Court Orders INEC, Companies to Pay N17.3bn to Firm for Copyright Infringement A Federal High Court in Abuja has faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its Chairman, Prof Atahiru Jega, for awarding N34.5 billion worth of contracts in 2010 for the purchase of Direct Data Capturing (DDC) machines for voters’ registration. The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, in a judgment Tuesday, held that in the award and execution of the contracts, INEC, it’s Chairman and three companies involved in the transaction infringed on a valid and subsisting patent right owned by a firm – Bedding Holdings Limited (BHL). The judge held that from the totality of evidence provided by parties in the case, it was clear that the plaintiff, BHL actually owned a subsisting patent right over the process, application and the use of DDC machines for voters’ registration. He ordered INEC, Jega and others to pay BHL N17.25billion as compensation for infringing on its valid and subsisting patent right. Apart fromm INEC and Jega, other defendants were the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the companies to which INEC awarded the contracts – Haier Electrical Appliances Corporation Limited, Zinox Technologies Ltd and Avante International Technology.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 06:20:33 +0000
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