPO and Battistelli as "corrupt". That's just what it has come to. We're not even talking about merely ethical problems, such as abject lack of 'diversity' at the Office, with French Presidents for almost 17 years in a period of just two decades (yes, António Campinos is French).



Here's a reminder (visual):

French EPO



SUEPO spoke about these issues several times over the years. It's a lot worse when one looks at the top-level management (beyond Presidents), not just based on nationality but past employment and sometimes family connections.

"The SUEPO Web site (including the former "forums") is publicly-accessible and SUEPO officials are well known to EPO management (the structure of SUEPO and the underlying functions)."This kind of entryism at the Office is a real issue; it's not an entirely unique issue, as it appears to have happened (to a lesser degree) in the US. There's one anonymous account writing about USPTO appointments by nepotism -- a subject many USPTO insiders are well aware of. Yesterday this account said: "Rumors are flying that Pam Isom, an infamous hire of John Ownes and Tony Chiles, is leaving. Reportedly going to DOE, we give her 6 months. No news of the new CIO but we are expecting an announcement any day now. CIO staff seems to be embracing the arrival of Debbie Stephens. GL [...] Confirmed: Pam Isom is leaving PTO. Now to get rid of some of the idiots she promoted or hired. Hopefully Debbie Stephens can help with this duty. We are pretty sure David Chiles will keep everything in place if selected as CIO."

"Thankfully, however, assuming Campinos obeys ILO-AT rulings (the EPO did not do this for Judge Corcoran), SUEPO will get a shot of adrenaline; not only will it get some representation back but the record will show that SUEPO was right..."Perhaps SUEPO's mistake isn't that it said something wrong (it didn't!) but that it wasn't anonymous or 'undercover' enough. The SUEPO Web site (including the former "forums") is publicly-accessible and SUEPO officials are well known to EPO management (the structure of SUEPO and the underlying functions).

So Battistelli, seeing that people were talking about his nepotists and his corrupt hires, decided to destroy SUEPO. Over the past few months SUEPO has barely been active and recent reports say that SUEPO officials nowadays operate in a rather clandestine fashion/nature (for fear of reprisals/retributions).

Thankfully, however, assuming Campinos obeys ILO-AT rulings (the EPO did not do this for Judge Corcoran), SUEPO will get a shot of adrenaline; not only will it get some representation back but the record will show that SUEPO was right (as Techrights covered last night, with an update about the staff representation added later).

This morning Kluwer Patent Blog wrote the following:

In the last week of his term as president of the European Patent Office and a day before the official opening of the new EPO building in The Netherlands, president Benoit Battistelli lost three high-profile cases at the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation (ILOAT). The tribunal said Battistelli’s decisions to dismiss SUEPO leaders Elizabeth Hardon and Ion Brumme and to downgrade their colleague Malika Weaver were wrong and must be set aside.

The ILOAT ordered the reinstatement of Brumme ‘to the position he held immediately before his dismissal’ and the restoration of Weaver ‘with retroactive effect to the grade and step she would have held but for the imposition of the disciplinary sanction’, payment of interest on the resulting remuneration arrears ‘at the rate of 5 per cent per annum from due dates until the date of payment’, payment of moral damages in the sum of 30.000 (Brumme) and 25.000 (Weaver) euros and the payment of costs in the sum of 8.000 euros (cases 4042 and 4043, published on 26 June 2018).

Both SUEPO leaders had been charged with breaching their duties under the Service Regulations – in the case of Ion Brumme inciting Malika Weaver to do so – by unduly pressuring an EPO employee to continue litigation against the EPO and by disclosing confidential information. But the ILOAT concluded they did nothing wrong.


Märpel too posted some quick remarks:

Märpel is delighted to hear that Mr Ion Brumme, former SUEPO Munich chairperson, has been fully reinstated by ILOAT...


And of course IP Kat (or Merpel) has said absolutely nothing about it. It's nowadays on the same side as Battistelli; its people even do photo ops with him. How things have changed since the blog's founder left...

Here's one reader's personal analysis, which was shared with it today:

Malika, Ion and Elizabeth have won their cases.

The Tribunal pointed out that Malika's and Ion's actions were appropriate and irreproachable. Ion is to be reinstated and Malika's downgrading to be reversed.

The disciplinary committee and the president have not handled the case of Elizabeth correctly. They have not established any of the alleged wrongdoings beyond any reasonable doubt, the required standard for disciplinary proceedings. Since the proceedings were flawed, the case is sent back to the Organisation. If the Office wants to pursue the matter further, the entire disciplinary procedure will need to be repeated - by a new disciplinary committee while taking account of the Council's March 2016 Resolution. Since Elizabeth retired in the meantime, as mentioned in the judgment, it is rather speculative whether the new administration has interest in pursuing her case further.

All in all, a clear victory for the staff and a clear defeat for the dictator.


Later today this dictator will inaugurate a construction site! Don't forget to wear your helmets, people.

Recent Techrights' Posts

"Bad Shim Signature"; So 'Secure' That It Overrides Users' Preferences and Turns Itself Back on (Coercive Measure)
This was a few hours ago
We Covered UEFI 'Secure Boot' Scandals. The World Listened.
To hell with UEFI 'secure boot'
Fake News With Fake Numbers About Microsoft
"This is what happens when the world's economy is governed by sick old men"
Slopwatch: "Google News" is Fast Becoming a Mashup of Slopfarms, Linux Journal ("LJ") is a Dump of LLM Slop
Well done, Google News. Google itself can flourish as a slopfarm mashup.
Torturing Users Who Just Want to Run GNU/Linux on Their Own PC
"Linux does not want to install"
European Authorities, Already Bribed and Infiltrated by Microsoft, Won't Help You Find BigBlueButton, Jami, Ring, and Jitsi
Because they're paid by Microsoft and are Microsoft 'addicts' themselves
 
Links 14/09/2025: Disasters for CEOs Obsessed With Slop and Slop Companies School Like Fish
Links for the day
"Bad Shim Signature" (Microsoft 'Secure' Boot)
"Fresh install not booting"
What Microsoft Garrett and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
Similar tactics, different "wings"
Links 14/09/2025: US "Economy Sagging", "Michigan Economy Wobbles From Tariffs"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/09/2025: Minimalist Snippet Manager and Omarchy Linux
Links for the day
The Face of the Digital Far Right: Microsoft Lunduke
Microsoft Lunduke is an online extremist that belongs to and panders to the far right
20 Years Later and Academia Isn't the Same
"I never dreamed of being a professor"
'Cancel Culture' by the Right: Microsoft Lunduke Contacts People's Employers Trying to Get Them Fired
Microsoft Lunduke panders to extremists online
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 13, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 13, 2025
Microsoft is Rapidly Dropped From Web Servers, Shows Survey
Microsoft lost about 8% "market share" in just 3 months
Many GNU/Linux Users Report MOK (Machine Owner Key) Issues in Recent Days
many people don't report this online and never post in Reddit
Links 13/09/2025: Escalations in East Europe and POTUS’ Health Cover-Up
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/09/2025: Lagrange Turns 5 and Lagrange 1.19.2 Released
Links for the day
Microsoft Inside Your Linux: "Security vulnerability that allowed an attacker to bypass UEFI Secure Boot."
2 hours ago
A New Low for "Linux Journal": Promoting MICROSOFT WINDOWS Using LLM Slop
They've just jumped the shark entirely
The Register MS Still Takes Money to Hype Up "AI" in Articles by Microsoft Resellers With the Term "AI" 30+ Times in Them
Notice how many times they mention "AI"
The Apache Logo News is VERY Old, Racists and 'Anti-Woke' Bigots Look for Something to Incite Other Bigots With
Nothing to see here, move along
Linux Mint 9/11: "4th One Today..." (in Reddit)
Remember that not everyone having an issue reports it to social control media like Reddit
Nepal Will Fall Without a Single Shot Fired, Thanks to Social Control Media
Or very few shots (by the authorities)
European Corruption in the European Patent Office (EPO) Targets Culture
"In reality, the project includes a new “legal instrument” shifting administrative burden and liability on EPO staff while creating new uncertainty and externalising Amicale activities."
UEFI Secure Boot Failing, as Expected for Nearly 15 Years Already (Techrights Said This Since 2012)
in the media
Debian 9/11
people report this issue
Gemini and Web Links 13/09/2025: MElon's Slop Grift and "Autonomous Trains"
Links for the day
Moving From Content Management Systems (CMSs) to Static Site Generators (SSGs) Saves You Time, Makes You a Lot More Productive
try to reduce the cost (financial and computational) of running your site
Pursuing Peace Through Violence
You cannot "see" a person's mind, until the mouth opens
Leak: European Patent Office (EPO) is Now Attacking Amicale Clubs
corruption has become the norm and scientists are robbed of any dignity
Can We Please Stop Celebrating Shooters?
"An important point to hammer on is that CoCs were never intended for uniform or symmetric application"
Oracle Fraud (or Defrauding Shareholders)
"the obvious [lie] is that watts are (wasted) electricity [and] and FLOPS are computing capacity"
Geminispace is Growing Faster in 2025 Than It Did in 2024
What matters is that corporations haven't ruined it and LLM slop is extremely rare
Links 13/09/2025: China Punishes for 'Negative' Posts, US Police Unable to Find Shooter
Links for the day
Who's the Mystery Financier of SLAPP Against Techrights and Is That a Millionaire/Billionaire?
Whose idea was it to fund meritless lawsuits against my wife and I?
Slopwatch: Slow Slop Day
This distracts from or may take traffic away from the original articles, actually written by actual people
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 12, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 12, 2025
CoC Gone Wrong: Celebrating Murder OK, Complaining About the Celebration Gets You Banned
Hopefully the NixOS Foundation will have a word with (maybe replace) the moderator/s
Gemini Links 12/09/2025: Familiarity and Secondary Dominants
Links for the day
Explaining (in Length and Depth) the Damage Matthew Garrett Did to Linux and to GNU/Linux Users
no matter how many threats we receive
Links 12/09/2025: "Bad Reviews" as Extortion Weapon, "Free Speech At Risk in America’s Schools" According to ACLU
Links for the day
Only One Speaker Does Not Do Sharecropping for MElon (in X.com)
The man who puts principles before PR/optics
The Mind of the 'Hulk Hogan of UEFI'
in a nutshell
A Day After "UEFI 9/11": UEFI Secure Boot Bypass
In the news today (right now), as published in the past few hours
Links 12/09/2025: Slop Code as Liability, Microsoft Outlook Down for Many
Links for the day
It's Still Not to Late to Turn Off "Secure Boot"
If people reboot their PC or server today, and it relies on "Secure Boot" on Sept. 12 or later, then depending on the firmware there may be trouble ahead
Links 12/09/2025: Shira Perlmutter is Back, “Software Per Se” Patent Rejections in In re McFadden
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Linux Plagiarism, Slopfarms Still Infesting Google News, Many Images Are Fake
Google is promoting plagiarism
"This Morning Might Turn Out to be an Interesting One for System Admins Who Haven't Updated Their Devices' Secure Boot Certificate" (If They Reboot)
Who asked for this anyway?
Gemini Links 12/09/2025: Metric System, Dumping Windows, and Software Architecture is Dead
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 11, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 11, 2025