Tag Archives: Yiap Hang Boon

A local inventor who alleged that the Housing Board had infringed his patent for an external clothes drying rack has lost his lawsuit. The High Court on Wednesday found that the HDB has not infringed the patent of Mr Yiap Hang Boon, 54. In particular, the court found that HDB's rack does not act as a safety rail to prevent a person from falling when drying clothes, which is one of the main elements of Mr Yiap's patent.

A 54-year-old inventor is suing the Housing and Development Board (HDB) for infringing his patent for a clothes-drying rack, but the statutory board rejects the claim and is seeking to revoke the patent granted to him in 2004. Mr Yiap Hang Boon, who set up a company that has since closed down called Sunpole Engineering and Trading, is claiming that the external clothes-drying racks of some HDB flats in Toa Payoh Central, Queenstown and Sengkang have infringed his patent.