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Jan 06th
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| Cambridge inventor claims historic victory in dispute with University |
| Wednesday, 18 July 2007 | ||||
Page 2 of 2 BTi took its case to the High Court in February last year, suing Metalysis and the original holder of the 'head licence' QinetiQ. The case was struck out as BTi was unable to pay even the first raft of legal fees. The full ramifications of Prof Fray's successful appeal are still to become apparent. But at the very least, it gives British Titanium's case fresh impetus after a series of setbacks and calls into question the University's treatment of one of its most prolific inventors. Prof Fray has been involved in the founding of at least nine spin-out ventures based on his research. However, the ruling has limited scope as it stands, as Cambridge University considers the appeal process to be confidential. A University spokesman said the institution was “not at liberty to comment” on the matter when approached by Business Weekly. Sources close to the affair have told us that the company's chief executive, James Hamilton is close to securing the litigation finance, with the intention of taking the case back into the High Court. Titanium can be used in a host of applications ranging from spy aircraft to replacement hips, but is at present difficult to extract from its ore. This makes it comparatively expensive. British Titanium had been developing the FFC Process for titanium since 1998 under the auspices of a sub-licence, which it claims was terminated without notice in December 2005. Metalysis was originally established in 2001 to commercialise the FFC Process for all metals with the exception of titanium, but was allocated the ‘head licence’ by Cambridge University in April 2005. QinetiQ was caught up in the affair because its predecessor, DERA was originally allocated the head licence before it was passed to Metalysis. Metalysis acquired QinetiQ’s venture in the area, QinetiQ Titanium Products in January 2006 in an agreement which saw it take a stake in Metalysis. QinetiQ is an investor in Metalysis's latest funding round, which was led by Environmental Technologies Fund (ETF) and also supported by 3i, Seven Spires, Chord Capital and Cambridge Capital Group. Metalysis is working in partnership with BHP Billiton to produce high-grade titanium for use in specialist parts for the aerospace, biomedical and petrochemical sectors. Lord Roger Freeman, chairman of Metalysis said: “With this round of funding in place, Metalysis now has the financial firepower to build on the technology platform and product lines that have been successfully developed over recent years. “We are delighted to have so many blue-chip investors supporting us to commercial production.” |
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