Yet more rewriting of rules, as majority of patent attorneys say it’s time to resign.
The president of the European Patent Office has embarked on yet another effort to undermine his organization’s staff union.
In confidential documents seen by The Register, the president’s team has drafted changes to the organization’s articles that would effectively give him veto power over the election of union representatives, as well as limit what those representatives could do.
Among the changes proposed:
- The current union leaders – who Battistelli has fired or placed on leave despite a formal rebuke from the European Patent Office’s (EPO‘s) Administrative Council – would be unable to stand for re-election.
- The union would lose its right to choose two of the five members of the EPO’s “supervisory committee,” with those members chosen instead by an ill-defined process that EPO management is likely to dominate.
- The supervisory committee would be granted new powers, including the ability to “take any measures as it sees fit, including to strike out from the election any list or candidate in case of evidence or attempts of fragmenting the electoral body, or of unduly influencing in any way the result of the election.”
- Only the chair of the Central Staff Committee would be excused from official duties – previously all members of the committees were excused.
- Union meetings would be limited to a certain number per year and will not be allowed to grow beyond a certain size.
Read here the rest of the article “Battistelli tries to break EPO union !” on the Register.
