(Pty) Ltd 1972 (1) SA 589 (A) at 611B [also reported at [1972] 1 All SA 201 (A) Ed]).
Page 384 of [2009] 1 All SA 381 (T)
The patent specification and the claims
[5] The specification of the patent states that the invention relates to communication systems. The opening
paragraph declares:
"In particular, it relates to a method of, and a system for, enabling use of a communication network by a subscriber.
It also relates to a method of dispensing enabling codes to a cellular telephone user."
The three distinct features mentioned, it will be seen presently, match the three primary substantive claims of
the patent, namely, claims 1, 14 and 15. As background to the invention, the specification outlines the "pay as
you go" or prepaid system that has accompanied the proliferation in the use of cellular telephones
("cellphones"). In that system, a user or subscriber purchases airtime to a selected value from a service
provider in advance. The purchase of the airtime allows the subscriber to use a cellphone to communicate via
the provider's cellular network to a predetermined extent. The specification continues:
"In order to initiate use of the network, the user or subscriber typically purchases a voucher of a particular value. The
voucher provides an enabling or PIN code that is fed into the network via the cellphone thereby to enable use for the
selected value. Once the cumulative use of the network by the user reaches the value of the purchased airtime and
the voucher has been depleted, use of the network by the user is terminated and a further voucher must then be
purchased."
[6] The specification concludes in relation to the preexisting "pay as you go" prepaid system with the
observation that "it is this application of the invention which must be predominantly, but not exclusively,
borne in mind". It is emphasised, though, that the invention may be applied in any communication media, for
example a conventional landline telephone or the like. The specification does not in its body expressly identify
the object of the invention in relation to the "pay as you go system", or the limitations and deficiencies of that
system. It nonetheless identifies three "aspects of the invention" implicitly regarded as a step forward or
improvement, the overt purpose of which is captured in the final paragraph of the body of the specification,
which reads:
"The inventor believes that the invention, as illustrated, provides an enhanced method of, and system . . . for
enabling use of a communication network by a subscriber. The method enables dispensing of enabling codes or
vouchers to a cellular telephone user remotely without the need for the subscriber physically to obtain a voucher from
a service provider."
[7] Perhaps the best depiction of the idea is one of a cellphone user being able to upload additional airtime by
relying exclusively on the facilities of the cellphone itself; that is by phoning or SMSing an airtime supplier. The
three "aspects of the invention" referred to in the body of the specification equate to claims 1, 14 and 15, the
substantive claims. The balance of the body of the specification is devoted to a description of the subsidiary
claims and a written elucidation of the accompanying diagrammatic representations of six various
embodiments of a system, in accordance with the invention, for enabling use of a cellular communication
network by a subscriber.
[8] The invention and the monopoly sought are defined in 28 claims. As indicated, three of the claims are
substantive, the remaining claims are
Page 385 of [2009] 1 All SA 381 (T)
subordinate and, it is common cause, are interdependent on the antecedent substantive claims. The parties
throughout the proceeding have referred to the integers of the substantive claims alphabetically, though they
are not reflected as such in the specification. For the sake of convenience I will do likewise.
[9] Claim 1, divided into alphabetic integers, is as follows:
(a)
A method of enabling use of a communication network by a subscriber, the method including:
(b)
remotely identifying the subscriber;
(c)
verifying subscriber details with reference to the subscriber details stored in a subscriber database; and
(d)
selectively providing the subscriber with an enabling code,
(e)
which, when fed into the network, provides the subscriber with airtime credit which allows
communication via the network to a predetermined extent.
[10] It is common cause that claims 25, 7 and 913 are dependent on claim 1.
[11] Claims 2, 3 and 5 add integers narrowing integer (b) of claim 1. Thus, claim 2 includes remotely identifying the
subscriber by receiving a telephone call from the subscriber on a receiving telephone; claim 3 by means of a
caller line identification facility ("CLI"); and claim 5 includes identifying the subscriber without answering the
telephone call from the subscriber and calling the subscriber back to obtain the password contemplated in
claim 4. The latter (claim 4) and claim 7 complement both integers (b) and (c) of claim 1. They include, within
the method, verification of subscriber details by obtaining a password from the subscriber seeking use of the
network and verifying the password against data contained in a subscriber database (claim 4); and the
means of obtaining the password include automatically answering the subscriber's telephone call by means of
an interactive telephone system which obtains the password from the subscriber (claim 7).
[12] Claim 9 is interdependent on integers (a) and (e) of claim 1 and includes within the method generally the