May 2011 Financial News

Paymaster given stay of execution

May 09, 2011

Bill-payment company Paymaster Jamaica Ltd will not have to pay millions of dollars in damages to GraceKennedy Remittance Services Ltd (GKRS) and computer programmer Paul Lowe before its appeal has been heard.

On Friday, the Court of Appeal varied an order by by Court of Appeal judge Hazel Harris and granted Paymaster a stay of execution in relation to damages.

However, the court ruled that Paymaster should pay the legal costs of the defendants which was ordered by the Supreme Court on April 30 last year.

Paymaster had brought a suit in the Supreme Court making several claims, one of which was that GKRS had breached its copyright of a software program which was designed by Lowe.

Paymaster was granted an injunction which barred them from using the software.

judge's ruling

Former Supreme Court judge Roy Jones ruled on April 30 last year that Paymaster did not own the copyright in the software and Paymaster, which is being represented by attorneys-at-law Dr Lloyd Barnett, Denise Kitson and Susan Risden Foster, is appealing the ruling.

Justice Jones held that Lowe was the author and owner of the software and never intended to assign his ownership to Paymaster.

The judge found that GKRS did not use Paymaster's business plan, but developed Bill Express from its own efforts.

The Court of Appeal, comprising its president, Justice Seymour Panton; Justice Norma McIntosh and Justice Lloyd Hibbert (acting) in varying the order, said that it considered the fact that since Justice Harris found there was a good prospect of appeal and found that it was unlikely that the Supreme Court would proceed with an enquiry as to damages prior to the hearing of the appeal, it was setting aside the order to pay damages before the appeal is heard.

The court upheld the judge's order as to payment of legal costs.

No order was made as to legal costs in relation to the appeal against the ruling by Justice Harris.

Michael Hylton, QC, and attorneys-at-law Courtney Bailey and Terry Ann Lawson, instructed by DunnCox, represented GKRS.


Source:
Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com
Jamaica Gleaner
Monday May 9, 2011

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