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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office Decisions >> Ian David Slack v SCS Consultancy Services (Patent) [2000] UKIntelP o17400 (16 May 2000)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKIntelP/2000/o17400.html
Cite as: [2000] UKIntelP o17400
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Ian David Slack v SCS Consultancy Services [2000] UKIntelP o17400 (16 May 2000)
For the whole decision click here: o17400
Patent decision
- BL number
- O/174/00
- Concerning rights in
- PCT/GB/96/02512
- Hearing Officer
- Mr G M Bridges
- Decision date
- 16 May 2000
- Person(s) or Company(s) involved
- Ian David Slack v SCS Consultancy Services
- Provisions discussed
- PA 1977 sections 12, 13, 39
- Keywords
- Entitlement, Inventorship
- Related Decisions
- None
Summary
SCS run by Phillip Slack (PTS) was a company renting space in the premises of ESL, a family firm in which his brother David Slack (IDS), his two nephews, his niece and his own son were employed. PTS invented a Pacman-shaped spinneret whilst looking for ways to reduce the amount of polymer used in fibre extrusion processing. Fortuitously, this shape of spinneret produced highly-crimped, helical fibre. A prototype machine was produced for exhibition at a Trade Show in Milan. Realising that patent protection was needed, PTS asked IDS for assistance in writing up the theory of how the spinneret worked, and IDS produced some notes which were heavily relied upon in the drafting of the patent application which formed the priority document for the patent at issue. Despite some argument about what was the true invention and the time period in which the notes had been produced, co-inventorship was established.