AUDREY Marks, chief executive officer of bill payment company Paymaster, yesterday took the stand in her billion-dollar lawsuit against Caribbean conglomerate GraceKennedy in a case based on intellectual property rights and copyright infringement.

Marks denied, under cross-examination by attorney Vincent Chen, that she did not own the rights for use of the software that enabled her entity to collect utility bills on behalf of third parties.

The Paymaster boss also denied suggestions that the idea behind the bill payment software, that was eventually sold to GraceKennedy, were not hers but those of the software technicians.

Chen suggested that a similar software was in existence at the Jamaica Public Service Company, but Marks denied knowledge of this.

Paymaster has instigated a $1.7-billion lawsuit against GraceKennedy for what Marks claims to be copyright infringement of her business plan and computer programme by GraceKennedy to facilitate the establishment of Bill Express, a subsidiary that competes directly with Paymaster.

Marks is claiming that this infringement has caused her millions of dollars in losses.

She was the first to implement the bill payment model using state-of-the-art technology back in 1997. GraceKennedy’s Bill Express was set up in 2000 to compete head-to-head with Paymaster.

Marks said under cross-examination that she got the

idea from a similar system in Florida, USA.

The case, which began on Monday in the Supreme Court, continues today. Trial is set for 10 days before Justice Roy Jones.