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23rd
NOV
Koha trademark by US firm angers rural library
Posted by karere under Maori News
A rural library in Horowhenua says a United States company has hijacked the computer system it invented and taken the trademark on its Maori name.
The Horowhenua Library Trust devised a software system called Koha 12 years ago to manage catalogues and lending information.
The system is free and widely used by other libraries, churches, schools and corporations around the world.
However, the trust’s head of libraries, Joann Ransom, says the American company PTFS/LibLime has been granted provisional rights to the name Koha by the Ministry of Economic Development.
She says PTFS/LibLime is trying to adapt the Koha system for its own private client base.
“We did something really good and we gave it away to the world and it’s been a glorious thing globally for 12 years. And now this American corporate wants to take it,” she says.
Ms Ransom told Morning Report the trust tried to block PTFS/LibLime’s application by lodging an identical claim.
She says she is astounded an international company could trademark a Maori word.
The library has three months to object to the decision and Ms Ransom says it has little money to pay for a legal case.
Read all the news [here]