TV cough cheat trademarks name

Whittock has maintained the coughs were innocent

Tecwen Whittock, the man with the most famous cough in Britain, has applied to register his name as a trademark with the Patent Office.

The former college lecturer from Cardiff - who was found guilty of cheating on TV quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? - took action when he discovered that a company was going to launch a cough medicine called "Tecwen Relief".

But it could be several months before Mr Whittock finds out if his trademark has been granted and if there is any opposition to his application, there is a chance it could be refused.

Mr Whittock, 53, was found guilty by a jury at London's Southwark Crown Court of using coughs to lead Major Charles Ingram to the correct answers on the ITV1 quiz.

He was given a suspended prison sentence and later resigned from his £35,000-a-year job as head of business studies at Pontypridd College.

The damning episode is scheduled to be shown on ITV1 on Saturday.

Mr Whittock told BBC Radio Wales on Thursday that he had heard a rumour that a pharmaceutical firm had applied to register the name "Tecwen" as a trademark - just two weeks after the end of the trial.

Internet research by his son confirmed it was true.

I've got no plans to launch a cough sweet or whatever myself, but I certainly don't want a company doing it without my permission. Tecwen Whittock

"Not only had they booked the trade mark, they had also sat on the websites tecwenwhittock.co.uk, etcetera," said the father-of-four.

"I was able to get around the the website by getting my own - www.tecwenwhittock.com - but obviously the trade mark bothered me."

An application had been made to register the name in the pharmaceuticals category, which would have allowed the company to use it to market cough sweets and remedies.

Mr Whittock contacted the Patent Office in Newport to object, and eventually the application was withdrawn. He has since made his own application, in the same category.

"They were exploiting the situation," said Mr Whittock.

"What I wanted to do initially was to stop other people using the name. I've got no plans to launch a cough sweet or whatever myself, but I certainly don't want a company doing it without my permission."

Major Charles Ingram and his wife Diana were also convicted

Mr Whittock has not worked since stepping down from his college job, and cannot touch his pension fund until he is 60.

His youngest son dropped out of a degree course at Cardiff University as a result of stress caused by the court case.

Mr Whittock said after the case: "It's a strain for the whole family.

"You sit down and wonder, why did this happen?"

As well as being given a suspended 12-month sentence, he was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £7,500 costs.

The Ingrams, both 39, were each given an 18-month jail sentence suspended for two years.

The trio had denied a charge of procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception - the sum of £1m - on 10 September 2001.

During the trial, the court heard how another contestant and members of the television crew were made suspicious by Whittock's coughing outbreak.