Dealing with mumbo-jumbo

"Inventor says HDB infringed patent for clothes-drying rack" is the title of an article in Singapore's Today Online, here, which tells the story so far with regard to a patent infringement action brought by Mr Yiap Hang Boon, a 54-year-old inventor, against the Housing and Development Board (HDB) for infringing his patent for a clothes-drying rack. The HDB denies infringement and is seeking to revoke the patent, which was granted ten years ago.

This extract from the Today Online feature caught this blogger's eye:

Mr Yiap, who is not represented by a lawyer, appeared to have difficulty conveying his points yesterday.

Justice Chan Seng Onn interjected during his opening statement, saying he could not understand the latter’s “mumbo jumbo”. The judge also sought visuals for a clearer idea of the alleged infringements.

The invention itself, illustrated above, is of quite a low-tech nature. It is regrettable that the patentee should find it difficult to convey his points, and that the judge should have difficulties understanding it. With a specialist intellectual property court and firm pre-trial case management, these difficulties can be reduced, if not actually eliminated. As it is, the judge -- with degrees in Engineering and Industrial Engineering -- is at least in theory better equipped to hear low-tech infringement cases of this nature than are many others.