In interlocutory decisionR 0019/12, the Chairman of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (at the same timeVice-President of DG3, VP 3) had to be replaced by his alternatebecause a party's suspicion of partiality was found to be objectivelyjustified since VP 3 was too closely involved in the Office'sadministration, e.g. in the MAC or in the GAC.
The story has been picked up by German legal-issues website juve.de, the French Blog du Droit Européen and the EPLAW Patent Blog
Nikolaos Chountis, a Greek member of the European Parliament, posed thisquestion to the Commissionon the current situation at the EPO and what they can do about it.
A group of Italian politicians filedwritten questionsto ministers on the current situation in the EPO; the reply isnot yet available.
The IPKat blog has publisheda post on the EPO's strike rules
The SUEPO chairs sent this letter to Henrik Sass Larsen, the Minister of Business and Growth in Denmark
General information on the EPOand the present social conflict can be found in the following document:-
English original
German translation
French translation
Dutch translation
A paper just published by a Member of the French Parliament, Mr P.- Y. Le Borgn',who reports on the worrying social situation at EPO. He claims in particular theconvening of a Conference of the ministers of the EPO Contracting states (Article 4a EPC)that would task an independent authority to audit the governance of the European Patent Organisationwith a view to make concrete proposals to fix the governance crisis the EPO is going through.(only available in French for now)
International press:
Aufstand gegen den Sonnenkönig -Die Berliner Zeitung
Ambiance délétère et président contesté - RTL.be
or, if you prefer Libération... Ambiance délétère et président contesté
Der verhasste 'Sonnenkönig' - Frankfurter Rundschau
And finally, anew blog article from the Parti Socialiste Saint-Germain en Laye
The IPKat Blog reported on the unrest at the EPO onthe 28th of March ,the 25th of March andthe 17th of March 2014(printable version)
Please find a post from a French Member of Parliament(printable version)on the social situation at the EPO and his actions in front of the French Ministry
The French news agency (Agence France Presse - AFP) published an article (printable version) describing the deleterious atmosphere at the EPO during the current presidency of Benoit Battistelli.
This press release was then published byLiberationandBoursorama(printable version).
The Berliner Zeitung (printable version) gave an overview of the social unrest.