Quality worries: Strikes at European Patent Office
heise.de (in German) reports that patent examiners at the European Patent Office (EPO) are protesting changes to the patent assessment process. The protests, which have been going on for a while, have repeatedly culminated in strikes.
While EPO head Alain Pompidou publicly touts high quality of patents as his goal, it seems that in reality there are "efficiency" guidelines being set which emphasise quantity over quality, leaving examiners less time to look at patent applications. This results in a higher number of poor quality patents.
The EPO also continues to grant patents on software, despite such monopolies on ideas being illegal in the EU. Perhaps putting a stop of that practice would yield some capacities to raise quality in areas where patents are legal?