That an innovator should be rewarded for his creation shouldn’t be in contention, yet history shows us that it is quite easy for the innovator to be forgotten, and go unrewarded, especially when he had his breakthrough while working for a company.
For instance, a Steven Sasson basically invented the digital camera back in 1975. But at the time, he was a Kodak employee, and Kodak claimed the patent, earning billions from other companies desirous of the technology. But Sasson isn’t a billionaire by any measure.
In South Africa, Nkosana Makate has been in the courts for more than a decade seeking his just compensation. In the early 2000s, he worked as an employee of Vodacom, a subsidiary of Vodafone. Vodacom also operates subsidiaries in Tanzania, Kenya, DR Congo, Nigeria, and other African nations.
While employed as a junior accountant, he came up with an idea. The idea was a means of enabling one subscriber to notify another that he/she should call him/her, even without the former having credit/airtime. Vodacom projected that the service could be monetized and earn it U.S. $23 million a day, and Makate’s superior made an agreement to share the profits.
Vodacom rolled out the service in 2001, dubbing it Please Call Me. The telco rolled out the service to its subsidiaries later on.
Court Cases
Years passed. In 2008 Nkosana Makate took Vodacom to court, suing to be compensated as had been agreed years ago. More than a decade later, the matter hasn’t been settled.
The High Court dismissed the case in 2014, and he sought redress in the Supreme Court of Appeal, which also dismissed his case. Not one to despair, he went to the Constitutional Court, and he got some reprieve.
The Constitutional Court declared Vodacom ought to compensate Makate, but left the two parties to decide on an amount. Nearly three years later, the two are yet to reach a settlement.
In previous court filings, Nkosana Makate’s team sought ZAR 650 million. Vodacom’s most recent offering, as alleged by a person who previously funded Makate’s legal quest, was ZAR 49 million.
Meanwhile, because of the Goliath v David parallels in this case, scores of South Africans have started a Please Call Me movement. They are demanding ZAR 70 Billion for Makate.
Vodacom has in the past argued that its final product was different from what Nkosana Makate had proposed. Additionally, another person, an Ari Kahn has claimed the patent to the USSD service. Interestingly, Vodacom has not used Ari Kahn’s patent claim to have the matter dismissed.
Vodacom filed a gag order in June 2018, so it may be a while before we know whether this innovator will get compensated.
By Matengo Chwanya
Africa Global News Publication
