The Ariston vs. Linn Story

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There appears to exist a lot of confusion and misinformation regarding the Ariston vs. Linn, or more correctly, the Fergus Fons Ltd, nee Robertson vs. Tiefenbrun, patent case, which is understandable, as the story goes back to 1970. As I have been keenly interested in hi-fi folklore for many years, I thought that I would step forward and attempt to de-mystify things somewhat.
I would like to make it clear that I have endeavored to ensure that all of the following statements are in line with the findings of the British Patent Office hearings during the investigation into the claims levied by the parties concerned. I have read most of what has been published, and have copies of the relevant articles, which summarize the Patent Hearing findings quite succinctly. The following is a distillation of what has been published in the British press...
In 1972, the late Jack Yan Tiefenbrun filed a pair of provisional patent specifications for a simple point-contact bearing, and followed them up in June 1973 with a complete specification claiming 'improvements in, or relating to, gramophone record playing apparatus'. The application was accepted by the British Patent Office and published as BP1394611.
In May of 1975, following the publication of the Tiefenbrun patent, an opposition was lodged by turntable manufacturer Fergus Fons Ltd and the late William James 'Hamish' Robertson. Fons, nee Robertson, opposed the patent on various grounds, including that 'what was being claimed as new, was in fact old', and that the idea was 'lacking in inventive step' over what was already known. A further ground of opposition was that the invention had been 'obtained' from Hamish Robertson, and was his original idea rather than that of Jack Tiefenbrun.
Jack Tiefenbrun had formed Castle Precision Engineering (Glasgow) Ltd some 15 years earlier. Hamish Robertson had a company called Thermac in 1967, which became Ariston in 1970, and Ariston Audio in 1973. In 1970 Jack's son Ivor formed a friendship with Hamish. In 1971 Ivor made a prototype turntable with a ball bearing, and then went off to Israel. While Ivor was away, Jack and Hamish changed the ball bearing to a single point bearing. Robertson's company Thermac then ordered forty of the turntables from Castle Precision Engineering Ltd. In 1971, and now operating as Ariston, Hamish showed the turntable under the model name RD11 at the Harrogate show, and set up a distribution network with C. J. Walker and Company.
By the end of 1972 relations between Robertson and the Tiefenbruns had broken down. This allegedly led to a threat to Robertson that a copyright action would be brought against him if he had the RD11 turntable made elsewhere than at Castle Precision Engineering.
In February of 1973 Linn Products Ltd was formed to sell turntables made by Castle Precision Engineering. Robertson left Ariston, which by now had been taken over by Dunlop Westayr Ltd, and became director of Fergus Fons Ltd.
In the end, the Fons, nee Robertson opposition to the Tiefenbrun patent was rejected.
Regards,
Flat

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Topic - The Ariston vs. Linn Story - FlatEarth 23:58:30 10/18/01 (2)

Re: The Ariston vs. Linn Story - E-Stat 12:19:44 10/22/01 (0)

Had an Ariston RD 11, and wish I'd never gotten rid of it!!!(NT) - Dman 05:32:18 10/19/01 (0)

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