Survey: EPO working conditions continue to deteriorate

Thanks to Kluwer Patent Blogger for raising the attention of the profession to the situation at the EPO. Dear professional, do not think that the situation at the EPO is none of your business. The general atmosphere has a direct influence on the work carried out by examiners and hence the quality of the “products” delivered. The management of EPO is thinking in “plans”, especially when it comes to the number of “products” to be delivered. The rationale is always more and in less time, and if you do not reach your target, it is you to blame. Should persist in this deviant attitude you will get fired before you realised it. On the other hands we all know where planned economies have led to….. Anything is done to crush people and bring in a deleterious atmosphere. The newly recruited examiners are only receiving 5 years contracts. What a marvellous tool to hinder any attempt to oppose management views. As an appointment for life is only achievable after 10 years of good conduct, this is also a strong deterrent for people having some professional experience to come to the EPO, unless they have personal reasons to move to Munich, The Hague or Berlin. When two third of staff members say that they would not recommend a friend to take a job at the EPO alarm bells should be ringing loud at management level, but no it prefers not to comment the study. Is it possible to be so blind? If the management of the EPO would not be afraid of the result why would it refuse to allow Technologia to use the EPO mail addresses? By the way the official surveys carried by the EPO management show a similar trend, but the figures are presented in such a way that the AC is not in a position to apprehend reality. And this survey took place when the pandemic had not yet burst out. How is to possible to create a feeling of community when everybody is sitting most of the time in home office, even if this might be in one’s home country. And that the fact that deciding bodies of the EPO can be scattered around Europe is in flagrant contradiction with one of the latest decisions of the EBA. In G 2719, the EBA held that “The users of the services of the European Patent Organisation are entitled to rely on the fact that the bodies of the European Patent Office do not carry out their actions in arbitrary third locations.” See the last § of Point 2. of the reasons”. But it the will of the head of the EPO and I fear that the result of the next survey will be even more catastrophic. The hopes put in the new head of the EPO upon its arrival have been thoroughly disappointed. He might not be as arrogant as its predecessor, but certainly not different in its dealings with staff. Squeezing out the fruit and lowering wages continues. One thing is clear, had people like him and its predecessor been had the helm of the EPO when it opened, it would never have become the success story it has been for many years. I fear this success story is coming to an end.

These are some of the best paid jobs in the world and payment is virtually free of any deductions or taxes. Some examiners earn more than the German chancelor, just to give you a comparison. Now, which job is more stresfull? For these sums, I think we can expect "battle hardned" professionals at the EPO who can deal with a bit of time pressure. Is there any job in the world where people do not wish that they had more time to do their work?

I am one of those who was already in the patent profession when the EPO opened for business in 1978. It has been for me an uplifting experience, to see Europe’s patent law experts working together to create a Patent Office, a system of administering patentability law and a jurisprudence, an established case law, that is so good that the rest of the world could not improve on it. That's because it is an inspired fusion of the best of continental civil law (as used in Asia) and English common law (as used in North America). A truly world-wide harmonisation that is unique, as far as I can see, in any field of law or industry. Nowhere else but Europe could create such a masterpiece because nowhere else but Europe pools such diversity.. And now? I see the custodians of this legacy squandering it carelessly. It is distressing to observe what's going on, at the level of the Administrative Council and the Office of the President.

@Peter Parker Envy is never conducive to a balanced view of the situation, be it at the EPO or anywhere else. To make things clear, the situation has been degrading since 2010 and the degradation is even accelerating. The salaries at the EPO are not any longer interesting. A good illustration is that about one third of people receiving an offer decline. The payment is not any longer as rosy as you make out, but for the minions gravitating around the president. Recruiting people with some professional experience has become an illusion. A few questions: Would you have been ready to leave your home country sever all links with your national security and pension system? Would you like it if your employer decides in your place when you can enter an industrial action and even controls the ballot? Would you accept from your employer that year after year your production, not productivity, target is increased. In some parts of the EPO there are not even enough files, but the management does not care. It is the staff’s problem. If you do not reach your arbitrary set target you are eventually fired with barely a possibility to defend yourself. Would you like to work for an employer which on the one hand says that staff it an asset, but does everything to curtail its rights and lowers salaries and pensions on the basis of fake studies? Would like to work for an employer you cannot trust, knowing well that he is constantly preparing another attack on your situation and behaves like an employer of the 19th century? Would you like to work for an employer which always takes the most unfavourable interpretation of the staff regulation? If the answer to any of those questions is negative, then you are not entitled to give an outright judgement and should rather refrain from commenting. Most of the experienced people have left the office as soon as they could, some even accepting a cut on their pension, simply to escape the morbid atmosphere at the EPO. This brain and experience drain has never been compensated for the reasons given above. That some union members have been exaggerating in the past is not a reason to take wrath on all staff. But this is what happened. Since 2010 all joint bodies have been misused by management. One example: the central staff committee consists on the administration side of vice-presidents or principal directors, so there is no wonder that they will not agree to any change of what they have already decided in the management committee. And if by chance they would come to a unanimous decision, if it is not to the liking of the chef, it will be ignored. The management has curtailed any possibility for people to act collectively in order to defend their working conditions. The five years contracts and the present dematerialisation of the EPO, when its staff is send not only home, but even in its home country is accelerating this trend. In older times, the various presidents accepted at least unanimous decisions from joint bodies, be it the central staff committee, the disciplinary committee or the internal appeals committee. Since 2010, the president even ignores their decisions and just does what he wants. In a few cases has even increased sanctions. But “consultation” has taken place. The only place where staff can resort eventually in case of a different between a staff member and the management is the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation. It might bear the name tribunal, but it satisfies itself to check whether the rules have been applied, and never decides on the correctness of measures. There were big hopes when the new president started nearly two years ago and he was meant to restore social peace. Nothing like this has happened and the situation has constantly degraded. And the AC is simply gaping! The official maxim is that quality has been improving steadily since 2010 and is still improving. Do not be surprised if the patents so granted are often not worth the paper they are printed on. For big companies it does not matter, but for the so beloved SMEs it can be lethal. Take a look at decisions of the BA in opposition, or at national level and you will see how many patents are considered invalid, or are heavily amended. Even if only 5% of the granted patents are opposed, in two thirds of the case they come out maimed from an opposition at the EPO. In most of the cases it is not because of prior art the EPO was not aware at the time of grant. When you extrapolate this figures to the mass of patents granted which is constantly rising according to “the plan” it makes you shudder. All the problems above are a direct consequence of the unrest amongst staff provoked by the management. When you see that two third of staff members say that they would not recommend a friend to hire at the EPO, what you are claiming is simply not true and not merely a question of dealing “with a bit of time pressure”. You should simply avoid such derogatory comments. Remember also that it is the same management who decides what is good for the users of the EPO. I am not only thinking of OP in form of ViCo, but also to the fact that beside the opposition statement and the proprietor’s reply any other documents will not be forwarded any longer. And the BA are on the same line.