Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Strikes Further Diminish Chances of UPC Ever Materialising (in Any Shape or Form)

Another EPO strike
Credit: MSServices Global



Summary: The EPO crumbles under the weight of its own corruption while an increasingly-insane Team UPC pretends all remains normal and a patent trolls-friendly system is ready to take off

IT IS becoming a busy week (and maybe weekend) down in Munich. SUEPO has had the final straw. We expect more to be said, maybe in light of the Kötter Group as well. Is the EPO about to become infested with thugs and goons from a firm founded inside the Third Reich? And apparently participated in the occupation and exploitation of the Netherlands?



"What we're seeing here is a gradual shift; the public does not view the EPO as an ally or a regional protector; rather, it's an exploitative foe that extracts money from the European public and gifts rogue entities, both contractors of the EPO (connected to EPO chiefs) and patent trolls."Earlier today we took note of the upcoming strike (assuming staff votes for it and it's approved), adding the above banner. As it turns out, it was made by a Dutch firm. "Sorry to bother you with this," one reader told us, "but it seems that you used the wrong source for the published picture ("Credit: Anonymous Twitter account“); however credits go to "MSServices Global" (a Dutch registered business). I've heard from a reliable source (from within the Union) that this company supports the union. Many thanks in advance for correcting it." (We've just corrected it)

What we're seeing here is a gradual shift; the public does not view the EPO as an ally or a regional protector; rather, it's an exploitative foe that extracts money from the European public and gifts rogue entities, both contractors of the EPO (connected to EPO chiefs) and patent trolls. The public is only going to suffer and Europe's reputation too is being harmed.

Earlier today we saw this press release in PRNewswire about "Formal Requirements of the European Patent System"; which system? The one foreseen and set up by the EPC or the sordid mess we have today, operating outside the rule of law and even defying the EPC itself?

"The EPO basically violates the law; the EPC, the courts, the European Parliament..."On May 16th this long blog post was published in Spanish (Spain opposes the UPC and is no friend of the EPO in general). Benjamin Henrion had a go at translations with [1, 2]: "Where the European Parliament did have a starring role was in the rejection of the Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions in 2005. [...] However, the EPO has continued to do what it has wished in this area [...] EPO has continued to do what it has wished in this area, so the rejection of the European Parliament did not result in the elimination of "software patents" and certainly leads to the EU's inhibition in patents, leaving initiative to the EPO..."

The EPO basically violates the law; the EPC, the courts, the European Parliament...

"Putting aside illegal software patents, how about patents on life and nature?"No sane judge would ever entrust or assign anything legally-sensitive to the EPO, which also violates the privacy of stakeholders (underreported issue that corporate media did not bother covering, as usual).

Putting aside illegal software patents, how about patents on life and nature? CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP's Robert Stephen has just published this article about Broad Institute’s CRISPR patent loss. Will the EPO's examiners manage to defy management and patent maximalists who infest the management level? Then deny patents on life itself? (Patents in violation of EPC)

To quote Robert Stephen:

The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard owns several key patents related to the CRISPR technology. One such patent is EP2771468 (“EP ‘468”), which relates to a fundamental aspect of the CRISPR technology in eukaryotic cells. EP’468 was granted in February 2015 and opposed by nine opponents. Following an oral hearing in January 2018 the Opposition Division of the EPO revoked the patent due to lack of novelty over two pieces of intervening art, i.e. documents published after the earliest priority date. These two documents became part of the state of the art after it was decided that the application was not entitled to its earliest two priority dates.

The Broad Institute has appealed the Opposition Division’s decision. Their grounds of appeal rely on attacking the EPO’s current approach to determination of priority entitlement.

The EPO applies an “all applicants” test for priority. The right to claim priority belongs simultaneously and jointly to applicants when there is more than one. The right to claim priority to the two earliest applications belonged simultaneously and jointly to Mr Zhang, Mr Cong, Ms Habib, and Mr Marraffini, yet neither Mr Marraffini nor his successor in title (Rockefeller University) were named as applicants on the PCT, and neither had assigned his right to claim priority to any of the named applicants. The PCT could not, therefore, validly claim priority to the two earliest applications, and thus EP ‘468 was deemed to have a priority date of 30 January 2013.


At the moment, with referrals and appeals impending, all sorts of European Patents are just 'hanging in the air' (great uncertainty over their fate). The FCC in Germany is certainly aware that EPO judges lack independence (the judges themselves say so), so we very much doubt the UPC can get off the ground. To make matters worse, there's an imminent meltdown at the Office because staff will revolt.

"They're dressing up corpses or embalming dead bodies."What do the bullies/litigators think of the UPC? Well, they live in another universe. Team UPC's Vanessa Rieu (who describes herself as "experienced litigator specialised in all areas of intellectual property" [sic]) makes it pretty obvious that Bristows were the ones writing this latest UPC propaganda in Kluwer Patent Blog (albeit anonymously). Just compare the texts. One says: "The latest development shows preparations are going on despite the uncertainty about the future of the UP system due to the German constitutional complaint which was filed against the UPCA in 2017."

That's similar to their obsession over/with robes. They're dressing up corpses or embalming dead bodies. In their official blog they said: "The building that will, at least initially, host the UPC is located on the Quai de la Mégisserie, overlooking the Ile de la Cité, and it is reported that a few years after the Court opens (and there are more cases) the Court may move to the Palais de Justice on the Ile de la Cité."

"Bristows continues to discredit itself each time it tries to reattach these clipped wings to their 'fallen angel'."Haha, they said something similar about venues in the UK up until Brexit. "The Paris offices of the future Unified Patent Court have been disclosed," writes the anonymous person in Kluwer. Guess who...

Bristows continues to discredit itself each time it tries to reattach these clipped wings to their 'fallen angel'. They must be in a lot of pain. Battistelli is meanwhile 'hiding' in CEIPI, presumably praying for a UPC (which he's hoping to head while António Campinos brings him back to the Office as a judge!).

Bristows EPO



Recent Techrights' Posts

Reminder That Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Is Not Free, And It's Because of IBM
software freedom just 'gets in the way'
Under IBM, in Order to Game the Stock Market, Red Hat Resorted to Boosting the Biggest Ponzi Scheme in Human History
This is what IBM turned Red Hat into
What Will Happen to GAFAM After the US Defaults Rather Than Bails Out the Market?
Or tries to topple every government that doesn't play by its rules?
EPO People Power - Part XXXIV - Bad Optics for the European Union (for Failing to Act and Tolerating Cocaine Use in Europe's Second-Largest Institution)
There are principles in laws which tie awareness with complicity
Shobhit Varshney From IBM Pushing Slop at Large Bank, Another McDonald's Waiting to Happen?
How long can they get away with phony narratives like "replaced by AI"?
 
Outsourcing on Microsoft's Agenda, Offshoring Also
"In some cases, India hiring is poised to replace certain roles previously based in the U.S."
Links 13/01/2026: 'Dilbert' creator Scott Adams Passes Away With Cancer, Ban on X/Twitter Considered for CSAM Profiteering
Links for the day
The Goal is Software Freedom for All
Anything to do with "Linux Foundation" is timewasting
Revision handed Microsoft the keys to the distortion of the past/history
This isn't the first time The Register MS rewrites computing history in Microsoft's favour, as we pointed out several times in past years
EPO's Central Staff Committee is Now Redacting (Self-Censoring) Due to Threats From the EPO "Mafia"
"On the agenda: salary adjustment procedure for 2025 (as of January 2026)"
"AI" (Slop) 'Demand' Isn't Growing, It's Fake, It's a Pyramid Scheme
They try to resort to 'creative' accounting (fraudulent schemes like circular financing)
Difficult Times at IBM and Microsoft Ahead of Mass Layoffs (Probably Before This Month's Results Unless Postponed to 'Prove' Rumours 'Wrong')
IBM and Microsoft used to be tech giants. Nowadays they mostly pretend by pumping up their stock and buying back their own shares.
Canonical: Make Ubuntu Bloated (Debian With Snaps), Then Sell the 'Debloated' Version for a Fee
If people want a light distro, then they ought not pay Canonical but instead choose a light (by design) GNU/Linux distro
People Don't Want "Just Enough", They'll Look for Quality
That's why slopfarms will go away or become inactive
Gemini Links 14/01/2026: 3D and Tiny Traffic Lights Pack
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, January 13, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Slop Waning Whilst Originals Perish
Slop is way past its "prime"
XBox's 'Major Nelson' Loses His Job Again, This Time in a Microsoft Mono Pusher
Microsoft hasn't much of a future in gaming. XBox's business is in rapid decline and people who push Mono to game developers are the same
Links 13/01/2026: Russia Weaponises Weather Against Civilians, Beijing-Controlled HK Attacks Legal Team of Besieged Critics
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/01/2026: Loss of Desire to Produce, Individual Consumption
Links for the day
Links 13/01/2026: Ubisoft Layoffs, "India IT In Shambles", and Microsoft Chatbot Killing People
Links for the day
IBM is Not a Leftist Company, the "I" Stands for Imperialism, and Poo Floats to the Top
Remember that AK is military from both sides of his family
Links 13/01/2026: More Mass Layoffs in GAFAM, Catching Up With Political News of Early January
Links for the day
Freedom of Speech in the UK (or Freedom of the Press/Expression) and Protection From Adversaries
undressing people without consent and in very bad taste is not "speech"
Ending the Status Quo at the European Patent Office (EPO) This Year
Things will continue to get worse as long as the "Digital Majority" stays silent and/or passive
Greenland Ought to Move to GNU/Linux, Not Apple
GNU/Linux at 4%
So When Will British Politicians, Police, Government Departments Quit Twitter (X.com)?
They sure bring constituents there (by being there)
If You Care About Freedom, Don't Follow IBM Red Hat (Like Microsoft Novell 20 Years Ago)
IBM Red Hat and Microsoft don't seem to compete
IBM Red Hat Does Not Compete With Microsoft, It's a Microsoft Reseller
even if employees of Red Hat dislike and distrust Microsoft
Red Hat Layoffs, Even of "AI" Staff in India
This is how companies die
LLM Slop Isn't Replacing Online News, It's Just a Pest That's Gradually Going Away as Money for Slop Runs Out
Slop likes to talk about itself (like some kind of 'web-cancer')
Not Journalism: Almost 80% of the 'Articles' We Saw About Torvalds and 'Vibe Coding' Are LLM Slop (Sometimes Slop Images)
The real issue is, Torvalds who created Git as a solution to proprietary prison is entertaining Microsoft's own proprietary prison
EPO People Power - Part XXXIII - Interest From Some European Media, For a Change
Without it, we'll become another Russian Federation
Just Another Reminder That Microsoft Didn't Deny Mass Layoffs
Remember that Microsoft never denied this
GNU/Linux Measured at 6% in Réunion This Year
Population sizes like a million people are nothing to sneeze at
Dr. Andy Farnell on Marketing Bad Things Like Slop Using FOMO (Fear of "Being Left Behind")
many of the same themes we often cover here
IBM Stock Compared to Bitcoin, Fake Articles About IBM Promote Myths About IBM
The stock moves based on false marketing
Bluewashing Continues, Red Hat Onboarding Interns in Low-Paid Regions
It's the end of the second Monday of 2026
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, January 12, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, January 12, 2026
Gemini Links 13/01/2026: ScottoRang and Outage
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Exceeding 6% in Cape Verde
Windows is measured as down sharply
When It Comes to Health, Slop is a Flop and It Kills People
Chatbots will mostly die after many people die due to them
2026 Has Begun Well for GNU/Linux Users (and for Us)
A lot of the anti-Linux FUD we got accustomed to seeing some years ago became scarce
Links 12/01/2026: Vista 11 Exodus and Famicom/NES Game
Links for the day
Links 12/01/2026: Twitter (X) Being Blocked in More Countries, PTAB Besieged by Cheeto Appointees (Bad Patents Getting Through)
Links for the day
Links 12/01/2026: Brussels Plotting Exit From GAFAM (US), Carole Cadwalladr Explains "Peter Thiel's New Model Army"
Links for the day
Oligarchs and States Always Attempted to Obstruct Efforts to Expose Their Corruption
We commend the administrator who consistently and adamantly defend the freedom of speech
Scheduled Maintenance Between 15th of January and Days to Follow, Free Software Foundation (FSF) Looking to Add 43 More Members by 16th of January
People who value Software Freedom should consider joining to support the FSF
Bracing for Microsoft Layoffs, Tired of Microsoft Lies, Microsoft Staff Wants Transparency, Not Face-Saving Coverup From Frank Shaw
totally made up stock price
GNU/Linux Estimated at Around 5% in Montserrat
another country where the "share" of GNU/Linux is now measured at 5%
GNU/Linux Exceeding 5% in Guadeloupe According to statCounter
GNU/Linux "share" estimates in Guadeloupe
Dr. Richard Stallman @ Georgia Tech Next Week
More Than One Week From Now
EPO People Power - Part XXXII - Little Hope That European Press Will Attempt to Expose Drug Abuse in Europe's Second-Largest Organisation
What does this tell us about the press in Europe?
Three most controversial Australian authors linked to St Paul's, Coburg
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 11/01/2026: Data Breaches and Recent (Early 2026) Political Developments
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/01/2026: Insomniacs After School and Boycotting Amazon
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, January 11, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, January 11, 2026
Brett Wilson LLP 'Dropping' the LLP, Is This Rebranding?
It's not a coincidence or a glitch, there was a formal change somewhere in the system
Can IBM Still Control the Narrative?
We'll see what comes out through the grapevine later this week