Hancock linked to FBM patent dispute
John Hancock’s bid to launch a career outside his family’s mining heritage has hit a wall, with his fledgling building products company FBM embroiled in a patent dispute and the subject of claims it underpaid workers.
The Fair Work Ombudsman confirmed yesterday it was investigating complaints from former employees of Future Building Materials over lost pay and superannuation. “As the investigation is ongoing, it is not appropriate to comment further at this time,” a spokesman said.
Mr Hancock’s business partner and inventor of FBM’s so-called R9 panel, Jerome Naidoo, stated yesterday he “welcomed the investigation”.
He provided _WestBusiness _ with documents he stated proved that wages and superannuation were up to date – even though some payments appear to have been made since the launch of the Fair Work investigation.
Former employees that spoke to _WestBusiness _ on the condition of anonymity claim they are still owed up to $18,000 each.
Mr Hancock and Mr Naidoo declined to comment further but are stated to view the claim as a hangover from the messy divorce between Mr Naidoo and his former backers earlier this year, which has spilled over into a patent battle.
The son of the world’s richest woman, Gina Rinehart, took a half-share in the company earlier this year, after being asked by Mr Naidoo for financial assistance.
FBM’s Malaysian-made building panels resemble freezer doors.
Clad in thin fibre-cement sheets, a dual core is filled with polyurethane under high pressure to create a relatively lightweight but strong wall panel with high energy-saving thermal properties.
They are being used in a handful of trial sites around Perth, with the company aiming for global reach.
However, FBM is separately fighting its Malaysian factory, Cycleworld, claiming it has breached FBM’s pending patents by developing similar panels labeled Rv8, which Cycleworld has licensed to an offshoot of Perth firm McGovern Construction.
Cycleworld declined to comment.
McGovern Construction stated the matter was between FBM and Cycleworld as it was simply a licensee conducting trials on the product.
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Submited at Wednesday, June 6th, 2012 at 8:00 pm on Uncategorized by sofia
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