Angel Water or Snake Oil? Anyone starting a new venture needs confidence in their product so it’s hardly surprising when entrepreneurs wax lyrical and sometimes over-state the importance of their inventions. But experts acting in disputes involving new technology need to beware the dangers of not fully investigating their client’s claims.

In a recent  case in Abu Dhabi the claimant,  the supposed inventor of a method of creating ‘Angel Water’ was said to be someone “whose self-regard is at times reflected in hyperbole and exaggeration”. He was apparently unable to explain with any clarity how the invention worked and when pressed was not willing to give the court any meaningful details of his ‘trade secrets’.