IPKat provides an
overview of the events at the European Patent Office since 1 January 2015.Merpel concludes as follows:
- "The Administrative Council (AC) has shown some signs of independent thought, but there's a lot more to do if it is to bring the EPO into line with the standards of the national patent offices whose heads make up the AC."
- "The delegates know full well that if they tried to subject their own staff at home to the same regime as in the EPO (i.e. the investigations, the unilateral changes to promotion structures and invalidity benefits), they would find themselves in court and probably out of a job due to the revolt of civil servants. But when they board the plane to Munich, somehow the standards slip."
- "The AC continues to approve proposals for social reforms when it knows that the staff’s input into these proposals have been deliberately silenced. They are aware of the atmosphere of fear pervading the office, and now they know that someone in the EPO is spying on attorneys and potentially on themselves.Will this be enough for someone to cry "halt"? Merpel is, as she said, eternally hopeful."
