Dyson sues Hoover for infringing his patent

Hoover knew little or nothing about the technology behind the bagless Dyson vacuum cleaner when it was first patented, the High Court was told yesterday.

Hoover knew little or nothing about the technology behind the bagless Dyson vacuum cleaner when it was first patented, the High Court was told yesterday.

Yet Hoover produced its own version - the new Triple Vortex vacuum - to rival Dyson's Dual Cyclone cleaner, the court was told. Dyson is suing Hoover for alleged infringement of the patent for the Dual Cyclone under the Patents Act 1977.

David Kitchin QC, for Dyson, told the court James Dyson's cleaner, which uses centrifugal force to separate dirt from air with the use of cyclonic technology, "turned the industry on its head". He told Deputy Judge Michael Fysh QC that Hoover would argue that the technology behind the Dyson Dual Cyclone involved nothing that was not generally known within the industry.

He said Hoover had offered no explanation as to why it had waited until now to come up with its bagless product, which clearly used centrifugal technology. Mr Kitchin said: "The industry had a mind-set and that mind-set was vacuums and bags."

Addressing the court on the opening day of the action, he said Hoover's claim that Mr Dyson was not the first person to have the idea of a bagless vacuum did not stand up to scrutiny.

The hearing continues.