If you are employed to invent (and then patent) things should
you get a bonus if it turns out that your invention is a stunning
financial success? That was the question that was before the
Supreme Court in Shanks v Unilever. In that case, Professor
Shanks claimed compensation for a limited re-use or disposable
sensor for monitoring glucose, insulin or immunoglobulin levels in
diabetics. He was employed by a Unilever group company and
initially received an annual salary of £18,000 and a Volvo
car. He built the first prototype of his invention at home using
Mylar film and slides from his daughter's toy microscope kit,
and bulldog clips to hold the assembly together.
Unilever did not develop the invention, but went on to licence
it in exchange for many millions of pounds of licence fees.
Professor Shanks sought a fair share of those licence fees. That
claim was made under section 40 of the Patents Act 1977.
