Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Latest Letter to Josef Kratochvìl and the Heads of Delegation of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation

Video download link | md5sum d9706ec2be896968a4e73d51dae165c3 Asking for Proper Oversight Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0



Summary: A week-old letter from the Central Staff Committee (CSC) to the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation highlights the nature of a crises; there's no genuine dialogue and staff of the EPO (i.e. the scientists who do all the actual work) is constantly under attack

The Central Staff Committee (CSC) of the EPO has circulated among colleagues the following letter, an open letter, which had been prepared and then sent to the Council that fails to govern António Campinos, just like it failed to govern Benoît Battistelli. The GCC calls for change ("Need for changes in the consultation of staff") and tells colleagues: "After the latest GCC meeting the CSC has decided to address the Heads of delegation of the Administrative Council, in this open letter."



"The Council must intervene. But will it?"I've attempted to give some background to all this in the video above, but the letter below mostly speaks for itself. The industrial action and the misbehaviour of Campinos (he clearly violated the Code of Conduct of 'his own' organisation!) culminated in an impasse. The Council must intervene. But will it?

Here's the full letter:



European Patent Office 80298 Munich Germany

Central Staff Committee Le Comité Central du Personnel Zentraler Personalausschuss

centralSTCOM@epo.org

Reference: sc22055cl

Date: 17.05.2022

European Patent Office | 80298 MUNICH | GERMANY To the Chairman and the Heads of Delegation of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation

OPEN LETTER

Need for changes in the consultation of staff

Dear Mr Chairman, Dear Heads of Delegation,

The success of the European Patent Office rises and falls with the level of commitment of all staff. From the staff member in the lowest grade up to the President, everyone should rightly be expected to contribute to the functioning of the Office and the European patent system in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Of course, this also applies to social dialogue, whether official or informal.

Incidents in the consultation process In this context the Central Staff Committee (CSC) feels obliged to draw your attention to “incidents” that happened in the latest consultation process. They were already echoed in the public Kluwer patent blog.

Statutory consultation foresees that CSC members shall represent the staff on the General Consultative Committee (GCC). The President, however, expressed in the GCC meeting on 26 April 2022 that our contribution in the official consultation was a waste of time. He used foul language throughout, he insulted most of our speakers, and he not just interrupted them, but prevented them from speaking multiple times. It was patently clear that he had absolutely no intention of taking heed to any of the arguments that we presented. Thus, statutory consultation was flawed.

Therefore, the CSC members of the GCC requested in a letter to the President that the consultation be repeated and that the official recording of the GCC discussions according to Article 38(5) ServRegs be made available to allow full transparency. Unfortunately, the President ignored this latter request. We request that you secure the recording and investigate the issue, as his appointing authority.




The package on “Professional mobility” (CA/32/22) One document affected by the flawed consultation process is the proposal on Professional mobility which the President has just submitted to the Administrative Council for the forthcoming BFC and AC agendas. Central parts of the proposal are the policies on secondment (either national experts from national patent offices to the EPO or EPO staff to national patent offices). For instance the interested public could perceive the former policy as a privileged access to posts in the Office circumventing the strict criteria of the statutory recruitment defined in the Service Regulations.

The extension of the appointment of Mr António Campinos as President of the EPO will also be discussed in the June meeting of the Council. To avoid that his proposal is solely regarded in the context of the extension of his appointment, it should be of utmost importance that the opinion of staff on the Professional mobility proposal is taken into account. The CSC already emphasised some concerns as to the possible decentralisation of the Office when the orientation paper (CA/19/22) was presented to the Administrative Council in March 2022. In our open letter of 18 March 2022, we pointed to the necessity of convening the long overdue conference of ministers of the Contracting States according to Article 4a EPC to revise the outdated governance structure of the EPO.

In view of the flawed consultation process, the CSC can only recommend that the Administrative Council does not take a decision on the document yet. Litigation against a decision on a proposal stemming from a flawed consultation would create severe legal uncertainty for the upcoming years on the fundamental changes of the employment conditions associated with Professional mobility. The recording of the meeting may also be needed as evidence in regard of the flawed consultation.

Improving the consultation framework Even if a President of the EPO could have the outstanding ability to establish and foster social dialogue and social peace, which was the mandate given to the current one (see CA/23/17), the recent unfortunate “incidents” show the need for an improvement of the framework for the consultation of staff. This requires a careful analysis of the status quo and as to why the current regulations could have led to disrespectful outbreaks evidenced in the audio recording of the recent GCC meeting.

An improved structure for the official consultation process will help to make staff’s opinion count. This will contribute to their engagement. The President and the Administrative Council will also profit from such improvements when making their decisions. It will improve the reputation of the EPO and it will ultimately strengthen the patent system in Europe.

Yours sincerely,

Alain Dumont Chairman of the Central Staff Committee

cc.: President of the EPO cc.: Directorate Ethics and Compliance


In the next post (and video) we'll deal with some of the substance discussed in the GCC meeting. Staff isn't being listened to. There's only a pretence of that.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Annual Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE 22x) 'Bought' by Microsoft and Microsoft Exceeded Sponsorship Limits by Giving Double the Maximum Permitted Amount
When people get bribed they tend to forget how to utter a simple word: "No."
EPO Examiners Point Out to the Heads of Delegations in the Administrative Council of the EPO That the "AI Policy" of the Office is Illegal
"the Central Staff Committee (CSC) asks the Administrative Council to exert its supervisory role and instruct EPO management to enter into genuine dialogue with the staff representation on the AI Policy, to revise the “Leverage AI” target of 90% AI-automated classification in the SP2028 and to put in place the measures supported by staff in the resolution."
French Cities Dumping Microsoft Because They Recognise Software Freedom, Open Standards, GNU/Linux Autonomy
We hope that more French cities - maybe Paris - will follow Lyon.
LWN is a Voice of GAFAM (Through Linux Foundation, Their Front Group or Occupying Force Inside Linux)
remember who the chief editor works for and who sponsors many of the articles
The 'Case' of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft is a Lot of Copypasta (Maybe Also LLM Slop) From the Matthew Garrett 'Case'
5RB deserves to know and the matter shall be properly reported in due course (when the time is right)
EPO Squeezing the Staff - Part II - Office Breaks Rules, Ignores Courts, Defies Justice
False promises everywhere
IBM - Like Microsoft - is a Dying Company and Perishing Brand ("AI" is a Lie and Decoy)
"Arvind is cutting costs (layoffs, PIPs, forced RTO, etc...) like crazy. IBM offices are closing all over the place in the US."
"Code of Conduct" Invoked When Fedora and Red Hat Users (Since the 1990s) Don't Want to Use Wayland
That is IBM "DEI"
Microsoft Layoffs Next Week: About 10% to be Laid Off in Microsoft Gaming (2 Days Before Independence Day), About 20%+ of XBox Staff
Microsoft is rapidly collapsing
 
What Linux Foundation 'Research' is: Paid Marketing
What is Linux Foundation 'Research'?
No, IBM Does Not Care About People With Disabilities
"Aktion T4" did not seem to bother Watson
Microsoft's Financial Problems Mean Shutdowns, Not Just Mass Layoffs
If the original rumour is true, then expect almost 30,000 Microsoft workers to be let go this year
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 26, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, June 26, 2025
The Netherlands: GNU/Linux Measured at All-Time High
Are any Dutch cities going to announce dumping Microsoft?
Gemini Links 27/06/2025: "Interstitial Existence" and Autocorrect
Links for the day
Keeping Things Accessible
Gemini Protocol seems to be growing
Technical People Need Technical Lawyers
Technical Litigants in Person (LIPs) have many real and concrete advantages
10,000+ Articles in About 20 Months (and How We Got Here)
More bloat does not beget efficiency and "bells and whistles" tend to have a hidden cost
Links 26/06/2025: Illegal Kangaroo Court (UPC) Failing Scandinavia, K-Pop Agencies Abuse People
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/06/2025: AuraGem Twitch Proxy is Back and UI Sluggishness
Links for the day
Links 26/06/2025: Noise Pollution Considered High in Europe, Mass Layoffs Next Week in Microsoft Confirmed, Very Large in Scale and Scope
Links for the day
No, I Don't Want Your Latest XYZ, ThankYouVeryMuch...
Wayland is finally ready?
China Keeps Breaking Into Microsoft Systems, So for True Sovereignty, Nations Wary of China Need to Dump Microsoft
Looking at data from Taiwan (not China) and Maharlika (not Philippines, the king is dead and Spain is out), there are encouraging signs
Linux Journal Wants Ads on Its LLM Slop or Ads as 'Articles'
it's basically another BetaNews
How to Kill a Monopoly
in 10 simple steps
Mozambique: GNU/Linux Rose From 0.5% Last Year to 3% This Year
what (or how) statCounter is measuring
Next Month Marks 11 Years Since Our In-Depth EPO Coverage
The same is happening to Microsoft right now
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Campaigns Against Vista 11, Adds 4 New Associate Members Per Day
If more people understood the underlying principles, more of them would flock to Free software overnight
Canonical Seems to Have Culled Some Sources of LLM Slop From Planet Ubuntu
It's like "junk food", it's not information
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 25, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, June 25, 2025
On "Weak Claims"
For the record, they sent me unjustified threats, repeatedly tried injunctions (censorship)
EPO Squeezing the Staff - Part I - Burnout and Family Health
more exceptional circumstances
This Month's Mail (MX) Server Survey Shows Microsoft at 0.20% "Market Share"
We need to remind people that desktops and laptops decline (in proportion to other client devices) and at the "back end" GNU/Linux is already dominant and has long been dominant
Links 26/06/2025: Filespooler Guide and Learning to Code
Links for the day
Why Techrights Cannot be Vilified (and Instead It Gets SLAPPed Repeatedly by Microsoft People)
Attack dogs are all "bark"; because they have no actual "bite"
Austrian GNU/Linux Usage Up to About 5% as More of Europe Abandons Microsoft
Since inauguration day the Austrian people have adopted more and more of GNU/Linux
Why the "Wayland People" and "Rust People" Will Lose Hearts and Minds (Same Reasons)
Wayland pushers are fast becoming like "Rust People"
5,600 Pages/Articles Per Year
So far this year we've kept all the promises
BetaNews Beginning to Show What Its True Goals Are
The 'new' BetaNews won't be about journalism. It's trying to sell things.
Microsoft Has Lost "The War"
We'll soon see the 9th or 10th wave of Microsoft layoffs in 2025 alone
Slopwatch: A Wreck and a Dreck, "Flooding the Zone With Dreck" or Flooding the Web With Junk
"Slopwatch" continues today because we have many new examples
Links 25/06/2025: Thwarting More Software Patents, Overlap Grows Between EPO Corruption and Illegal Kangaroo Patent Courts in EU
Links for the day
Links 25/06/2025: Elon Musk’s Lawyers Caught Lying, WhatsApp Faces More Bans
Links for the day
Wayland Pushers Lose the Argument, Use LLM Slop and Chatbots to Make Up Arguments for IBM
Another new low and low blow
Brian Fagioli Created Another Slopfarm Targeting "Linux" After BetaNews Became a Slopfarm of Phantom Accounts and Pseudonyms
Mr. Fagioli even had slop about a dead Torvalds (hypothetical) as clickbait
Wayland is Perfect, Nobody Can Escape Its Perfection! (Or Not)
Do not form on opinion on Wayland based on politics
What is "MATA"?
Think of it as GAFAM or "Meta"
Moral Duty for "Linux Sites" to Speak Out Against LLM Slop
My wife has long complained about "Linux bloggers" keeping quiet and thus passive about a growing problem: slop
In Recent Hours Google News Promoted at Least 3 Slopfarms That Relayed Linux Foundation Propaganda Made by Bots or LLM "Bullshit Generators" (as Dr. Stallman Dubbed Them)
Google is circling down the drain and Google News too is hopeless
Linux Journal is a Slopfarm, It's Experimenting With LLM 'Authors'
Is Slashdot next?
WebProNews is a Slopfarm
Please avoid linking to WebProNews
Microsoft LinkedIn is Dying and Many More Layoffs Are on the Way
LinkedIn is just a failed acquisition of Microsoft. It causes losses and debt.
Gemini Links 25/06/2025: Combinatorial Music and Self Hosting
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Coming Back to Europe This Autumn to Give More Talks
His last talk in Europe attracted about 400-450 people
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 24, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Social Control Media, Technology & Catholicism: Synod on Synodality review and feedback
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
How Many More Women Will Managers at Microsoft Strangle and Tell to Kill Themselves (or Try to Kill)?
The world needs to know what happened
The New BetaNews: 7 New 'Articles', All of Them LLM Slop
BetaNews is basically defunct. Nobody writes there anymore.
Another "Told You So!": XBox Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (Many Recent Reports Were Chaff and Spin), Many Other Divisions Affected
With mass layoffs at Microsoft the world would be much better