Dragon's Den winner infringed own patent, IPO rules
20th March 2009
A man whose invention caught the attention of millions of television viewers may have infringed a patent he applied for himself 10 years ago. A contestant on the Dragons' Den TV programme may have to defend his invention from legal action.
Andrew Harsley appeared on the programme and convinced two of its panellists, Duncan Bannatyne and James Caan, to invest £150,000 in the Rapstrap, a plastic cable tie. But the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has said that the invention is already partially covered by a patent owned by a company Harsley helped to found. He has since left the firm.
Millepede's patent for the reusable plastic strip lists Harsley as the inventor. Harsley left Millepede to set up Rapstrap, but his name is on Millepede's patent for its strips, which was granted in 1999.
The review is just an opinion and does not grant Millepede any new rights.
Harsley had won a £35 million contract for up to a billion units of his cable ties and the invention was touted as one of the success stories of entrepreneurial challenge programme Dragons' Den.
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