tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post5635556718732228175..comments2024-03-29T06:00:27.896+00:00Comments on The IPKat: A call for financial transparency from the European Patent OfficeVerónica Rodríguez Arguijohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05763207846940036921noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-4884881583040774602015-05-31T11:10:35.049+01:002015-05-31T11:10:35.049+01:00CuriousExaminer said "[...] financial informa...CuriousExaminer said "[...] financial information through normal national legal means [...] government transparency [...]"<br /><br />If monetary movements have been done using US banks/servers/... then you have the FIFA-scenario and the FBI is coming to rescue Eponia from the Bananarepublic status it appears to be heading for ... right?<br /><br />Der Sepp ('I forgive everyone, but I don't forget')<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-68154188403629501652015-05-29T10:42:35.192+01:002015-05-29T10:42:35.192+01:00I am wondering if anybody has ever tried to get ac...I am wondering if anybody has ever tried to get access to EPO financial information through normal national legal means.<br />Let me explain: most EPC member states have legislation regarding government transparency. For instance in the Netherlands, there is the WOB - Wet Openbaarheid Bestuur - which can be used to get access to most government documents (except if national security is at stake). It is often used for very mundane things (e.g. to get access to pictures from speed camera's to appeal a fine) but has also brought to light major scandals (e.g. the financial payments to criminals by the Dutch ministry of justice, causing 2 heads to roll).<br /><br />In principle, I do not see why this transparency duty should not extend to the EPO, financed through public money of the member states - if applicants pay procedural fees upon filing an EP application at an EPC member state patent office, and that money is transferred to the accounts of the European Patent Office, that is a transaction of public money (the NPO is a government body). <br /><br />Could financial transparency be obtained by making a request to receive a breakdown of how this national public money is being used ? <br /><br />CuriousExaminer Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-87901454320325779062015-05-28T15:57:42.828+01:002015-05-28T15:57:42.828+01:00Our governments should act!Our governments should act!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-30144527076988756142015-05-27T13:56:25.254+01:002015-05-27T13:56:25.254+01:00When special contributions are at stake, UK will o...<i>When special contributions are at stake, UK will only have to contribute very mildly as the number of filings coming from the UK is relatively small compared to those of FR, NL, CH or even IT which are much higher.</i><br /><br />Sorry pal - Article 40(3) EPC makes it clear that it is 1977 filing numbers that apply - UK share is a little below 20% just short of Germany at about 22%. Who said life was fair?Meldrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09841440718012449720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-24286925160283240502015-05-27T13:18:47.454+01:002015-05-27T13:18:47.454+01:00It should be remembered that when Mrs Brimelow cam...It should be remembered that when Mrs Brimelow came, the EPO was on the verge of bankrupcy. Now suddenly liabilities increase in spite of the salary mass being contained (but not for everybody...).<br /><br />A further aspect that should also not be forgotten, is Art 37(c) as well as Art 40(b) EPC about special contributions by member states. Should the EPO may need money, the contracting states may be invited to support the Office. Any president wanting to invoke these dispositions will be fired instantaneously.<br />When special contributions are at stake, UK will only have to contribute very mildly as the number of filings coming from the UK is relatively small compared to those of FR, NL, CH or even IT which are much higher. But UK has still a large number of designations, which will have to be taken into consideration for the entry in force of the UPC agreement, if a Brexit does not change the situation. <br /><br />An old French proverb says: if you want to kill your dog, then simply claim it has rabies....<br />Has the EPO been so badly run by the predecessors of those two people who were only linked by reciprocal disdain, or is it no more than an overblown ego wanting to show "I can do it MUCH better".....<br /><br />It is a pity to see the EPO being so badly managed, whereby the SUEPO is certainly not free of blame for the obstructive way it was handling relations with upper management. But this is not a reason to dismiss it as is presently done<br />Old Mannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-86935285296543050412015-05-27T10:09:34.441+01:002015-05-27T10:09:34.441+01:00@Future pensioner:
alas, you appear to have falle...@Future pensioner:<br /><br />alas, you appear to have fallen for the EPO administration's pensions nonsense: take a look at the last Actuarial report on the pension fund (value at 31.12 2012), where you will see that the real experts concluded that the fund was perfectly healthy. It remains so. Real liabilities are covered, as far as can be ascertained from the hard-to-find information available.<br /><br />The problem with the IFRS forecasts is that they are based upon entirely unrealistic values for the discount rate used to calculate future estimated liabilities. That the EPO (on paper) can increase its apparent liabilities by nearly €5 billion in the last three months (as reported in the last financial statement) is absurd and reflects nothing but the inadequacy of the model.<br /><br />Furthermore, the Pension RESERVE Fund is precisely that: a reserve. The EPO at present pays all pensions out of current account and is likely to do so for some time (unless the president and the AC decide to award the member states even more cash for doing nothing).<br /><br />The present 'reforms' are nothing more than a cash grab - simply because the president and AC can do what they like and there is no legal basis for intervention against them apart from ATILO, which, we already know, is a busted flush.<br /><br />The problem for the future, of course, is this if they can get away with what they like for serving staff, what will they try next? As the ominous words 'pension reform' have already been spoken, I fear the worst. In this I am joined by the (reportedly) 400-odd staff who have decided to retire in the near future, in the hope that they can get their pension before it, too, is downgraded.Angry Old Mannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-14779447069544449082015-05-26T19:58:19.680+01:002015-05-26T19:58:19.680+01:00Merpel,
Re. The pension future requirements, the p...Merpel,<br />Re. The pension future requirements, the pension reserve fund does appear to be large, but there appears to be a problem due to the reducing rate of interest. While the fund has always aimed medium to high and, fortunately, exceeded even that on a long term basis (even now), actuarially, as far as I understand it, the figure to be used for future growth assumptions has dropped from the high 3% to about 0.89% p.a. The consequence is that there is a large shortfall on paper (basically the EPO is forced to assume a 0.89% return while it is currently achieving >5 (or >6?). <br />In fairness, the more conservative figure is to be taken seriously since to do otherwise is to just shrug and act complacent. Which wil not look good in hindsight if the experts are right. At the moment the figures look v bad since compound interest at 0.89% over 20 years is a lot less impressive than 3.89% over 20 years, let alone what will be achieved if current investments continue (although values may go down as well as up etc.). The 0.89% may rise of course. Or it may fall further. Future liabilities won't.Future pensionernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-75502411506341216492015-05-26T18:44:50.854+01:002015-05-26T18:44:50.854+01:00In September 2014, the Central staff Committee (CS...In September 2014, the Central staff Committee (CSC) requested that a corruption specialist (Transparency International) assessed the office’s governance(...)<br />According to the CSC, the most recently-appointed auditor was a former close co-worker of EPO President Benoît Battistelli from his time at the French Patent Office. <br /><br />http://www.worldipreview.com/news/calls-for-epo-transparency-investigation-ignored-7142<br /><br /><br />In November 2014, the President Battistelli responded that there was a “defamation campaign” against him.<br />The EPO staff union, he said, was organising the campaign and had been “contacting the media throughout Europe” to complain about issues such as a perceived lack of transparency at the EPO and poor governance.<br />As for transparency, the President Battistelli said: “Since I became president I’ve proposed the publication of most council documents.<br />Not many public organisations are doing so much in terms of transparency.”<br /><br />http://www.worldipreview.com/article/epo-trouble-at-the-topW. L. P.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-79278133952041603372015-05-26T18:32:57.239+01:002015-05-26T18:32:57.239+01:00Squirrel something away and to ferret it out;. Say...Squirrel something away and to ferret it out;. Says…<br /><br />Before BBs arrival, the EPO squirrels were mainly red. Soon we will vaguely remember these sweet Beatrix Potter–type creatures, smaller and prettier and more agile and lacking the rat-like features that disclose themselves when you get close to a gray squirrel. These latter riffraff, once imported from the AC by some kind of regrettable accident, has now gradually massacred and driven out the more demure and refined EPO breed. It is said that the gray squirrels do not fight fair and with a raking motion of their back paws castrate the luckless red ones. Whatever the truth of that, the sighting of a native EPO squirrel will be soon to be a rarity! <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-89141623341530932702015-05-26T14:07:48.761+01:002015-05-26T14:07:48.761+01:00THE EPO Jester found...
this under the King's ...THE EPO Jester found...<br />this under the King's desk:<br /><br />Investigative Unit and external firms<br /><br />26.05.2015<br /> <br />Regarding questions raised in recent publications and blogs<br /> <br />Dear colleagues,<br /><br />Some recent publication and blogs have questioned the participation of an external firm in EPO activities related to the Investigative Unit. I want to clarify that because the EPO Investigative Unit is rather small in terms of staffing, we need to be able to contract external companies to support our fact finding enquiries. This is one reason why an external firm can be chosen in regard to an investigation, operating within the regulatory framework of the EPO, under the full supervision of the Investigative Unit.<br /><br />The European Patent Office cannot comment on specific internal investigation cases. This lack of comment is to protect the integrity of any such case and protect the interest of all parties concerned. However I would like to remind the Office has a duty of care to its employees including to investigate allegations of harassment against them by other employees. Investigations can only take place following specific allegations, made by EPO staff or external parties, and these investigations are independently and objectively carried out by the Investigative Unit, under its sole responsibility.<br /><br />The investigation process of the EPO follows the best international standards and allows persons to be heard, to respond and to defend themselves against any allegations, before any conclusion of misconduct would be reported to the employee's appointing authority. Only in any case where a serious misconduct is confirmed by the Investigative Unit, a disciplinary case could be instigated where the subject has a further right to be heard before a disciplinary committee and before any subsequent decision on a sanction would be taken.<br /><br />In 2014, the Investigative Unit received 68 allegations of misconduct (-23% compared to 2013), 50% being already rejected as insufficiently specified.<br /><br /> <br /> <br />John Martin<br />PD Internal Audit and Oversight<br /> <br /> Perhaps an amusing detail is that Control Risks is a member of Transparency International...<br /><br />http://www.transparency.de/Control-Risks-RB-31.1217.0.html<br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-7491290777936288782015-05-26T13:28:41.948+01:002015-05-26T13:28:41.948+01:00THE EPO Jester is laughing...
...about a kittenis...THE EPO Jester is laughing...<br /><br />...about a kittenish cat playing with and looking behind a curtain nobody should have a insight.<br />The member states are not only subsidising their national offices and dubious IP projects via the money printing EPO cash machine, but there is a lot more going on. So welcome and enjoy the Rocky EU/EPO Picture Show. But take care! If you play to much around the curtain, an Control Risk employee could suddenly tread on your tail...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-52653784783149482492015-05-26T12:49:09.553+01:002015-05-26T12:49:09.553+01:00Many of the submissions you refer to, dear Merpel,...Many of the submissions you refer to, dear Merpel, appear to be quite critic of the renewal fees proposal.<br /><br />And there lies your answer.<br /><br />Do you think we will also ever see any of the comments requested about the reform of the Court of Appeal?<br /><br />No way.<br /><br />Critics at the EPO are just silenced - either by not publishing their comments, or by investigating them with an external company.<br />A criticnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-24977426104549792752015-05-26T11:40:04.100+01:002015-05-26T11:40:04.100+01:00Vostradamus says:
How naïve you are Merpel, People...Vostradamus says:<br />How naïve you are Merpel, People have been asking for more transparency for months now, including the President's emoluments and benefits. Don't you understand that as long as Mr Battistelli remains President with his friends in key position the request will not be met? Why it is pretty clear! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-80000808996178953072015-05-26T10:47:36.486+01:002015-05-26T10:47:36.486+01:00FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY AND EPO IN THE SAME SENTENC...FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY AND EPO IN THE SAME SENTENCE ?????<br /><br />Chercher l'erreur !Alibabanoreply@blogger.com