A Dragons’ Den winner is suing a rival firm over claims her innovative eco-friendly dog toilet has been copied.
Rebecca Sloan secured offers from four Dragons after appearing on the BBC show with her ‘Piddle Patch’ invention.
The product is marketed as the first and only soil-free real grass dog toilet, offering an eco-friendly puppy toilet training alternative to disposable pads.
Ms Sloan ultimately agreed to go into business with Dragon Steven Bartlett, who swapped a £50,000 investment for a 20 per cent stake in the business and promised: “We can make millions”.
Ms Sloan’s company, Makeality Ltd, is now suing a rival company, City Doggo Ltd, and its director Laurencia Walker-Fooks, over claims their product, the ‘Oui Oui Patch’ is a rip-off of the ‘Piddle Patch’.
Details of the dispute emerged in a Court of Appeal ruling over which court should deal with the case.
Judges said the Piddle Patch was registered as a trademark in 2016, when Ms Sloan began marketing “an innovative product consisting of a patch of grass in a biodegradable box for toilet training pets”.
“Its director Rebecca Sloan appeared on the well-known BBC television show Dragons' Den in January 2022 with a view to obtaining investment in the Claimant's business (and was successful in getting offers of investment)”, the ruling set out.
City Doggo Ltd is said to have “sold a similar product under the sign ‘Oui Oui Patch’ since November 2020”, in what Ms Sloan claims is a breach of copyright.
The court heard City Doggo admitted using various versions of “Piddle Patch” in its marketing, and has now promised not to do it again in the future.
Ms Sloan’s firm is suing for damages over the alleged copyright breach, including some of the profits from the ‘Oui Oui Patch’.
City Doggo and Ms Walker-Fooks deny copyright breach and are fighting the legal case, which was first lodged in February last year.
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Court of Appeal judges have now ruled that the dispute can be fought in London’s small claims court, after City Doggo said it had made just £4,000 profit on a turnover of £390,000 and 11,800 sales between November 2020 and March last year.
“On the evidence before the court, which was very little, it was more likely than not the relevant profits of both the Claimant and the First Defendant were below £10,000”, said the judges.
The two competing companies, which are both London-based, are said to have submitted “elaborately pleaded” cases to the courts, and were represented by KCs for the appeal.
During her Dragon’s Den appearance, Ms Sloan’s product was rejected quickly by Peter Jones but was then hailed by Deborah Meaden as “genius”.
Introducing the Piddle Patch, she said: “When I first introduced it, people didn’t really know what to make of it. But it’s really grown, and people are raving about it.”
After a bidding war, Bartlett prevail and told his new business partner: “You know they will work on social media because you are able to demonstrate the value of this versus the alternative within ten seconds.”