We hereby inform you of a letter from the Union Syndicale Fédérale (USF), addressed to the Ministers of all European Patent Convention (EPC) member states responsible for the European Patent Organisation (EPO). This letter serves as a powerful call to convene the long overdue Conference of Ministers of the Contracting States under Article 4a of the European Patent Convention (EPC).

The USF, a respected federation of trade unions in the European public service sector, is taking a proactive stance in advocating for transparency, accountability, good governance and fairness within the EPO. The Conference of Ministers of Contracting States under Article 4a EPC is a vital mechanism for addressing the pressing issues that have been raised within the EPO, and the USF's letter underscores the urgency of convening this conference.

We encourage you to reading the letter.

In solidarity,
SUEPO Central

This document provides a non-exhaustive list of some articles, blog posts or videos published in October 2023 (sorted in reverse chronological order, not necessarily by relevance). Latest additions are highlighted in yellow:
 

• 
  (Algemeen Dagblad published on 04/10/2023) "Vakbond: ‘Cultuur van burn-outs en uitputting’ op Europees octrooibureau in Rijswijk". Translations of the article are available in English, German and French.

Other media articles that might be of interest to our readers

**Note: The translations are without guarantee, these were produced using automated translation.

USF press article from 29 September 2023, read on by simply clicking on the image below.

USF press article from 15 September 2023, read on by simply clicking on the image below.

This document provides a non-exhaustive list of some articles, blog posts or videos published in September 2023 (sorted in reverse chronological order, not necessarily by relevance). Latest additions are highlighted in yellow:

• (Hoffmann Eitle published on 08/09/2023) "Our response to the proposed new amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (RPBA)". Translations of the article are available in German, French and Dutch.

• (Kluwer Patent Blog published on 09/09/2023) "EPO Propaganda Master Class – or: How to Justify Higher Fees for Lower Quality Work". Translations of the article are available in German, French and Dutch.

Other media articles that might be of interest to our readers

**Note: The translations are without guarantee, these were produced using automated translation.

This document provides a non-exhaustive list of some articles, blog posts or videos published in July 2023 (sorted in reverse chronological order, not necessarily by relevance). Latest additions are highlighted in yellow:
 

• (FPC-Patentlitigation.ch published on 26 July 2023) "Productivity vs Quality at the EPO: A rare glimpse behind the curtain that’s worrying" .

• (ManagingIP published on 17/07/2023) "‘Slippery road’: in-house say EPO quality concerns not abating". Article behind paywall ! Translations are available for SUEPO members in German, French and Dutch.

• (RND published on 14/07/2023) "„Die Kasse muss stimmen“: Warum das Europäische Patentamt in der Kritik steht". Translations of the article are available in English, French and Dutch.

• (Kluwer Patent Blog published on 05/07/2023) "Deteriorating patent quality: EPO under fire, management is not impressed". Translations of the article are available in German, French and Dutch.

Other media articles that might be of interest to our readers

• (APNews published on 26 July 2023) "Cigna health giant accused of improperly rejecting thousands of patient claims using an algorithm".

**Note: The translations are without guarantee, these were produced using automated translation.

This document provides a non-exhaustive list of some articles, blog posts or videos published in May 2023 (sorted in reverse chronological order, not necessarily by relevance). Latest additions are highlighted in yellow:

• (Stuttgarter Zeitung published on 26/05/2023) "Kritik am Europäischen Patentamt - Patente ohne Wert?" Translations are available in English, French and Dutch.

• (Welt published on 26/05/2023) "Industrie kritisiert Europäisches Patentamt". Translations are available in English, French and Dutch.

• (General-Anzeiger published on 25/05/2023) "Patente ohne Wert". Translations are available in English, French and Dutch.

• (ManagingIP published on 22/05/2023) "This week on MIP: France v EPO spat, Med-El loss" and "French govt complained to EPO over EUIPO election conduct".  Article behind paywall ! Translations are available for SUEPO members in German, French and Dutch.

• (ManagingIP published on 11/05/2023) "Excl: Counsel hopeful of EPO quality deal despite latest stalemate".  Article behind paywall ! Translations are available for SUEPO members in German, French and Dutch.

Other media articles that might be of interest to our readers

**Note: The translations are without guarantee, these were produced using automated translation.

This document provides a non-exhaustive list of some articles, blog posts or videos published in April 2023 (sorted in reverse chronological order, not necessarily by relevance). Latest additions are highlighted in yellow:
 

• (ManagingIP published on 13/04/2023) "EPO’s quality chief answers critics". Article behind paywall ! Translations are available for SUEPO members in German, French and Dutch.

Other media articles that might be of interest to our readers

**Note: The translations are without guarantee, these were produced using automated translation.

This document provides a non-exhaustive list of some articles, blog posts or videos published in March 2023 (sorted in reverse chronological order, not necessarily by relevance). Latest additions are highlighted in yellow:

• (Frankfurter Rundschau) "Mal schnell ein Patent". Only available in the scanned newspaper version in the original German edition.

• (Münchner Merkur published on 28/03/2023) "Zoff um das Europäische Patentamt". Only available in the scanned newspaper version in the original German edition.

• (RND - RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland published on 28/03/2023) "Zoff um das Europäische Patentamt: Wird die Prüfung zunehmend nachlässig?" Translations of the article are available in English, French and Dutch.

• (Kluwer Patent Blog published on 09/03/2023) "EPO – Bringing Fun to the Teams". Translations of the article are available in German, French and Dutch.

• (ManagingIP published on 07/03/2023) "Exclusive: Archambeau loses key powers over EUIPO contract row". Translations of the article are available in German, French and Dutch.

• (Kluwer Patent Blog published on 06/03/2023) "Staff committee EPO supports initiative Industry Patent Quality Center". Translations of the article are available in German, French and Dutch.

• (ManagingIP published on 03/03/2023) "Exclusive: EPO under fire from staff reps amid IPQC criticisms". Translations of the article are available in German, French and Dutch.

Other media articles that might be of interest to our readers

**Note: The translations are without guarantee, these were produced using automated translation.