JAMES DYSON, inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, won his patent battle
with Hoover last week—but Â鶹´«Ã½ can reveal that he has
been refused the opportunity to fight a separate case in the European Court of
Human Rights. The decision means inventors from around the world who file
patents internationally will have to continue paying annual renewal fees to keep
their patents in force.
Dyson filed his bedrock patent in 1980, but couldn’t interest established
manufacturers in his invention. He started selling his bagless cleaner in 1992.
In 1997, he began campaigning against the “terrible tyranny of patents”,…
