Elections, patents and injunctive relief in Nigeria

Afro Leo has followed the battle in Nigeria between Bedding Holdings and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over Bedding's assertion of its patent rights in Electronic Collapsible Transparent Ballot Boxes (ECTBB) and the Proof of Address System/Scheme (PASS), used for the collation and collection of the names, age, gender, address, fingerprint, geographical description and location of various places in the country, including the biodata of every person resident in Nigeria (on which see earlier posts here and here).

Now, in "Intellectual property versus the public interest: who gets the vote?", Kingsley Egbuonu (Queen Mary, University of London) and Chukwuyere Izuogu (Streamsowers & Köhn) analyse the decision of the Abuja High Court, Nigeria, 17 December 2010.  Their analysis is published in the subscription-based Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice (JIPLP) which, in keeping with the charitable objectives of publisher Oxford University Press, is available at no cost or at an extremely reduced rate in many African jurisdictions.  In any event, Kingsley and Chukwuyere's note can be read in full on JIPLP's jiplp weblog here.

For the record, this is its abstract:

"In a patent infringement suit, a High Court lifted an injunction restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from taking delivery of the Direct Data Capture (DDC) equipment needed for the voter registration exercise on an overriding national public interest".