THREE Appeal Court judges in Britain have ruled that Andreas Pavel did
not invent the Walkman personal stereo, and so is not entitled to the 拢100
million damages he hoped to win. The judges also told Pavel to pay Sony and
Toshiba the full cost of the appeal鈥斅�500 000. Although Pavel is a
German living in Italy he claimed legal aid in Britain, so the British taxpayer
will probably foot the bill.
In 1993, Patents County Court Judge Peter Ford held that Pavel鈥檚 British
patent on the personal stereo was invalid because its ideas were old and
obvious. Pavel asked for permission to change the wording of the patent. This
month, Lord Justices Hobhouse, Aldhous and Neill threw out Pavel鈥檚 request, and
unanimously rejected the original patent.
Last year, Sony sued the patent lawyer Keith Beresford who had represented
Pavel in the Patents Court, claiming costs that it believed it would not be able
to extract from Pavel. The case was 鈥渟ettled amicably鈥� (Patents, 27 May
1995).
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Pavel is now involved in a case in the US. In February he personally sued
Bruce Lehman, head of the US PO, 鈥渄emanding鈥� that he grant a US patent.
