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Please Call Me battle continues

25 Jul 2013

Telecommunications company Vodacom on Wednesday, 24 July, attempted to discredit the authority of a US patent expert testifying in court in its ongoing battle with one of its former employees over the Please Call Me service.

During the second day of a protracted court battle, Vodacom said the Please Call Me idea was first proposed by competitor MTN.

Patent expert Ivan Zatkovich was brought in by former Vodacom employee Nkosana Makate, who claims Vodacom failed to compensate him for his idea.

Vodacom has denied that Makate came up with the product idea, claiming that if he did, he was a Vodacom employee at the time and the idea belonged to Vodacom as his employer.

Makate took his former employer to the Johannesburg High Court in 2008.

On Wednesday (24 July), Zatkovich told the court that the Please Call Me patent was unlike other patents registered by MTN and the French-based Orange.

However, this was disputed by Vodacom, whose counsel claimed that the service was based on a similar product by MTN.

"MTN launched its product in January 2001, whereas Vodacom launched its product in February of 2001," said advocate Fanie Cilliers.

But Zatkovich said Makate's idea was for "an entirely new market". The case continues.

Source: The Times via I-Net Bridge

Source: I-Net Bridge

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