The next demonstration will take place on Thursday 28 January in the Hague. The demonstrators will march peacefully from the French Embassy (at 12:00 on the Carnegieplein) to the German Embassy.
The first press reports on the recent disciplinary actions against key Staff Union officials in Munich can be found below:
SUEPO Munich received a reply from the Bavarian Ministry of Justice (translations are available in English, French and Dutch), Prof. Dr. Winfried Bausback, to the letter sent on 7 December 2016, in relation to the demonstration which took place on 10 December 2015. In his reply, he referred to the question posed by German MP Jutta Krellmann dated 8 October, which you could find here.
The next demonstration will take place on Wednesday 20 January starting from the ISAR building at 12.30h. The demonstrators will march peacefully to the Bayerische Staatskanzlei.
IPKAT reports on the outcome of the disciplinary procedures against three staff representatives/union officials.
Source: http://ipkitten.blogspot.de/2016/01/breaking-news-from-epo-suepo-officials.html
IPKAT (04 December 2015)
“Boards of Appeal tell AC: we were never consulted”
Source: http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2015/12/boards-of-appeal-tell-ac-we-were-never.html
WIPR (07 December 2015)
“WIPR survey: Readers vent anger at EPO dispute”
Source: http://www.worldipreview.com/news/wipr-survey-readers-vent-anger-at-epo-dispute-9288
IPKAT (08 December 2015)
“Merpel pays a brief visit to Eponia”
Source: http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2015/12/merpel-pays-brief-visit-to-eponia.html
WIPR (08 December 2015)
“EPO staff to hold third demo in as many weeks”
Source: http://www.worldipreview.com/news/epo-staff-to-hold-third-demo-in-as-many-weeks-9300
Heise online (09 December 2015)
“Europäisches Patentamt: Streit zwischen Führung und Mitarbeitern spitzt sich rasch zu” (translations available in English, French and Dutch)
Source: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Europaeisches-Patentamt-Streit-zwischen-Fuehrung-und-Mitarbeitern-spitzt-sich-rasch-zu-3036971.html
FOSS Patents (10 December 2015)
“Why would a patent office be afraid of bloggers? Only if it has something to hide. Like the EPO.”
Source: http://www.fosspatents.com/2015/12/why-would-patent-office-be-afraid-of.html
Junge Welt (11 December 2015)
“Unrechtsstaat im Staate”
Source: http://www.jungewelt.de/2015/12-11/020.php
More can be found on Techrights: http://techrights.org/wiki/index.php/EPO
In a recent document, the ILO Legal Advisor and the ILO Administrative Tribunal blame the number of complaints coming from the EPO for the Tribunal’s current workload and effectiveness problems. CA/21/15, a report by the external auditors of the EPO, confirms problems in the internal justice system of the EPO (see in particular points 13-15 and 59-61). In response the Governing Body of the ILO requested its Director-General “to initiate without delay discussions with the European Patent Organisation … in order to identify a solution to the difficulties …” (point 33 of the above mentioned document). Staff representatives are only to be “consulted”, and that only afterwards.
ILO defines its mission and objectives as “to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues” (emphasis added).
SUEPO was therefore shocked and dismayed to see that the governing body of ILO (International Labour Organisation) proposed discussions with representatives of the President without involving representatives of the staff. On behalf of SUEPO and the other staff associations that rely on the Tribunal for justice, SUEPO’s lawyer, Ed Flaherty, has requested to involve staff representatives from the outset. Click here to access the letter of Mr Flaherty.