Six more judges criticise Battistelli's actions

The EPLAW Patent Blog has just posted a further very significant development, showing that the chorus of condemnation (discussed also here and here) about the "house ban" of an Appeal Board member continues to grow. This latest development follows last night's major news that two of Europe's leading judges have lent their support to the EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal (who have asked the EPO's Administrative Council to curb the interference by the President in their work),

The Enlarged Board's chorus may not be as fresh-faced, but
they have a gravitas and harmony rarely heard in IP circles
Photo credit

EPLAW Patent Blog's post consists simply of a link to an email sent by the Registrar of the Enlarged Board of Appeal to the delegates of the Administrative Council. As the email informs the AC, the position taken by Sir Christopher Floyd and Robert van Peursem yesterday has now received the support of the following additional national IP judges, all of whom also serve as external members of the Enlarged Board of Appeal:

Sweden
Per Carlson, President of the Market Court

Switzerland
Katherine Klett, Swiss Federal Supreme Court

Cyprus
Stelios Nathaniel, Judge Supreme Court of Cyprus

Denmark
Henrik Rothe, Chief Justice the Maritime & Commercial High Court

Romania
Octvia Spineanu-Matei, High Court of Cassation and Justice

Finland
Ari Wiren, Judge

Attached to the email are facsimiles of the original letter from Sir Christopher and Robert, as well as the supporting letters from Per Carlson and Ari Wiren. At times like these, Merpel can sit back and let the real heavy-hitters from across Europe step into the ring. However, she wonders, following some comments to earlier posts, whether representatives of the large industry organisations (or indeed individual large users of the EPO) have and plans to make their views known to the AC? She does hope the momentum lasts.

Finally, this post would be massively incomplete without Merpel expressing her admiration and thanks to her colleagues over at the EPLAW Patent Blog.