I have no documentation on this at the moment; am hoping for some. I do
believe that all comments on the 'plans' have to be received by EPO
President Dr. Kober by next Friday, 2/21. I can't speak for people in
Europe who might have been kept in the dark, but it is my understanding that
the intention was to keep non-Europeans in the dark; I believe that nobody
in the US was informed, with the exception of the PTO. Since there is a
galactic gulf between the USPTO and information users, that means we have
all been cut out of things.
I hope to be able to obtain some more substantive information than this. In
the meantime, I can only say that the EPO is the source of a huge amount of
invaluable patent information. It is beyond my comprehension that their
management would choose to establish policies relating to the
supply/nonsupply of that information and deliberately avoid discussing
matters with those who use that information.
Have Orwell's creatures finally taken over, 13 years late? To be continued.
Stu Kaback
smkabac@erenj.com