Court Affirms Developer’s Ownership of Islamic Banking Software, Dismisses Theft Allegations by Former Employer

Femi Ashekun/

A Federal High Court in Lagos has affirmed the ownership rights of a Nigerian software developer over a specialised Islamic banking platform, ruling that allegations by his former employer that he stole the technology were unlawful.

In a judgment delivered on Friday, Justice Abimbola Awogboro declared Wasiu Adegbite Adeyemi the rightful owner of the Ronade Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software and permanently restrained Fintrak Software Company Limited from making further claims to the product.

The ruling brings to a close a high-profile intellectual property dispute that centred on ownership of Ronade ERP, a specialised banking application designed for Islamic banking operations.

Adeyemi, who operates under the name Ronade Enterprises, had sued Fintrak and TAJ Bank Plc, accusing Fintrak of falsely claiming ownership of the software and circulating letters to third parties alleging that he had stolen the technology.

He asked the court to declare him the lawful owner of the software, hold that Fintrak’s actions amounted to infringement of his intellectual property rights and passing off, and restrain the company from making further ownership claims.

At the heart of the case was a question increasingly relevant to Nigeria’s growing technology sector: who owns software developed by a creator when ownership is later challenged by a former employer?

In his judgment, Justice Awogboro held that Adeyemi successfully established through credible and largely unchallenged evidence that he conceived, designed and developed the Ronade ERP software.

The court noted that the platform was specifically built as an Islamic banking solution and found that Fintrak failed to demonstrate prior involvement, expertise or technical capacity in developing such a specialised application.

The judge relied on evidence tendered by the plaintiff, including copyright and trademark registration documents as well as portions of the software’s source code, in concluding that Adeyemi was the author and rightful owner of the platform.

“The Plaintiff led credible and largely uncontroverted evidence that he conceived, designed and developed the Ronade ERP software,” the court held.

Justice Awogboro consequently declared Adeyemi the lawful owner of the software and ruled that letters and publications issued by Fintrak alleging theft of the application were unjustified and unlawful.

The court also upheld the plaintiff’s claim of passing off, a finding that effectively rejected Fintrak’s attempts to present the software as its own.

In one of the most significant aspects of the judgment, the court granted a perpetual injunction restraining Fintrak, its agents and representatives from issuing further letters, publications or communications claiming ownership of the software or alleging that Adeyemi stole it.

While the court declined to award the hundreds of millions of naira sought as damages for libel, passing off and related claims, it granted the principal reliefs sought by the developer by affirming ownership of the software and protecting his intellectual property rights.

The court further held that the contractual relationship between Adeyemi and TAJ Bank had been validly terminated and dismissed all claims against the bank, finding that it bore no liability in the dispute.

Fintrak’s counterclaim succeeded only in relation to an issue concerning breach of employment obligations but failed in its attempt to establish ownership of the software and recover the bulk of the monetary claims sought.

Justice Awogboro ordered all parties to bear their respective costs.