FOSS Patents comments on the joint statement by Benoît Battistelli and Jesper Kongstad calling for a social dialogue, and publishes the reaction of SUEPO Munich (also published by IPKat). Florian Mueller writes:

"So they say they're going to do something that happened in major EPOrg member states like the UK and Germany almost 150 years ago: to formally recognize trade unions.(Granted, EPO employees have always had the right to strike, so the current rules aren't medieval in all respects, but with recent changes that would require a strike to be approved by the president, the right to strike had also been effectively vitiated.)"

IPKat comments on the outcome of the meeting of the Administrative Council "which will certainly not be to everyone's liking". "Essentially, what is needed now is for the President and all the other parties involved to make sure that their first concern is the running of the Office, not the ruining of it."The reaction of SUEPO The Hague can be found in the comments.

Claudia Dall'Agnol, a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg, has posed questions to the President of the Chamber under the title "Social conflict at the European Patent Office".

FOSS Patents comments on the issues at stake for the Administrative Council meeting of 25 and 26 March 2015.These are also addressed in the SUEPO flyer announcing the coming demonstration. Florian Mueller analyses the governance crisis as follows:

"The national government delegates on the AC have reasons for backing Mr. Battistelli's controversial decisions and plans.The EPO is, indirectly, a cash cow for national patent offices (through renewal fees).Germany alone receives about 140 million euros per year in annual renewal fees for the German parts of patents granted by the EPO.National patent offices are given lucrative opportunities in the form of cooperation projects with the EPO, which the president controls.And AC members have frequently been (and some current AC members are rumored to be) given high-level posts at the EPO, where they usually get a much bigger paycheck than at home.More than enough reasons to favor stability over everything else.

IPKat has sent an open letter to the Administrative Council of the EPO.The letter concludes that:

"It is the function of the Administrative Council to hold the President and senior management of the EPO to account, and Europe is watching to see signs that [the delegations] are doing this. Members of the EU are also watching with concern since the EPO is crucial to the future success of the Unitary Patent."

Dutch News, a website for expatriates in the Netherlands, summarises the articles of NRC Handelsblad and de Volkskrant published on 21 March 2015.

NRC Handelsblad published an interview(printable version) titled "I am not a Sun King" with Benoît Battistelli, President of the European Patent Office.
Benoît Battistelli considers that, the judgment of the Court of Appeal in The Hague is "a Dutch interpretation of International Law.""The Court had made a legal mistake [...] In addition to that, the Court has made a wrong interpretation of the facts."

Regarding the suicide of an employee who jumped out the window at the workplace in The Hague in 2013, Benoît Battistelli says that"There was no reason to assume a connection with his work. The Dutch police investigated and found out that it was clearly a suicide. We have no reason to do more. The Labour Inspectorate in the Netherlands has no reason to intervene in such a case. We are not a Dutch agency."

Regarding social dialogue, Battistelli concludes "I'm open. But we also have troublesome unions. A mix of French unions with German efficiency: a dangerous cocktail."

The interview was also published in the paper version of 21 March 2015.Translations in English, French and German are available by scrolling through the document.

De Volkskrant(printable version) reports on the "reign of terror" conducted by Benoît Battistelli over the European Patent Organisation.
The article points out that "the social conflit at the EPO has gone out of hand". "A suicide at the workplace was not investigated by the Dutch Labour Inspectorate which was not allowed to enter the EPO premises."

Concerning the governance issues, the article quotes that "Battistelli controls the flows of money, so [the delegations of the Administrative Council] would be crazy to contradict him.""Characteristic of the behaviour of Benoît Battistelli is the renovation of the tenth floor of the ISAR building which is said to have cost millions of Euros".

The article was also published in the paper version of 21 March 2015.Translations in English, French and German are available by scrolling through the document.

NRC Handelsblad published an article (printable version) titled, "The Labour Inspectorate cannot enter the European Patent Office".
The article reports that "In 2013, an employee committed suicide by jumping out the window in Rijswijk. Also in Germany there were two suicides.""The Dutch Labour Inspectorate was not allowed to enter the premises and this has led to parliamentary questions."

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

FOSS Patentsconsiders that, "the EU institutions should take a closer look at the current situation before the EPO starts to grant the EU unitary patent".

There are two key areas of concern:

• the impact of the future UPC's rules of procedure on the tech industry, particularly companies that have to defend themselves against patents that wouldn't survive an invalidity challenge, and
• the human rights conflict at the European Patent Office (EPO), which has recently escalated because EPO staff won a ruling form a Dutch appeals court but the Dutch government won't allow it to be enforced against the EPO for immunity reasons.

Pr. Liesbeth Zegveld, legal counsel of SUEPO The Hague has sent a letter to all member states' Ministers in charge of IP matters.