Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Paid-For UPC Lies

An undemocratic patent conspiracy (UPC)

The three Frenchmen
EPO Presidents Campinos and Battistelli together with Barnier, three UPC boosters who are French and support software patents in Europe



Summary: Attempts to change the law in Europe (or bypass patent courts, constitutions and national laws) have culminated in the truly absurd state we see at the EPO, which is more eager to grant low-quality patents (than ever before) and doesn't even mind its own reputation

TEAM UPC, Bristows LLP in particular, has not completely given up. Not just yet. This is becoming laughable and it will tarnish their reputation because it's very clear that they consciously and deliberately lie, leading to erosion of trust and longterm harm to credibility. But we'll bite anyway...



"...Team UPC is once again advertising jobs that very likely will never exist (and definitely don't exist at the moment)..."So yesterday Alan Johnson (Bristows, one of their most frequent liars) published something titled "UPC Preparatory Committee re-opens judicial recruitment process". After some UPC fluff in IP Kat and Kluwer Patent Blog Bristows now uses its own blog to skip the indirection. It's the first blog post in a very long time and they barely write anything this year (sometimes the silence lasts several months). We already responded to this several days ago; Team UPC is once again advertising jobs that very likely will never exist (and definitely don't exist at the moment), just like they did around 2015. Is this even legal? How long can this charade go on for? Certainly there are laws against false advertising. Anyway...

"Elsewhere in 'the news' this week we see little or nothing about the UPC, i.e. the usual in 2019 and in 2018."Moving on a bit, there's this fake new 'article' (advert disguised as an article) which spreads several serious lies (a few paragraphs down) about the UPC. We debunked these so many times before (many dozens of times), but we suppose that this is considered acceptable because nowadays journalism is dead and lawyers have been reduced to liars, the media has been reduced to their mouthpiece (especially in the domain of patents, where many supposed 'news' sites are themselves fully owned by law firms). This 'article' comes from World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR), which no longer employs some of its better writers who covered EPO scandals. Have any workers at the EPO wondered why WIPR becomes more like WIPO over time? I heard some stories about WIPR and it's not pretty. They're very close to the EPO's management -- far more than anyone ought to be. And remember who subscribes to WIPR, i.e. who the clients are. If their writers cover issues like EPO crimes -- unlike PR -- then it's "not good for business" (or the "customers" -- the subscribers) and you can ultimately get sacked. People are rewarded or promoted for complicity.

Elsewhere in 'the news' this week we see little or nothing about the UPC, i.e. the usual in 2019 and in 2018. But earlier this week we saw ResearchAndMarkets bringing together liars from "the EPO, WIPO, UPC Preparatory Committee..." (ResearchAndMarkets is one of those marketing firms/power brokers that advertise themselves as 'analysts', 'consultants' etc.)

Is ResearchAndMarkets selling 'access'? It charges those who attend to be lied to (the business model is lobbying) and says this: "The event is very participative, providing plenty of time for open questions and round table discussions with the experts. It also offers a chance to learn about procedural issues and the practical aspects of the EPO, WIPO and USPTO, and how developments at the Unitary Patent Court will impact on you. [...] The speakers come directly from the EPO, WIPO, UPC Preparatory Committee and the USA..."

"Once the funding runs out for these liars they suddenly sound so much different."ResearchAndMarkets does several pro-EPO (as in, EPO management) events that promote software patents, overzealous litigation, the UPC and so on. It's worth exploring who's behind it. This isn't about information and education but pure lobbying. Managing IP and IAM do a lot of such lobbying; they occasionally set up pro-UPC events, sometimes with financial 'aid' from the EPO. And speaking of IAM, here is what it wrote yesterday: "The saga of the Unitary Patent System and Unified Patent Court’s implementation – and the effect of Brexit on this – has created uncertainty for practitioners across Europe."

They mean patent lawyers and patent trolls; not "practitioners" but parasites/predators. The term "practitioners" makes or helps people who produce nothing sound "productive". A lot of so-called "practices" are merely practicing taxation, predation and extortion.

IAM's business model is lying to the public. The patent trolls pay IAM for this 'service'. IAM used to block me in Twitter for merely pointing that out politely. On April 1st they posted this tweet:

https://twitter.com/IAM_magazine/status/1112610598091669504

Several months ago even IAM itself admitted that it had lied (or was 'wrong') about the UPC. Once the funding runs out for these liars they suddenly sound so much different.

The undemocratic patent conspiracy (UPC): We'll just call it something misleading
"Unitary"?

Recent Techrights' Posts

Slop's Achilles Heel: It Increases the Workload, Not Just Costs
Set aside its inability to scale well
Improving techrights.org
Technical debt (like 17 years with WordPress) is something that's better to address early, not later
Laos Leaving GAFAM Behind, Gradually
Yesterday evening it was measured at 10% for GNU/Linux at one point
China Says Goodbye to Microsoft
It is hardly surprising that Windows is shedding off userbase all around the world
 
Instant Impact: GNU/Linux Skyrockets to 10% in China Days After Policy Changes
Let's see what the 'aftermath' looks like by year's end
Links 19/08/2026: Timothy James King (AmigaDOS) Dies, GitHub Goes Offline, Finland Wants to Shun Social Control Media
Links for the day
Mass Layoffs at Dropbox, Blame the Debt, Not Slop Hype
The debt of Dropbox Inc., which isn't an imaginary (estimated) thing, is over 4 billion dollars
Microsoft is 'Angel of Death' to Developers (Even Its Own), 'Voluntary' Layoffs Happening Again
From what we are hearing and reading, there are 'voluntary' layoffs again
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 18, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Gemini Links 19/08/2026: Shirts, Handwriting, and Fights in Geminispace
Links for the day
They Were Wrong All Along
Two women combined won't deliver a healthy baby in just 4.5 months
A "Tech Journalist" Would Not Cover Vote on LLMs as a Sex Issue
For a moment there you have to pause and wonder, is this a "Tech Journalist" or the Daily Stormer?
20,000 by Year's End
The "New Techrights" will have 20,000 pages by year's end
Last Night GNU/Linux Measured at 9% in Africa
Nighttimes in Africa are times when GNU/Linux usage on desktop/laptop devices typically surges, based on Clownflare [...] It changes in favour of GNU/Linux
Gemini Links 18/08/2026: Google Bait and Switch (Getting College People 'Hooked' on 'Cheap' Storage, Then Backups Gone), a "Question of E-mail"
Links for the day
Bluesky is in Trouble
Bluesky is a private company (unlike Bluesky Digital Assets Corp. in Toronto, that one runs a pyramid scheme!), so it's hard to know for sure just how much money it is losing
Links 18/08/2026: US Abandons South Korea, New Legal Disputes Over Slop Plagiarism in the Music Scene
Links for the day
Linux Losing Interest in Users' Freedom, Pursues DRM Instead
"Linux" is (or was, as GNU/Linux) meant to empower - not artificially restrict - the users
GNU/Linux in Ecuador and Colombia: Growing, Still Below International Average
locals turn away from Windows and try GNU/Linux instead
IBM is Dead or Dying. Now It Asks Workers to 'Resign' Voluntarily.
To save face, to pretend no layoffs are happening (as it might alarm shareholders) [...] We keep hearing more and more stories like that
Links 18/08/2026: Sergey Brin Controlling State Policies, "Dario Amodei's (Anthropic) Wife Is Closely Linked to Jeffrey Epstein"
Links for the day
SBS News Interviews Daniel Pocock
The locals say this PR stunt (by the bigot, Farage) was a waste of money
Clownflare Sees One in 7 Web Requests in Libya Originating From GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux has taken a (foot)hold there
Openwashing and Manifestos Composed in Private by Dictators With Deliberately Addictive (and Subsidised, Bundled) 'Tech'
It's long, so make a cuppa first
SLAPP Censorship - Part 153 Out of 200: Decades of Debt, Weaponising Borrowed Money to Try to Put Their Critics in Debt
they've always had a financial report by now
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 17, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, August 17, 2026
Gemini Links 18/08/2026: Solar Power, Kipple and Impermanence, Catastrophe Ethics
Links for the day
Evri (HermesUK) is Now Run by Bots and Hallucinating Scammers
Years ago they virtually removed support and tried chatbots instead
Less Technology, More Life
Technology is being associated (sometimes rightly) with physical and mental problems
Google Search Has Gotten Worse (a Lot Worse)
getting worse
Birthday in 80 Days
we'll start decorating and party online with our community
Loans and Massive Debt at Microsoft, This Won't End Well.
Microsoft running out of money to pay salaries (to the point of paying people for 'voluntary' layoffs) is a positive sign?
Gemini Links 17/08/2026: Life in Plain Text, Mimicking KARL, Release of Jugulans, Avoiding Slop
Links for the day
Clown Storage Without Backups
Setting up several reliable copies of the data, plus several off-site backups (this data is nowhere as sensitive as medical data), should only cost a few grand
FreeCAD is Becoming Slop-ware, Use LibreCAD Instead
It has regular releases and "Qt5 is mandatory" now [...] they at least audit what they add
Cuba and Venezuela High in Adoption of GNU/Linux
some of the "communist" nations
Links 17/08/2026: Myanmar’s Cholera Outbreak, China Sends Commercial Vessels Through Arctic
Links for the day
GAFAM Loyalty Has Come to an End, Morale Low, People Whose Future is Uncertain Choose to Become "Lifers"
morale is low and there's no loyalty anymore
SLAPP Censorship - Part 152 Out of 200: Injunctions Do Not Cover Criticism, They Have Scope
self-incriminating communications
Clownflare Sees About Quarter of Web Requests in Ireland Coming From GNU/Linux
Well, in Ireland it seems like many people adopted GNU/Linux
Clownflare: In Australia and New Zealand GNU/Linux Peaks at Over 10% During Working Hours
That right there is interesting in its own right
Slowing Down by Intention
At the moment we have 6 or 7 ongoing series
Gemini Links 17/08/2026: Chamboree, Partial Solar Eclipse, Lady Macbeth
Links for the day
Links 17/08/2026: "Bluesky Is Down Again!" and "Anti-Social Media"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 16, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, August 16, 2026