Addleshaws brings patent claim over lawyer's invention

Addleshaw Booth & Co has launched an action against healthcare product manufacturer Johnson & Johnson on behalf of one of its own lawyers, a scientist turned solicitor, for compensation for a medical invention he developed while working for the company.

The action has been brought under the rarely used section 40 of the Patent Act 1977, which aims to reward employees who create inventions from which their employers gain 'outstanding benefit'.

The firm is acting for senior intellectual property solicitor Stuart Jackson, who spent 14 years as a scientist in the company's research and development department.

He is the named inventor on a patent covering Actisorb Plus, a surgical wound dressing which went on the market in 1986.

Mr Jackson said action was started because the company would not discuss an 'amicable settlement'.

A Johnson spokeswoman said it had not yet received the claim and therefore the company could not comment.

It is thought that only two or three actions under section 40 have ever reached the courts, with the definition of 'outstanding benefit' proving a major stumbling block.