Russell Swanborough, director of Applied Infonomics, and Garth Hayward, MD of Centricity, a subsidiary of Grintek Telecoms specialising in information architecture and outsourcing, have become locked in a legal tussle over a claim by Swanborough that Centricity is selling his intellectual property (IP) as part of its own offerings.
Swanborough intends to obtain an urgent injunction against Centricity, preventing it from further infringing on his claimed rights. At the time of writing, this injunction had not been served, as Swanborough`s lawyers remain busy building what Swanborough expects to be a watertight case against Centricity.
At the same time, Centricity has responded via its lawyers, denying the allegations. At the time of writing, lawyers acting on behalf of Centricity were preparing their response, and a possible case against Swanborough.
This matter, Swanborough claims, may serve to reinforce intellectual property protection in SA.
Hayward, in turn, denies any deliberate infringements on copyright or patented material belonging to Swanborough through his various companies in SA and offshore. He says there is no basis for granting an injunction.
"No, it`s not true," he says. "We`ve invested R8 million of our own into our approach. We do use material that`s in the public domain, and we partner with those companies and individuals whose intellectual property we do use. Our approach differs substantially from that of Swanborough."
Adds Hayward: "We`d be happy to discuss potential items of overlap with Swanborough, and if necessary, recognise IP, or resolve any issues amicably."
Three years ago, Swanborough and Hayward both worked at Atio. Hayward was in corporate management, while Swanborough had an agreement with Atio to deliver his proprietary informational management methodologies through the latter`s channels.
This relationship, as well as a subsequent one with Dimension Data, ended, and Swanborough now delivers his theories and methodologies through his own company, Applied Infonomics.
While at Atio, several other people were involved, at least one of whom had been the MD of Absolute Information, Swanborough`s company, prior to joining the team at Atio. Swanborough says that while Hayward was only peripherally exposed to the IP in question - a statement substantiated by Hayward - these individuals (James Byrne, Nick Johnson and Derek du Toit) did work more closely with it. These three, together with Hayward, went to Grintek Telecom to form Centricity.
When Swanborough heard that Centricity was partnering erp.com, and that it claimed to be able to do "anything we can do", he says he called Hayward to arrange a meeting to discuss potential cooperation.
Shortly after this call, Swanborough claims that a press release issued by Centricity about a substantial outsourcing contract won alerted him that the issue may instead be one of misappropriation.
Swanborough claims over 300 man-years of work went into his Informational Accounting Principles, and that, although the material Centricity is using is outdated by some years, it crucially underlies parts of this approach to information management, and will compromise the value of the IP rights Swanborough claims.
"Even if they didn`t sign an employee agreement at Atio, the restriction on appropriating and using for profit confidential company material is well-established under common law," says Swanborough.
He adds that Hayward "may not know that what Johnson and Byrne took into Centricity was in fact company confidential. He may be aggrieved," he suggests.
He claims, however, that Centricity would have derived substantial revenues for the parts of their contracts that involve Swanborough`s IP, and adds that its customers may find themselves liable for royalties to the rightful owner of the IP.
Hayward considers the action rather surprising, in the light of the earlier cooperation approach. He also takes issue with the fact that Swanborough made his allegation in a public forum - the mailing list of the Knowledge Management Society of South Africa.
Says Swanborough: "I`m happy to talk to Garth Hayward. Once we`ve established our respective legal positions, I expect our lawyers will probably talk settlement. Nobody wants to end up in an expensive slanging match. First prize would be to have these guys working with us, not against us."
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