The Co-operative Bank of Kenya got win in a long running intellectual property dispute. The High Court dismissed claims by Intestyl Technologies Ltd, which accused the bank of stealing its real estate payment idea.
The court gave an earlier decision by the Industrial Property Tribunal. It said Intestyl’s registered system could not stand on its own because it relied fully on Co-op Bank’s existing infrastructure. The system was created to help landlords track and reconcile mobile payments. The court noted that the idea was not unique or independent. It referred to Section 103(3) of the Industrial Property Act. Since the model depended completely on Co-op Bank’s systems, the court declared the registration invalid.
The dispute began when Intestyl registered a utility model for a Computer Implemented Banking System for Real Estate Management. The platform was designed to help landlords reconcile mobile payments in real time.
Intestyl and its director, Alex Muigai, claimed the bank used their idea during the Open Banking Project. They argued that Co-op Bank accessed the concept during early partnership talks. The court found no evidence to support these claims.
The firm said the bank used its disclosures against it. It also said it approached the bank to commercialise the idea. The parties later signed an API service agreement. The court heard that the bank gave Intestyl access to several APIs. These included funds transfer, status queries, instant notifications, Pesalink, M-Pesa, and callback tools. Intestyl used them to test and run its model.
Clearing Allegations
The conflict grew after Intestyl accused the bank of adopting the concept after the initial collaboration. The firm said it disclosed the entire idea during product testing. It also claimed the bank allowed access to the core system and helped modify it to fit the model.
Intestyl further alleged that the Open Banking Project used features taken from their system. It accused the bank of issuing licences and sharing the idea with third parties.
The court rejected these claims. It found that Intestyl’s system only rerouted M-Pesa payments through Co-op Bank’s Pesalink and funds transfer tools. The tribunal had earlier described the model as a parasitic add-on, not a standalone system. The High Court agreed and ruled in favour of Co-op Bank.
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