Dyson sweeps up £6m Hoover payout

Hoover has paid £4m in damages and £2m in costs to rival vacuum cleaner manufacturer James Dyson in what is believed to be the largest patent-case legal award in UK history.

In October, the High Court in London ruled that Hoover's Triple Vortex cleaner infringed the technologies employed to make the inventor's bagless Dual Cyclone vacuum. Mr Dyson, 54, had suggested a settlement of £1m in damages, without a court case.

But Hoover refused and took the case to the Court of Appeal in October last year. It lost and had a petition for a further right to appeal to the House of Lords rejected.

The Hoover's Triple Vortex was launched in February 1999, and Mr Dyson immediately complained about infringement. After the original court order, Hoover was forced to stop selling its machine.

Mr Dyson, with a personal fortune of £700m from his bagless cleaner technology, said: "When we discovered Hoover had stolen one of our patents, we tried to settle to avoid an expensive three-year court battle, but Hoover refused. So we were forced to defend our patent against Hoover's infringement. Having developed new technology, it is important for Dyson [the company] to protect patented inventions and defend all patents. The patent system can work. I hope [this case] encourages inventors who have their ideas stolen by multinational companies to fight for their patent rights." Hoover had no comment.

Mr Dyson has closed his factory in Wiltshire, with the loss of 700 jobs, and transferred production to the Far East.