MTN and Nedbank have indicated that they will go to court to defend their system of selling prepaid cellular airtime through automatic teller machines (ATMs) against a patent claim.
IT and e-commerce developer Pierre Nel filed a complaint against the companies two weeks ago, saying the system in use infringes on a patent he secured in 1994 which covers the sale of products or services over financial terminals.
At the time, Nel said he would prefer an out of court settlement to a protracted legal battle.
MTN disagrees that the patent is valid, and says it will go to court to prove it.
Responding to Nel`s press statement, MTN corporate relations executive Jacques Sellschop said: "To enter an appearance to defend a summons is part of the legal process. MTN rejects any intimation that it disregards intellectual property rights. We do not believe that a concept already in the public domain can be constrained by patent rights."
Nedcor says nothing has changed since it handed the matter to its lawyers, and that it will defend the action.
Nel says the problem is a lack of respect for intellectual property, and that licensing his technique would be cheaper than going to court.
"One would expect corporations to display good corporate citizenship and respect all intellectual property, including patents," he says. "The management at corporations I`ve dealt with have openly disparaged, in private and in the press, the concept of taking out a patent on an electronic process."
He expects the courts to "educate them on the reality of e-commerce".
Nel`s attorneys expect the case to be heard in court by April or May next year, and say the case could drag on for three years or more should it go to appeal.
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