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TRACKING SUIT
David Weekes, a Barbadian inventor and information systems specialist, is taking CARICOM to court, seeking an injunction blocking the regional body from using his Global Origin and Destination Information System (GODIS) information tracking system he invented from being used by CARICOM. (FP)
Published on: 2/4/2010.
by BARRY ALLEYNE
DAVID WILL MEET Goliath again on March 30.
This battle, however, will be non-biblical, and will play out in a Barbadian courtroom.
David Weekes, a 41-year-old Barbadian inventor and information systems specialist, will take on the entire Caribbean Community next month, when he seeks an injunction in the Supreme Court blocking an information tracking system he invented from being used by CARICOM.
Weekes, the chief executive officer of David Weekes Associates Incorporated, and a director of two other overseas-based companies, wants to be compensated for CARICOM's use of his Global Origin and Destination Information System (GODIS), used during the 2007 Cricket World Cup held in the Caribbean.
The legal process was started three years ago, but administrative issues prevented it from leaving the starting blocks.
GODIS was used by Immigration, Customs and law enforcement personnel throughout the region, allowing them to monitor advanced passenger information for visitors entering the region for the limited-overs cricket extravganza, which was a $145 million investment by the member countries of CARICOM.
GODIS was used to document embarking information for those coming to watch the cricket matches, such as passengers' passport numbers and national identification and social security numbers from their countries of origin.
Weekes' company, along with Ibis Latin America and GODIS Incorporated, of which Weekes is a board member, are the three plaintiffs seeking compensation from CARICOM for unauthorised use of the software.
According to reliable sources, between 2004 and 2006, the plaintiff worked along with CARICOM to kick-start GODIS so it would be ready for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
The source also noted that after approval for the use of GODIS was granted, CARICOM engaged international company 3M, through its Trinidad and Tobago-based subsidiary, to implement the special software. Weekes was offered payment and agreed to it, but according to the legal brief, has never received any monies for GODIS' services.
It was after no payment was made, that legal action was initiated in 2007.
Our source also noted that Weekes' case is determined to prove that CARICOM'S actions were not in keeping with the intellectual property rights safeguarded to all citizens, and to which Barbados has signed on to a number of related international treaties.
Weekes is being represented by attorney Douglas Trotman, while CARICOM's case will be presented by former MP and minister, Sir Henry Forde, QC. The DAILY NATION has come into possession of the plaintiff's original affadavit to the Supreme Court of Barbados, which states: "I make this affidavit in support of an application for an injunction to restrain the defendant whether by itself, its officers, directors, servants, agents or otherwise howsoever, from making further use of the Trade Secrets and/or Confidential Information belonging to David Weekes & Associates or any part thereof for any purpose and from otherwise exploiting the said information or any part thereof.
"In addition, I am asking this Honourable Court to order the delivery up of all documents and other records however stored containing any confidential information as aforesaid; and for an account of profits."
The affadavit continues: "I am also asking this Honourable Court to grant leave to issue a Writ and/or a Concurrent Writ for service out of the Jurisdiction against 3M International Inc. a company which I understand to be incorporated as the Trinidad Division of 3 M International with offices situate at 1 Jerningham Avenue, Belmont, in the city of Port-of-Spain in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago."
13 comment found!
Duty to Pay : 2/10/2010
The question that really begs here is not wether CARICOM had the right to use...clearly GODIS was the intended client and they had agreed on a price...the remedy really is to get GODIS to pay as agreed with the obliglatory interest...(specific performance...I am sure thats Sir Henry's position...
Things that make you go Hmmmm! : 2/9/2010
This seems to be another one of those things that make you go hmmmmm! caricom, intellectual property and legal matters are not really my forte so I won't comment too much however a quick search in google showed me that a patent applicatoin in the name of David weekes was filed onthe 24th December 2004, more than 2 years before the world cup.hmmmm!
: 2/7/2010
For how much longer will we be bright but stupid,educated but illiterate black and napping? Steelpan, road tennis, those two come readily to mind and now this. Are we never going to learn what it means to patent. I am reading about supposed safeguards of CARICOM for it's citizens. But if you fail to patent are you not a step short? Besides who sat on or chaired this Caricom Committee that actually formulated and signed this contract? Who in Caricom engaged 3M? Was Trinidad represented on this said committee that engaged a Trinidadian branch of 3M? This all still sounds loose and open ended.
Retired.
TRACKING SUIT : 2/7/2010
But it is okay to pay an offshore company to build a roundabout in St. Peter!! and then allow Christensen and his partner to make it private to Bajans.?????????????? Go figure, Sand, Sea water, Dirt, Rock Stones, foreigners are allow to own but David Weekes is not paid for his invention!! perfect case of them being Superior we being inferior.
Weekes seems to have a patent : 2/7/2010
I did a search of the internet and it appears that Weekes has a patent see http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7147155/fulltext.html that expires in 2024. If you have worked for CARICOM for projects funded by international agencies (as i have) Weekes' claim, if true, is of particular importance when set in the context of the legal agreements that accompany all other CARICOM calls for proposal. CARICOM agreements clearly spell out intellectual property rights and remedies which the Secretariat will enforce if IP rights are breached. I am going to watch this case with interest because if Weekes wins it would mean that CARICOM is practicing the law of the Medes while "talking" about the law of the Persians
I put together a small article on Barbados' IP rights. : 2/5/2010
If there are any intellectual property buffs in here I'd appreciate some peer review. It can be viewed at ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Affairs_and_Intellectual_Property_Office )
Lawsuit : 2/4/2010
This seems to be a straight up breach of contract. If we want to operate as First World countries we have to respect a persons IP rights and compensate them for usage, etc. Patents aside, if there was an agreement in place to pay Mr. Weekes (as is written in the article)and no monies were paid, then pay the man and his company! It seems like, as in the case of Mr. Barack the contractor, that our institutions do not respect agreements with certain individuals. It reminds me of the US government and the Native Americans - agree to and sign treaties, but break them as soon as it becomes convenient. In this day and age it's disturbing to see this stuff still happening to our people.
I'm no lawyer but... : 2/4/2010
It looks to me that Mr Weekes as an employee of Caricom was paid for his services for the creation of the product as a part of his job. Therefore, Caricom seems to own it. If there was a contract specifically dealing with payment for all future use of the programme AFTER his employment and Caricom did not honour that contract. David may have a case. However, I pray that Mr. Weekes had his creation registered with the intellectual property rights people in the region and wherever he did business. I'm no expert in these matters but I hope there was a patent of some sort. I also hope that justice would prevail and another bright local would not be taken advantage of by his own people who are supposed to be supporting that kind of creativity and protecting it.
pay up : 2/4/2010
another BLACK man hurt..... payyyyyyyyyyyyy the man,
HELLO : 2/4/2010
This is really a David and Goliath case if Douglas Trotman is coming up against Sir. Henry
PATENT??? : 2/4/2010
WHAT PATENT ARE YOU ON ABOUT, STUPID?
WASN'T THERE AN AGREEMENT FOR THE MAN TO BE PAID? AND THEN HE WAS NOT...
DIN'T IT SAY THAT HE AND HIS PARTNERS WORK ALONG WITH THE CARICOM PERSONNEL FOR AT LEAST THREE YEARS TO ENSURE THE SOFTWARE WAS WORKING?
PAY THE MAN HIS MONEY
: 2/4/2010
Obvious question not asked.
Is the software patented?
and
Have international patents been taken out?
www.caricomimpacs.org ? : 2/4/2010
Isn't the jist of this technology summed up on the CARICOM website, http://www.caricomimpacs.org/ If my memory served me correctly didn't CARICOM claim that the passenger tracking know-how came from South Africa given their previous experience with running world cups? I could be wrong but I thought I read that CARICOM was tapping South Africa's skills in that area and soon that led to direct assistance from INTERPOL and and Canadians or USA?
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