A scientist has been awarded £2million in compensation for developing a diabetes test nearly 40 years after he invented it.
Professor Ian Shanks, 71, was working for a subsidiary of Unilever in Bedfordshire when he developed a new system for measuring glucose.
He built the first prototype out of glass slides from his daughter's toy microscope kit, plastic film and bulldog clips in 1982.
His device is now known as the electrochemical capillary fill device (ECFD) and appears in most glucose testing products, many of which are used by diabetics to monitor their condition.
He has now been awarded almost £2m in compensation by the UK's highest court following a legal battle lasting 13 years.
Giving judgment on Tuesday (October 23), the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Prof Shanks' favour, finding that his invention had provided his former employer with "substantial and significant" rewards and "stood out in comparison with the benefit Unilever derived from other patents".
Lord Kitchin told the hearing that Unilever's net benefit from the patents was around £24m, and that Prof Shanks was "entitled to a fair share of that benefit amounting to £2m".
Prof Shanks, who lives near Dundee, said one of his main driving forces behind starting his quest for compensation was the potential impact the case could have on other inventers.
He said that when he first applied for compensation, it was "30 years since the Patents Act was introduced (and) not a single employee inventor had actually benefited from its provisions", which was "unacceptable".
Prof Shanks added he took great pride in having invented something which he said has "probably affected several hundred million people" living with diabetes.
Unilever has said it is "disappointed" with the outcome of the case.
Lord Kitchin said Prof Shanks accepted that the rights to his inventions belonged to Unilever, but argued that he was still entitled to compensation.
He told the court that Unilever did "relatively little" to develop Prof Shanks' invention until the late 1980s, when further research into glucose testing was carried out and the company obtained additional patents.
Prof Shanks had contended at an earlier hearing that, while Unilever ultimately received around £24m from the patents, the company could have earned royalties for "as much as one billion US dollars" had his invention been "fully exploited".
A Unilever spokesperson told the Guardian: “We are disappointed with the decision to overturn the previous three judgments and award Dr Shanks a share of the licence revenue obtained by Unilever in addition to the salary, bonuses and benefits he was compensated with while employed to develop new products for the business.”
Prof Shanks pointed out that after paying his lawyer's fees, he would likely only receive "a small fraction" of the £2m award, but that he was "relieved" the case was over.
Get breaking news first on the free Manchester Evening News app - download it here for your Apple or Android device. You can also get a round-up of the biggest stories sent direct to your inbox every day with the MEN email newsletter - subscribe here . And you can follow us on Facebook here .
.jpg?w=600)
