Michael Wilcox, chairman of Michael Wilcox School of Colour, burnt one of his patents for a digital colour printing technology outside the Houses of Parliament last week after becoming fed up with repeatedly having his patents 'stolen' by larger companies.

He alleges that several print and packaging manufacturers copied his patent for a digital colour print technology, which cost him £150,000 to develop.

Speaking to PrintWeek, Wilcox said that he had carried out his public burning, not for himself, but for all small inventors who are constantly losing out.

He said: "If the government had listened a few years ago and made a few changes to the system, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in now.

"What have we got in this country that is unique? We have a huge number of SME companies that are innovative and inventive but they are having their ideas lifted by the big boys around the world.

"When I look at the state the country is in, it breaks my heart. We shouldn't have reached this point – if the innovation we have was encouraged we would be thriving at this point in time."

Wilcox draws comparisons in the current patent laws to that of the copyright law, which carries a prison sentence in the US and is policed by the state in the UK. He said that patents, which are deemed intellectual property exactly the same as a copyright, have to be policed by the patent holder at a great cost.

"If I copy a few riffs on a guitar, it is a criminal offence," he said. "Yet all I have is the right to sue if somebody copies my patent, and that is only if I can prove my case."