MFColour Planet sues Safaricom over copyright infringement

Mobile phone service provider Safaricom has been taken to court over alleged infringement of copyright. Colour Planet, a mobile payments solutions provider accuses Safaricom of infringing on its trademark through it’s new product Okoa Stima.

Safaricom employee Julia Obura and Kenya Power have been named as the second and third respondents respectively to the suit which will be heard today at the Milimani Law courts.

Colour Planet argues that it developed a product known as Okoa Stima and registered it with the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI) and that it thus owns the rights to the trademark.

In a matter certified as urgent, Colour Planet through it’s lawyer Waweru Kihara, is arguing that it has suffered substantial loss and is seeking to stop Safaricom and Kenya Power from using the trademark in the promotion, marketing and advertisement of the product.

Okoa Stima is a partnership between Safaricom and Kenya Power that allows consumers get advance electricity credits and pay for them later.