Portuguese State is acquitted of accusation of plagiarism for the creation of the “e-fatura” system

The Portuguese State was acquitted by the Intellectual Property Court regarding the court case where the inventor Manuel Londreira claimmed plagiarism of the Fiscal Equity program with the creation of the “e-fatura” system.

In 2011, Manuel Londreira presented the Fiscal Equity program to the then prime minister, José Sócrates. In 2015, he formally accused the State of plagiarism of his program by creating the “e-fatura” system.

The prosecuting attorney, André Heitor, asked for compensation of 2.2 million euros from the State for copyright infringement and moral damages and said he expected a favorable decision from the court. However, the Intellectual Property Court felt that it was not proven that the Portuguese State had violated any exclusive right: “Since no violation has been demonstrated, […] there is no indication of justifiable grounds for compensation of moral and patrimonial prejudices for such violation, which is not shown as such causality between such damages and any imputable action.”