A battle over patent rights to the city’s ParkPlus system will likely be fought in court, says Ald. Dale Hodges, who sits on the parking authority board.
On May 19, the board fired parking authority general manager Dale Fraser and parking enforcement manager Al Bazar to help the maligned department align with a “new strategic direction.”
Shortly after they were fired, it was publicly revealed that the pair is listed as the sole applicants and inventors for the U.S. patent on the city’s parking system.
The patent application was filed in July 2007. The city of Calgary holds the international patent rights, excluding the U.S. It was also revealed these facts were known to several city politicians and bureaucrats at least one year ago.
Losing the U.S. patent could cost the city millions of dollars in revenue, which could give Fraser and Bazar the upper hand in negotiating a severance package.
Hodges says it’s unclear how the pair was allowed to register as the inventors on the patent application.
“We still don’t have all the answers we’re looking for,” he says. “There’s more we don’t know about certain issues than we do know — that’s the awful part.”
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