Andreas Pavel is a German-Brazilian cultural producer and media designer who is generally credited with patenting the

personal stereo A personal stereo, or personal cassette player, is a portable audio player using an audiocassette player, battery power and in some cases an AM/FM radio. This allows the user to listen to music through headphones while walking, jogging or relaxin ...

, although his claim in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

was revoked after Judges ruled his patent "obvious and not significantly inventive".Andreas Pavel v Sony Corporation, Sony UK Ltd, Toshiba Ltd. 21 March, 1996. CCRTF 93/1605/B Born in

Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der Havel () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417. With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, Pavel was the son of a German industrialist and vice-president of the Federation of German in Industries. At six years of age, his family moved to

Morumbi, São Paulo Morumbi () is a district of the city of São Paulo belonging to the subprefecture of Butantã, in the southwestern part of the city. A common folk etymology attributes its name to the mixed Portuguese and Tupi phrase ''morro obi'', which wou ...

where his father took a managing position at Matarazzo Industries. Having studied philosophy and social sciences at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

, Pavel returned to Brazil in 1967 and started his professional career as head of programming of the newly founded public broadcasting station, TV Cultura. 1970 he took up editorial planning at Abril Cultural, where he edited partwork encyclopaedias for nationwide newsstand distribution, most notably the philosophical source collection "Great Thinkers" and a reference series of "Brazilian Popular Music". In March 1977, Pavel filed the a patent application for his Stereobelt in Italy, followed by further applications in Germany, United States, United Kingdom, and Japan. Pavel subsequently tried to interest companies like Uher, Beyer, B&O, and Brionvega in manufacturing his device. In 1989, Pavel started infringement proceedings against Sony in the UK. Four years later, the British patent was invalidated by a British judge. The exact settlement fee is not known, but European press accounts said that Pavel received a cash settlement in excess of $10,000,000 and is now also receiving royalties on some Walkman sales.

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