Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Sky is the Limit for EPO Management as Patent Quality is Lowered to Gutter Level

Working the 'peasants' to death during the pandemic

EPO and masks



Summary: EPO management quit caring about staff and about patent quality; it's nowadays operating like nothing but a bank, occasionally to be challenged by examiners who feel like they've been reduced to mindless clerks

The Central Staff Committee (CSC, staff representatives) of the EPO has been corresponding with Mr. Microsoft lately, highlighting to him the fact that there's this thing called pandemic going on and Office management cannot simply ignore that.



These representatives explained to colleagues that "[o]n 29 January 2021, the Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN) sent an open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) on the promised bottom-up planning in DG1 which never really materialized. The number of colleagues faced with unreachable objectives has this year reached unprecedented levels, especially amongst those in the ICT cluster. Timeliness objectives are turning into a covert means to increase productivity targets. Mr Rowan (VP1) sent his reply on 15 March 2021."

Mr. too-busy-to-respond was able to issue several Microsoft ads (lies) in that same period of time. While ignoring a query for 1.5 months. Here is what he wrote (in Microsoft Office) a few days after we started exposing the Microsoft scandal:

European Patent Office | 2280 HV RIJSWIJK | NETHERLANDS

Mr ⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆ ⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆ ⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆ Chairman Local Staff Committee Munich Room ⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆ PschorrHöfe Munich

European Patent Office Postbus 5818 2280 HV Rijswijk Netherlands

Dir. 1 Patent Granting Process

Steve Rowan Vice President

Tel +31 (0)70 340 - 2000 srowan@epo.org

Date: 15.03.2021

Dear Mr ⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆,

Thank you for your letter of the 29 January concerning the target setting in DG1 for the year 2021.

In your letter you make the assertion that the bottom-up planning process in DG1, ‘never really materialized. This year is no exception’. In 2019 the planning process for 2020 involved a bottom-up exercise alongside the usual budgetary planning and the medium-term business planning (MTBP) processes. In that activity, the budget and MTBP for 2020 suggested a production target of 419k products whereas the bottom-up exercise suggested a target of 407k products. At an Executive Operating Committee meeting, the President set the DG1 target for 2020 at 407k – fully in line with the bottom-up plan.

When the pandemic broke out, all colleagues who were experiencing difficulties were encouraged to discuss their targets with their line managers. In addition, a full review of targets was undertaken at mid-year and as a result some 7000 products were taken off individual targets.

Thanks to the efforts and commitment of colleagues from across the Office, the production of 402k products was realised in 2020. This was a significant achievement and was accompanied by outstanding quality in search and classification and improving quality in grant. Excellence levels were achieved in tackling the classification backlog, a significant investment was made in SP2023 projects and there were improvements in timeliness in search and examination. Alongside this, a digital transformation in tools and processes was implemented.

Turning to the process for 2021, the bottom-up planning, after adjustments for some errors resulting from changes to team structures, came out at 390k products while the initial budget plan and MTBP suggested a production of 412k. This was later revised to 395k to reflect the global economic slow-down.

In setting the production target for DG1 for 2021, the bottom-up planning and budget were considered alongside other factors including:

● the ongoing pandemic and its impact on colleagues; ● continuing the improvement in our examination timeliness; ● processing new oppositions in parallel with tackling the backlog of oppositions; ● mastering the incoming workload and achieving a soft landing of our stocks; ● maintaining our financial autonomy and improving our overall efficiency.

A production target of 390k would not have achieved these objectives. As such, a target of 395k was set and cascaded in consultation with Directors, team managers and examiners. Overall, the production and productivity targets for 2021 are set at 96% of the achievement for 2019. The bottom-up exercise played an important role in informing the discussion and the final decision on target setting for 2021. The exceptional closure of the Office at the start of this year should have been taken into account for each examiner and I will ask the relevant team to look into this.

As with last year we will carry out a mid-year review in June/July and this will be an opportunity for colleagues to discuss individual circumstances with their line manager. The President has also made clear that if, in the meantime, there are individuals who are experiencing particular difficulties, then they should speak to their line manager. We remain in a pandemic situation and with different pressures on each of us. The emphasis remains on health and well being and on best and collaborative efforts.

Yours sincerely,

Stephen Rowan



"The emphasis remains on health," he says, but EPO managers aren't even wearing a mask. How basic...

EPO hypocrites



So targets go up while number of examiners is decreasing, as per the EPO's own reports.

Going back to the word of the EPO's staff representatives: "In this open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1), the Central Staff Committee (CSC) now addresses the fact that 32% of all examiners in 2021 have been given a higher production objective than in 2019 and that a +2.2% increase in productivity is planned in 2021, compared to 2020.

"We remain in a pandemic situation with pressure on each of us. Given this and the feedback we are getting from staff, we doubt that such an increase in productivity from one pandemic year to the next can be the result of genuine bottom-up planning. It is also difficult to reconcile with Mr Rowan’s claim for an emphasis on health and well-being and on best and collaborative efforts."

"Therefore, we believe that a discussion meeting with Mr Rowan (VP1) is more than necessary to clarify the situation."

Somebody 'leaked' to us the open letter, which we've decided to reproduce below:

European Patent Office 80298 Munich Germany

Zentraler Personalausschuss Central Staff Committee Le Comité Central du Personnel

Tel. +49 (0)89 2399 - 4355 Fax +49 (0)89 2399 - 8470 mnstcom@epo.org

Reference: sc21039cl – 0.3.1/1.3.3 Date: 19.03.2021

European Patent Office | 80298 MUNICH | GERMANY

Mr Stephen Rowan Vice-President DG1

Room 211 Isar

OPEN LETTER

Target setting in DG1 for the year 2021 Demand for urgent meeting

Dear Mr Rowan,

We acknowledge receipt of your reply letter dated 15 March in response to our demand for an urgent meeting of 29 January 2021. We take note that your letter comes with no meeting invitation.

Since the publication of our open letter, all places of employment and further colleagues shared feedback and their support to the view that no genuine bottom-up planning ever materialized.

In your reply letter, you stress that the “[o]verall production and productivity objectives for 2021 are set at 96% of the achievement of 2019 and your weekly note of 17 February 2021 further details that “[a]t DG1 level, over 65% received lower production objectives in 2021 compared to what they achieved in 2019 [...] overall 32% of all examiners received a higher production objective”.

First, our letter aimed at comparing the objectives for the pandemic years 2021 and 2020, and not with the year 2019. However, the fact that 32% of all examiners in 2021 received a higher production objective than 2019 is already a matter of concern because 2021 is again a pandemic year whereas 2019 was not. In this respect, we maintain our request for

detailed data which could shed light on the alarming situation of colleagues in ICT.

Second, your letter mentions that, in 2020, 402k products were realised and the target for 2021 will be lower at 395k. However, the Medium-Term-Business-Plan (MTBP) and the involvement in SP2023 projects you are referring to actually have the following consequences: the non-replacement of departures and a freeze in recruitment reducing the headcount in DG1, as well as lower capacity for core tasks. The effects are actually shown in the DG1 Management Dashboard according to which a +2.2% increase in productivity (1,80 days per product in 2021 vs. 1,84 days per product in 2020) is planned.

We remain in a pandemic situation with pressure on each of us. Bearing this in mind and the feedback we get from staff, we doubt that such an increase in productivity from one pandemic year to the other can be the result of a genuine bottom-up planning. It is also difficult to reconcile with your claim for an emphasis on health and well-being and on best and collaborative efforts.

For the above reasons, we believe that a discussion meeting is more than necessary to clarify the situation.

Yours sincerely, Alain Dumont

Chairman of the Central Staff Committee


EPO management without scientific background (just political and personal connections) seems incapable of grasping what patents are, how patent law works, and what its original purpose was. They think and behave like a bank, instead. Until the Council decides to flush down this entire cabal -- however unlikely that is to actually happen -- the EPO will never be a patent office again. It's just printing and printing, until people are fed up and give up. To quote a few comments published this morning in IP Kat (comments, not posts): "It seems to be that the EBA has already acted in its current dubious composition. It has decided to summons by videoconference with a very tight deadline." (Source)

There is also: "In view of this amazing situation any composition according to the distribution scheme for the EBA is not worth the paper it is written on!" (Source)

And lastly, for now (there's a lot more): "I find the amazing the nerve put to light by the upper management. When it came to deciding that OP in the form of ViCo are compulsory, users were not asked for their opinion." (Source)

That's what stakeholders are thinking, but the media mostly ignores them.

Recent Techrights' Posts

They Don't Tell Us that 'Digitalisation' (Now Sold as "Hey Hi") Just Means Customers Become Unpaid Staff and Are Made Accountable
People are being conditioned to associate technology with something undesirable, at times even unbearable
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Has Layoffs and Microsoft Gaming/Entertainment Division Has an Uncertain Future
it's good to see all those horrible things crashing and burning
 
Gemini Links 22/07/2025: Thinkpad and Pinephone
Links for the day
Links 22/07/2025: "Blog Restart" and Microsoft Clobbered by “ToolShell"
Links for the day
Global Warming and Global GAFAM Energy-Wasting
Burn more money (borrowed, loans), then hope the waste will somehow translate into profit?
No Compliance With the European Patent Convention (EPC) at the European Patent Office (EPO)
It's about preventing competition against this autocracy
Blue-Collar Trolls vs White-Collar Trolls
Examples of white-collar trolls
Apple Vision Pro Failed So Badly That Its Sales Are About 2,000 Times Smaller Than iPhone Sales
What's left for Apple to offer other than hype?
To Millions of People "Year of the Linux Desktop" Was Some Time in the 1990s (Bootable GNU/Linux as a Complete Operating System is Over 33 in Age)
In some sense, "year of the Linux desktop" was 33 years ago
Make No Assumptions (or Demands) About the Screen Resolution Used by Other People
There are usability aspects, aside from accessibility aspects
Why Wayland (and XWayland) Won't Solve the Key Problem It Proclaims to be Tackling (the Same Is True for Rust)
The problem isn't Wayland per se but the false promises and efforts to force everybody to move to it whilst insulting or demonising everyone who won't play along
Diplomatic Immunity Should Not Exist for Anybody
The EPO in its current form gradually 'normalises' the end of European democracy
Brett Wilson LLP Stopped Sending Me Papers When I Showed It had Sent Me Over 5 Kilograms of Legal Papers
A week ago we lodged our third lawsuit
Microsoft Mass Layoffs and Shutdowns Became the New Normal at Microsoft
Microsoft mass layoffs became a topic of everyday media coverage since May
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 21, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 21, 2025
FSF "Raised Almost $139,000 During This Summer Campaign"
"Thank you for making a stand against dystopia!"
Gemini Links 22/07/2025: VPS Exploited and Fear of View
Links for the day
LLM Bots vs Techrights
Slows things down a bit
New Publication Sheds Lights on Abuse of Workers at the European Patent Office (EPO)
Put in simple terms, they're killing the Office, harming remaining staff, try to hire rubber-stampers
Links 21/07/2025: Hardware, Health, and Imperialism
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/07/2025: "When Buying Isn't Owning" and "CMS Special Edition"
Links for the day
Links 21/07/2025: Indie Web and Toxic Politics
Links for the day
[Meme] Microsoft Lawyers Throwing Stones in Glass Houses
threatened me with bankruptcy
Google "AI Overview" is Not AI and Not Overview
do not be misled; what Google does isn't smart, it's just ripping off the sites it already crawled for as long as 27 years
Making the Case to Dump Microsoft and GAFAM for National and Digital Sovereignty
"Sovereignty is difficult"
The Tactics of the Opposition (Microsoft Lunduke): Associate With K00ks, Throw in Vaccines to Muddy the Water
Who stands to gain from this?
Europe's Second-Largest Institution (EPO) and Largest Patent Monopoly Office Needs More Transparency, Not Less Transparency
In the EPO, what good are elections when one candidate literally bribes all the voters?
How Not to Report News About Microsoft
This pattern of misreporting is so widespread that it's hard to believe it's not intentional
Computer Science is Under Attack, They Want Everyone to be a Consumer
If people can no longer acquire Computer Science education and real Computer Science experience, they will not know how to control their own digital destiny or emancipate the very same universities that now control the syllabus and instead of teaching Computer Science encourage the outsourcing of systems
The Best Tools Are the Simplest Tools
There's a hidden message here about the merits of sticking with X
Ofcom Online Safety Group Speaks of Protecting Women Online, Will Brett Wilson LLP Ever Listen?
They've essentially became like the Taliban's "burka police"
Social Control Media Relies on Advertisers, So It'll Always Be Hostile Towards Free Software
Sales, sales, sales
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 20, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 20, 2025
Fragmentation of Data
Life is too short to "hoard" data
In Defence of "Spinning Rust"
Just because something is "old" (or older) doesn't mean it ought to become extinct
Using Free Software to Prepare Legal Documents
LibreOffice is openly complaining about OOXML as an obstacle
Tech and Technology Are Not the Same Anymore
"Are you into tech, Sir?"
Our Articles About SLAPPs Receive Recognition and Interest
This week we shall continue writing about the 3 lawsuits we filed
Are You Served?
For many people, advocacy of Free software and GPL enforcement are assumed to be happening
Conspiracy or grooming? Alex Jurado, Voice of Reason compared to Outreachy
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 20/07/2025: Security Breaches and Former 'Open' 'AI' Engineer on Hype and Culture Issues
Links for the day
Links 20/07/2025: Fending Off BRICS and US Government Attacks Its Own Media (Like China and Russia)
Links for the day
Framed by social control media: Alex Belfield, Voice of Reason
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 20/07/2025: Summertime and OCC25 Wrap-up
Links for the day
Jamie Zawinski Complained About Wayland, Then Decided to Give It a Go, Now Complains Again About Wayland
Ask IBM (Red Hat) why it's worth throwing so much away just for Wayland fanaticism
Slopwatch: Planet Ubuntu, LinuxSecurity, and More
former "Linux" blogs which basically became slopfarms
Russia Set to Ban Facebook?
If WhatsApp is made to "leave", that means Facebook or "Meta".
Links 20/07/2025: More GAFAM Lawsuits, Layoffs, and SLAPPs
Links for the day
Taking Stock of a Good and Productive Week
We shall now be taking a break, unpacking the new hard drive (8 TB), and making backups of everything
Nice Recovery (From Actual Fire) by PCLinuxOS, New Version of PCLinuxOS Released, Now Top of DistoWatch
PCLinuxOS is a community-driven distro
More Microsoft Shutdowns That Mostly Slipped Under the Radar
Remember what happened to books 'sold' by Microsoft?
Microsoft Lunduke Still Fighting Cancel Culture With... Cancel Culture
There will be no "winners" in such 'debates'
The History of Daily Links and Politics
"I support Wayland, but I also support abortion..."
Ageism in Tech
Your protocol is "old"...
Microsoft is at 0% "Market Share" in Most Areas
Depending on the taxonomy chosen, there may be dozens of categories other than desktops and laptops
"The moment MSFT stock fails to start tumbling, that’s the beginning of another corporate giant going under."
There are far more layoffs at Microsoft than at Intel, but you would not get this impression based on Wall Street media
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 19, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 19, 2025