{"id":5791,"date":"2017-12-11T13:00:35","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T12:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unionsyndicale.eu\/?p=5791"},"modified":"2023-12-19T13:17:43","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T12:17:43","slug":"the-final-straw-for-patent-quality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unionsyndicale.eu\/en\/the-final-straw-for-patent-quality\/","title":{"rendered":"The final straw for patent quality?"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_auto\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_flex valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"g-cols wpb_row via_flex valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"vc_col-sm-2 wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_col-sm-8 wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column us_custom_432d3f53\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>The final straw for patent quality?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In its October meeting, some delegations to the Budget and Finance Committee (BFC)<br \/>\nheavily criticised proposal CA\/103\/17 for a \u201cmodernisation of the employment framework\u201d presented by the <a href=\"https:\/\/unionsyndicale.eu\/en\/?s=EPO&amp;lang=en\">Office<\/a>. It\u2019s status was then reduced from for opinion to for information. The proposal would have allowed the Office to employ 100% of all new examiners on fixed-term contracts, starting from January 2018.<\/p>\n<p>But the proposal is not off the table. During its last Board 28 meeting, it was agreed that a final proposal would be tabled for the March 2018 Council meeting. The revised proposal as it stands sets down that up to 40% of examiners may be employed on five-year renewable contracts. But permanent employment is a mandatory requirement for the independence of the examining divisions (Article 18 EPC), which have already suffered many \u201creforms\u201d since 2013. We must therefore warn in the strongest terms against the implementation of any \u201creform\u201d which would further deteriorate the working conditions, the working atmosphere, and the independence of the examining and opposition divisions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Impact of past \u201creforms\u201d on employees\u2019 commitment to quality<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Until few years ago, examiners and formalities officers were committed to delivering high quality services, including search reports and granted patents. This attitude has more and more given way to feelings of despair and resignation. For many, the priority has shifted towards satisfying their line manager\u2019s production demands in order to protect themselves from being targeted as \u201clow performers\u201d. Examiners are finding it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to comply with the still rising production demands whilst maintaining good quality. But the full adverse impact on the quality of the EPO\u2019s services of the past \u201creforms\u201d &#8211; the new career system CA\/D 10\/14, the DG1\/DG2 reorganisation CA\/65\/174 and the \u201creform\u201d of the internal justice system CA\/D 7\/17 &#8211; is yet to materialise.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/unionsyndicale.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/20171211-EPO-FLIER-33-The-final-straw-for-patent-quality.pdf\">20171211 &#8211; EPO-FLIER 33 &#8211; The final straw for patent quality<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_large\"><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium with_line width_50 thick_3 style_solid color_primary align_center\"><div class=\"w-separator-h\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vc_col-sm-2 wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_auto\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_flex valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is this the final straw for patent quality ? Discover the article from the EP flier concerning proposed fixed-term contract for examiners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5789,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,68],"tags":[],"dossier-special":[],"class_list":["post-5791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","category-working-conditions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The final straw for patent quality?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is this the final straw for patent quality ? 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