● 12.06.16
●● EPO Spiraling Down the Drain as Experienced Examiners and Judges Are Seemingly Being Replaced by Interns
Posted in Europe, Patents at 4:44 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
The Office which was once renowned for a good salary and enviable working conditions is becoming a collective of rookies without job security
Summary: Implementing yet more of his terrible ideas and so-called ‘reforms’, Battistelli seems to be racing to the bottom of everything (patent quality, staff experience, labour rights, working conditions, access to justice etc.)
THE PREDOMINANTLY FRENCH EPO management is a gold mine of scandals, yet German officials seem less interested in these scandals than French officials, seeing what a huge PR disaster Team Battistelli has become for France.
Germany’s Heiko Maas was mentioned here this morning and also last night in a caricature. He is now mentioned in this new article titled “Europäisches Patentgericht: Nun holpert die Vorbereitung in Berlin” (translation from German is needed) and we hope he intends to actually start paying attention to what happens at the EPO right now.
To quote one new comment from today:
I have a question: How was the situation to begin with? The csc had legally chosen representatives in the appeal committee. Is that correct? Then BB suspended/dismissed those members. Is that correct? But they still remain the legally chosen representatives, wouldn’t they? So when management refuses them to take part in the appeal committee, who is blocking the procedure? Please, can someone explain to me if this is the actual situation? Thank you!
We have actually written about 4 articles about this. Battistelli, as one person explains, “warned (and possibly downgraded) the CSC appointed members. Because they did not vote as instructed…”
Does that sound familiar? Well, Battistelli threatened the independence of the boards, too. Then he wonders why there’s no perception of justice inside the Office? Here is the full reply:
The president warned (and possibly downgraded) the CSC appointed members. Because they did not vote as instructed by the lawyers of the EPO. The CSC therefore decided, that they cannot appoint new members without a guarantee that they would not be punished for their work.Formally, the CSC is therefore the blocking party. Morally, the president. Any newly appointed members would be tainted and cannot decide freely since those cases.
Speaking of the boards that lost their independence (a judge remains on house ban), watch this new tweet from the EPO, which links to this ‘job’ vacancy (warning: epo.org link). It’s not actually a job but in the words of the EPO: “If you are a national judge in an EPC contracting state you can do an internship at the EPO boards of appeal…”
What kind of judge wishes to explore an internship? The Boards of Appeal (BoA) are SEVERELY (or critically) understaffed, so what the EPO needs is hiring of full-time staff, not interns.
Another new tweet from the EPO, posted today linking to this ‘job’ vacancy (warning: epo.org link), says: “Professional representatives with experience in prosecuting European patent applications should have a look at this…”
Our suspicions seem to have been justified then. Battistelli is getting rid of (or driving away) experienced examiners that are well paid in order to hire low-salary temporary staff on short-term contracts or internships. EPs will be worthless if this carries on. Does the Administrative Council mind at all? They’re supposed to have patent quality on the agenda later this month. █
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