TOKYO, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A big Japanese food manufacturer has agreed to pay a former employee about $1.5 million for inventing an artificial sweetener.
Ajinomoto Co. had been sued by Masayorhi Naruse, former chief of the company's research division, for compensation related to his discovery of aspartame in 1982, the Mainichi Times reported Saturday.
Naruse and Ajinomoto reached the settlement as the Tokyo High Court was trying an appeal against a lower court ruling that ordered the food manufacturer to pay him more than $1.8 million.
"This is a major step forward, as it raises the possibility that engineers employed by companies will receive large financial rewards for their inventions," a lawyer for the 63-year-old Naruse, said.
The court determined Ajinomoto, which already had paid Naruse $97,000 for his invention, gained $78 million in profits from aspartame, including patent fees, and Naruse's efforts accounted for 2.5 percent of the development of the sweetener.
