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Ortssektion München . Local Section Munich . Section locale de Munich
22.01.2015 su15007mp
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0.2.1/0.3.2/0.2.2
FIRST DEMONSTRATIONS OF 2015 ACTIONS CONTINUE
March to the Danish consulate
Yesterday some 1000 colleagues braved the freezing cold for a demonstration in front of the Danish consulate in Munich. Staff reproaches
the EPO’s Administrative Council
headed by Mr Kongstad, who is of Danish nationality, for: - its
failure to exercise due oversight
over the President of the EPO, - its
failure to fulfill its duty of care
towards EPO staff by allowing unacceptable employment law to be imposed on staff, and - its
lack of transparency
towards the EPO's users and the general public. The Danish consul in Munich, Ms Hedegaard Meinertz, had been informed of the demonstration in a letter
. In this letter SUEPO also asked for an opportunity to discuss s
taff’s concerns with her or
her deputy. We were received by the consul herself. The main topics presented from our side were
the Council’s failure to fulfil its
duty of care towards staff, and the lack of transparency
towards the EPO’s users and the general
public. We explained that we did not understand how the Council delegations, headed by Mr Kongstad, could impose on staff of the EPO labour legislation that would be inacceptable in their own countries. Concerning transparency we noted that this was not a new issue, but that Mr Battistelli and Mr Kongstad had failed to bring any significant improvements in the situation. Ms Meinertz obviously could not comment, but she took note.
What have the actions achieved thus far?
The strikes and demonstrations in the EPO have been noticed outside the EPO. Those
who may have had doubts about the reports of SUEPO about Mr Battistelli’s lack of
respect for the law were convinced by the clearly irregular investigation and suspension
(“ban”) of a member of the Boards of Appeal.
Mr Battistelli’s claims that “a small minority”
opposes his justified reforms sound increasingly weak. The world has woken up to our problems, see: Judicial Independence - the EPO Responds to Sir Robin Jacob's Letter (21.01.2015) http://ipkitten.blogspot.de/2015/01/judicial-independence-epo-responds-to.html
(Don’t miss the comments section!)
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Letter to the Danish consul: http://www.suepo.org/archive/su15001ml.pdf
2 Vesna Stilin Renews Her Fight for Justic
e in Željko Topić Ca
se (20.01.2015) http://techrights.org/2015/01/20/vesna-stilins-vs-zeljko-topic/ Dr. Ingve Björn Stjerna, "Unitary patent and court system
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Advocate General’s
Statements of Position: Superseded by reality" (15.01.2015) http://www.stjerna.de/index_htm_files/Unitarypatent_OpinionC-146_13.pdf FOSS Patents, "Pressure mounts on EPO president and administrative council over suspension of patent judge" (08.01.2015) http://www.fosspatents.com/2015/01/pressure-mounts-on-epo-president-and.html
What are our claims?
SUEPO intends to organise a demonstration every month for as long as it takes to bring the EPO back on track.
Our claims are for
Rule of Law, Freedom of Association and Honest negotiation of our work package
. But we do not forget the mission of the EPO as a public service created for the benefit of the citizens of Europe. That is why we continue to defend high quality searches and examinations as well as
transparency
.
Next: the British consulate?
The next demonstration could be aimed at the British consulate. Why the British consulate? Because Mr. Sean Dennehey
(UK), member of the British delegation, is a major player in the Administrative Council (AC). Like Mr. Kongstad, Mr. Dennehey is
member of the Board of the Administrative Council or “Board 28”
chairman of the Patent Law Committee for a three-year term, starting on 30 March 2014. Mr Dennehey actively supports and defends the reforms of Mr Battistelli, reforms that increasingly deny staff of the EPO of fundamental rights that are taken for granted by all other European citizens. Mr Dennehey supports the Office in trying to suppress
public discussion about the suspension of a Member of the Boards of Appeal while leaving space for Mr Battistelli to do the contrary behind closed doors. We wish to alert the British government to the problems in the EPO and the role played by the British delegation.
“We are
not here trying to build a reform which is compatible with each of your
nation’s law. We are trying to build something which is useful for the Office, for the
Organisation. So if in some cases, it is not compatible with the German law, the UK law, or the French law, this is not the issue. The issue is: is it useful for the
Organisation?”
Mr Battistelli (BFC, 20 November 2014)
Please support the actions !
Remember: we can only support you if you support us.
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Biography of Mr Sean Dennehey: https://www.gov.uk/government/people/sean-dennehey
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139th meeting of the AC: http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2014/20140328.html
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