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ARTICLE · 06 NOVEMBER 2015

A Very Reasonable Royalty

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Major damages awards are rare in South African IP cases – we've certainly never seen anything like the US$1-billon that was awarded in the USA in a case involving Apple and Samsung.

South AfricaIntellectual Property
Waldo Steyn
Waldo Steyn
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Major damages awards are rare in South African IP cases – we've certainly never seen anything like the US$1-billon that was awarded in the USA in a case involving Apple and Samsung. IP owners know this, and they generally litigate with little more in mind than an interdict (injunction); in other words, a court order that requires the infringer to stop infringing.

So, the recent copyright case of Quill Associates (Pty) Ltd v Randfontein Local Municipality and Westonaria Local Municipality (North Gauteng High Court, Judge Potterill, 15 September 2015) has attracted some attention. That's because the amount the defendants were ordered to pay was in the order of R10-million (US$740 000 at the time of publication – the weak exchange rate doesn't really do this justice).

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