Público, "La Oficina Europea de Patentes viola los derechos laborales, según los trabajadores"

Público, a spanish newspaper, published anarticle (printable version) titled"The European Patent Office is violating labour laws, according to the employees".

The article reports on the authoritarian drift of the European Patent Office under the presidency of Mr Battistelli with the introduction of aninvestigation unit (supported by Control Risks), the increase in disciplinary procedures and the violation of fundamental rights of staff with the latest health care reform (lack of confidentiality of medical records and house arrests for invalids).

Translations in English, French, German and Dutch can be found by scrolling through the document.

Nederlands Juristenblad, "Fundamental labour rights and immunity"

Nederlands Juristenblad, a Dutch legal magazine, published an article about the judgment of the Dutch Court of Appeal in the case SUEPO v EPO:

"The Court of Appeal in The Hague has created an international precedent in the case against EPO by rejecting the immunity of an international organisation in a collective labour law case, and also awarding the claims on their merits, based on the fact that the organisation in question violated fundamental human rights.This decision is important because it further institutionalises the accountability of international organisations.Unfortunately the Netherlands also showed itself at its most narrow-minded: the Minister instructed the bailiff to not enforce the judgement because the organisation enjoys immunity from enforcement under international law. This instruction not only erodes the separation of powers stipulated by the Constitution, it isn't an obligation under international law either: as is the case for immunity from jurisdiction, immunity from enforcement can only be granted if the organisation adequately protects fundamental rights."

Translations in English and French are available by scrolling through the document.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, "Krisenfachleute spähen im EPA"

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports on the information that the EPO has commissioned the company Control Risks to investigate elected representatives of the Staff Committee and/or Staff Union:

"Control Risks ist in Deutschland nicht unbekannt. Es soll das Unternehmen gewesen sein, das angeblich für die Deutsche Telekom Journalisten bespitzelte, um an Kontaktpersonen aus dem Konzern heranzukommen, die Informationen nach außen durchgestochen haben sollen."

"Dass es aber ausgerechnet Control Risks sein musste, die da ausgewählt wurde, hat an einigen Stellen des Hauses – gelinde ausgedrückt – Magengrummeln ausgelöst.Es wird als "unglückliche Wahl" bezeichnet. Und es wird nicht gerade als förderlich für eine gute Verhandlungsatmosphäre zwischen Präsident und Gewerkschaften betrachtet, dass nun ausgerechnet ein Personalvertreter Gegenstand von Ermittlungen wegen vermeintlicher Mobbingvorwürfe ist."
Translations in English,French andDutch are available by scrolling through the document.

Striking structural parallels between the European Patent Office and soccer body FIFA

FOSS Patents draws parallels between the structural deficiencies of FIFA on the one hand and the EPO on the other hand:

"both organizations have similar structural issues that lead to bad decisions and bad behavior. Neither FIFA nor the EPO are corrupt per se, but their structural deficiencies have various corrupting effects."

Süddeutsche Zeitung, "Sturm im Glashaus"

The Süddeutsche Zeitung (printable version) comments on the information that the EPO has commissioned the company Control Risks to investigate elected representatives of the Staff Committee and/or Staff Union:

"Fruchtlose Friedengespräche. Das Europäische Patentamt kommt nicht zur Ruhe: Neue interne Ermittlungen, die sich gegen Personalvertreter richten, sorgen für Aufsehen. Weil die hauseigene Ermittlungsabteilung personell überlastet sei, sollen nun Krisenspezialisten aus London Mobbingvorwürfen nachgehen".

Translations in English, French and Dutch are available by scrolling through the document. The article was also published in the paper version of 1 June 2015.

Union Recognition Talks: going nowhere, as slowly as possible

The last tri-partite meeting (Administrative Council/Office/Unions) on Union recognition took place on 28 May. Neither the Office nor the Administrative Council (AC) have given any indication that they intend to involve SUEPO in any form of serious collective bargaining.

The EPO also refuses to stop investigations against staff and union representatives launched during the talks on unions recognition.

More information can be found in the publication available here.

Jean Nouvel builds the new EPO building in The Hague... and the Philharmonie de Paris

Ateliers Jean Nouvel has been chosen to design and construct the new EPO building in The Hague.

Mediapart, a French information website edited by former journalists of Le Monde, has recently published an article (printable version) on the severe problems of the Philharmonie de Paris designed by this same architect.Translations in English and German can be found by scrolling through the document.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung also reported on the difficulties of Jean Nouvel.

More on Control Risks

SUEPO understands that the company Control Risks has been commissioned by the EPO to investigate staff members who are elected representatives of the Staff Committee and/or Staff Union.The following articles report on the activities of this company:

Spiegel Online, The Dark Side of Power: German Corporate Spying Scandal Widens
Spiegel Online, Attack on Customer Data: Lufthansa Admits Spying on Journalist
The Guardian, Watching the detectives
Financial Times, From guard dogs and fences to business intelligence

A summary can be found here.

The EPO confirms use of external investigation firms

The EPO has issued a communiqué confirming the use of external investigation firms. A copy of the communiqué and comments can be found on IPKat:

"The "best international standards" followed by the Investigative Unit don't include allowing the employee to be represented by a lawyer. Perhaps readers think that "lawyering up" at an early stage is an over-reaction, but consider that the employee may face dismissal without any of the safeguards of labour law available in the EU or other member states. The targets of investigation are severely restricted from even disclosing that they are being investigated, and apparently have an active duty to cooperate, so no "right to silence"; and the Investigative Unit (and by extension, Control Risks) has the power to invade the privacy of the subject to an extent that would cause uproar if it happened in a national patent office or in any private enterprise operating within the EU."