Safaricom locked in another patent dispute with doctor
The Safaricom Customer Care Centre on Moi Avenue. The mobile operator is entangled in another copyright infringement row. FILE
What you need to know:
Dedan Warui accuses the mobile service provider of copying his idea and is asking the court to stop Safaricom from using Health Telepresence, a product launched in partnership with AAR Kenya, and to compel it to pay damages.
The doctor says he presented Safaricom with the idea in 2011 and signed a non-disclosure agreement last year before the operator launched the service in November.
Safaricom is yet to respond to the case, which was filled at the High Court on Wednesday.
Safaricom is entangled in another copyright infringement row after a doctor moved to the High Court seeking to stop the mobile operator from offering medical consultations through video conferencing.
Dedan Warui accuses the mobile service provider of copying his idea and is asking the court to stop Safaricom from using Health Telepresence, a product launched in partnership with AAR Kenya, and to compel it to pay damages.
The doctor says he presented Safaricom with the idea in 2011 and signed a non-disclosure agreement last year before the operator launched the service in November.
The service provides video consultation through gadgets like laptops, tablets and mobile phones.
The dispute echoes the running patent row between the telco and Faulu Kenya, which claims that M-Shwari — a saving and lending service that the mobile operator launched in partnership with Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA)— is its idea.
“I discovered that the tele-medicine application launched by the defendant was almost word-for-word in similarity to the prescription of my innovation as contained in a proposal presented to the defendant (Safaricom),” Dr Warui says in court documents.
Safaricom is yet to respond to the case, which was filled at the High Court on Wednesday.
The mobile phone operator, which has been on the front row on the innovation front, has faced a number of patent suits including that of the money transfer service M-Pesa.
Christopher Ondieki took Safaricom to court in 2008 saying he invented M-Pesa’s upgraded technology that allows users to transfer money in US dollars and in Kenya shillings to and from bank accounts.
Musician John Maina sued Safaricom last year for using 10 of his songs as ringtones through its “Skiza” and “Surf 2 Win Promotion” without compensating him.
Simon Omondi also went to court seeking to stop Safaricom from using a popular service dubbed “Maliza Stori” that allows subscribers to buy more airtime on credit.
The Business Daily was unable to confirm the outcome of these cases by the time of going to press.
The Health Telepresence is a technology that uses video conferencing to allow provision of health services.
The doctor can conduct consultation through mobile devices and the software and connectivity is being hosted by Safaricom.
Dr Warui claims the idea belongs to him and he copyrighted the service under the name Med-Dispenser in March 2011, before presenting it to Safaricom for commercialisation.
He alleges in court documents that Safaricom referred him to a software development company, Bernsoft Interactive Limited, to assist in the development of the program.
“A code was subsequently developed and I also prepared a final proposal which was forwarded to the defendant (Safaricom) upon which I was requested to execute a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA),” says Mr Warui, adding that the agreement was settled in September, weeks before Safaricom’s launch.
