A LEGAL bid by a German to prove he invented the Sony Walkman was rejected yesterday by three Court of Appeal judges. His effort will cost the taxpayer #500,000.

Mr Andreas Pavel, who spent his #1m inheritance unsuccessfully battling the Japanese multi-national through the courts, had to fight the appeal on legal aid.

The judges ordered Mr Pavel, 51, to pay the costs of Sony and Toshiba, but all will come out of the legal aid fund.

Mr Pavel, who now lives in Milan, had hoped to claim up to #100m in royalties from Sony if he had won.

Lord Justice Neill, Lord Justice Hobhouse, and Lord Justice Aldous all agreed that Mr Pavel's original patent was not an inventive concept and refused him leave to appeal to the House of Lords.

A spokesman for Sony said after the hearing it had had to pay the #2m legal bill of the Patents County Court hearing which ruled Mr Pavel's patent invalid in 1993.

He now faces bankruptcy but both Sony and Toshiba said it would not be worthwhile pursuing him for any of their costs because of his lack of funds.

Mr Richard Miller QC, for Toshiba, said: ``This appeal only came about because Mr Pavel was granted legal aid. ``The legal aid board gave support to what is in effect commercial litigation between companies and we don't understand how Mr Pavel could have possibly been able to pay these sums alone.''

Lord Justice Aldous said in his judgment that Mr Pavel's patent was for an invention entitled ``Stereophonic Production System for Personal Wear'' on a belt which was revoked by the Patents County Court in a hearing which began in 1990.

In 1993, that court ruled that Mr Pavel's claim lacked novelty and was invalid because the idea was obvious.

The judge said: ``Evidence did not establish that the success of the Walkman was due to the inventive concept as claimed. I believe it was not. The Walkman would have been just as successful without any belt, clip or loop for belt attachment.''

Lord Justice Aldous then attacked the huge costs caused by the length of the legal battle.

``The Patents County Court was established to provide a cheap and quick method of resolving disputes concerning patents,'' he said, adding that the current case then involved eight hearings and subsequently lasted almost four weeks.

Mr Pavel's original case was the first to be lodged in the Patents County Court, set up under the Thatcher administration to make justice cheaper and quicker for individual inventors and small businesses.

Mr Pavel was not in court yesterday but is pursuing his legal battle against Sony in the United States.