The plaintiffs designed and built electronic signalling systems for controlling road traffic. The software was installed in particular within pelican crossings. An operator was able to change the way a particular set of lights worked by resetting the signals using a set of mnemonics or codes, invented by the plaintiffs. That set of mnemonics had come to be adopted in large part as the basis for a standard set promoted by the Department of Transport, and intended to be used by various manufacturers. The defendants were former employees of the Plaintiff, who left to set up a competing organisation. To control the signals, the defendants had to provide a way of using the same codes to work the plaintiff’s signals. The plaintiff claimed, inter alia, breach of copyright in the use of the codes.
Held: (at a preliminary hearing) The judge had been asked whether a copyright could inhere in a series of three letter mnemonics. J Aldous found that it was arguable that such did exist. He asked himself about the amount of skill and labour expended, and it was clear that the development of the list of codes had in fact taken just such labour, but as part of the development of their system as a whole.
Judges:
Aldous J
Citations:
Unreported, 17 July 1991
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Intellectual Property
Updated: 01 July 2022; Ref: scu.236578