Henry Michael Pattison is claiming copyright infringement against the company over a series of their scratchcards.

More than 85 million have been printed and he wants 10p for each one sold – plus a return from internet sales, which would give him in excess of £8 million.

The 73-year-old, from King Cross Road, claims the scratchcards were based on a board game he invented called Combinations involving players throwing two dice to reach 21 different combinations. He claims Camelot's On A Roll, Cloud 9 and Lucky Dice Doubles all infringe his copyright. He has taken his case to Halifax County Court.

It has now been referred to the Patents Court in London for a hearing on March 4, when a judge will decide what action, if any, to take.
Camelot has vowed to fight the claim and Mr Pattison will represent himself.

He has spent his life savings trying to further his inventions and was made bankrupt several years ago after a series of legal wrangles.

The former labourer at Holset Engineering, Halifax, first invented and patented an attachment for a chemical cleaning machine. He devised Combinations in the 1960s but it was not until the mid-1980s it hit the shops at W H Smith.

Thousands of the games were sold but Mr Pattison said he made no money after being let down by a middleman.

He has also produced gamecards on his original idea and in 2002 he wrote to Camelot with the idea of using dice combinations on scratchcards and is now claiming they copied his idea.

"I have been robbed all the way down the line," said Mr Pattison.

"Camelot have had my designs and claim the scratchcards are independent of them."

He will be using written evidence to fight his case.

"I had the inventive step of using dice on combinations nobody had thought of before," said Mr Pattison.

He said if he was successful the money would be little use to him at his time of life but would see his family OK.

He is married to Doris and the couple have a daughter and son, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A spokesman for Camelot said it would fight the action.

"Camelot believes Mr Pattison's claim to be entirely without foundation and will therefore be defending its position most vigorously," he said.


His action: Mr Pattison sets out his claim in the court papers for in excess of £8 million

HOW IT WORKS: Combinations is a game for up to six players. They use two dice and the winner is the first to fill a board with counters by throwing 21 possible combinations of the numbers from the two dice. The game went on sale in 1986