In general, Intellectual Property (“IP”) refers to items derived from intellectual creations. However, it may also refer to a general phrase that refers to intellectual creations for which the law grants the exclusive right of appropriation to the specified proprietors. Intellectual property law is a corpus of laws that covers all elements of intellectual property rights (for example, ownership, registration, protection, licensing, assignment, longevity, and so on).
Several laws in Nigeria govern the protection and management of the various rights that comprise the intellectual property. The Copyrights Act, the Patents and Designs Act, and the Trademarks Act are the three principal acts governing intellectual property law in Nigeria.
These laws govern the protection and administration of the following intellectual property rights in Nigeria:
Copyright
The exclusive right of the author of the original work to control or enable the doing of certain expressly stated acts in respect of the whole or substantial part of the work, either in its original form or in any other recognizably derived from the original form, but subject to certain statutory exceptions, is referred to as copyright in intellectual work.
As a result, copyright laws relating to a collection of laws that strive to safeguard the rights of writers of such works that have been expressed in specified formats for transformation or reproduction by individuals who are neither authorized nor licensed by the copyright owner.
The Copyright Act Cap 68, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 governs copyright. Section 1(1)(a-f) of the Copyright Act defines works covered by copyright as follows:
- Literary works
- Musical works
- Artistic works
- Cinematograph films
- Sound recordings
- Broadcasts
Overall, there are two factors used to determine whether a work is qualified for copyright protection in Nigeria: originality and fixation. To be legally protected, all copyright works must be original and conveyed in a specific medium. This is due to the fact that copyright does not protect ideas but rather how they are conveyed. A literary, musical, or artistic work must meet the dual conditions of “originality and fixation,” according to Section 1(2) of the Copyright Act.
Finally, it is critical to highlight that works that meet the aforementioned characteristics are automatically copyright protected without the need for registration or adherence to any formal restrictions. Nonetheless, the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) allows copyright holders to deposit a copy of their works with the NCC in exchange for a certificate that acts as notification of the work’s existence to the general public.
Trademarks
A trademark is any symbol, sign, or combination thereof that the owner designs to identify and separate their product from the goods of other producers, particularly rivals. Your items are connected with a distinct sense of identity. A trademark is defined under Section 67 of the Trademarks Act Cap T3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, as A word, letter, label, numeral, color, signature, device, or any combinations of words, letters, labels, signatures that identify and distinguish the source of the goods or services of one manufacturer from those of others in the course of trade.
Trademark uniqueness is a critical element in trademark and service mark law. If a trademark performs the important trademark function listed above and is unique, it may be eligible for registration. A key function of any brand is to direct the customer to the source of the marked products and services; to do so, a trademark must differentiate the items or be capable of doing so.
The distinctiveness of a trademark is essential for its registration. Distinctiveness implies one-of-a-kindness, specialness, oddity, and recognizable quality of one mark from another. Distinctiveness influences everything from a mark’s registrability to its scope of protection, enforcement, and ongoing validity once registered. Trademark uniqueness is critical in determining how strong a trademark’s protection is against other rivals who may attempt to exploit trademarks as a tool of deception, misdirection, or deceit on purchasers or consumers of products.
Nonetheless, it should be noted that uniqueness is not a guarantee of registration, since the Registrar of Trademarks has the power to decline, albeit in accordance with the Trademarks Act. According to the Act, a mark may be rejected if it is false, scandalous, or detrimental to public policy.
Patents
Patent law is geared toward protecting inventions such as machinery, gadgets, chemical compositions, and industrial methods. Essentially, the law shields the owner against the independent development of the patented subject matter. It is a government award that gives an inventor the right to prevent others from creating, using, selling, importing, or presenting an invention for sale for a set length of time. This invention might be a new product or method. The patent protects the creator from anyone who may try to create, use, distribute, or sell the innovation without the permission of the patent owner.
Patentable inventions are those for which the law will award a patent. The Patent & Designs Act, Cap P2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1988, describes the requirements that must be met for an invention to be considered patentable. Section 1(1) of the Patent & Designs Act states that an invention is patentable if it fits the following criteria:
- It must be new
- It must be the result of an inventive step; and
- It must be capable of industrial application.
Patents in Nigeria cannot be obtained legitimately in the following areas:
(a) plant or animal varieties, or essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals (other than microbiological processes and their products); or
(b) inventions the publication or exploitation of which would be contrary to public order or morality (it being understood for this paragraph that the exploitation of an invention is not contrary to public order or morality merely because its exploitation is prohibited by law).
Furthermore, Section 1(3) of the Patent & Designs Act specifies that any publication made available to the public by oral communication, a document, or previous usage destroys the need for novelty and, as a result, renders an invention unpatentable. However, an invention is not deemed to have been made available to the public simply because the inventor or his successor in title presented it in an official or officially recognized international exhibition within six months of the filing of a patent application in respect of the invention.
Again, a patentee’s rights are not automatically given. To be effective, they must go through the legislative formality of registration, as specified in Section 2 of the Act. This is done through the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment’s office of the Registrar of Patents. The Patents & Designs Act requires the Registrar to review all patent applications to verify that they comply with the Act’s requirements.
It is important to emphasize, however, that the assessment here is not a content analysis, but rather a form analysis. Specifically, it is critical for an applicant to accurately specify the specifications and claims of his invention that he wishes to protect in the patent application when submitting an application. This is because the specification and claims are at the heart of patent law. Claims specify the bounds of the patent’s property right conferred by the patent. They clearly outline the property right of a patent owner.
Overall, if an application meets all of the standards of the Patents and Designs Act, the Registrar will approve the application without further investigation of the patentability or non-patentability of the subject matter of the application. The issuance of a patent grants an inventor monopoly rights for a limited length of time to create, use, or apply the process or result of his original creations. A patentee is entitled to sole ownership and revenues derived from his invention for the duration of the patent, which is normally twenty years (20 years) in Nigeria.
Industrial Designs
Industrial designs are those aspects that are included in mass-produced objects and have the ability to increase appeal through their look. Original and unique designs are protected under industrial design protection. The term “industrial design” refers to the ability of a design to be applied for mass or industrial replication in order to qualify for protection.
According to Section 12 of the Patents and Designs Act, industrial designs are created as models or patterns to be multiplied by an industrial process and are not intended to achieve a technical result, i.e. relate to or improve on a product’s functional feature without which the product cannot perform its functions.
As a result, if a design pertains to a functional aspect or improves a product’s utility, it will not be registrable as an industrial design and will be better appropriate for patent protection. As a result of this section, a design does not have to be functional or bring value to the article’s ability or content. It is sufficient if the design’s sole purpose is to draw attention or to be visually appealing in order to influence customers.
There are two fundamental conditions an industrial design must fulfill before it can be registrable;
- Novelty
- Not contrary to public order or morality
The right to protect a registrable industrial design is founded on registration priority, which means that the person who registers first obtains priority. Section 14 of the Patent & Designs Act grants the statutory author the ability to register the design. A registered design protects the product’s shape, such as lines, colors, or any three-dimensional form.
The goal is to keep others from copying the product’s outside design for industrial usage. By replicating the design, the owner of a registered design can prohibit others from copying, importing, illegally benefiting, selling, or employing it for commercial purposes. A registered design is protected for five years from the date of the registration application.
To summarize
To stay relevant in today’s global economy, businesses need skilled legal counsel to help them navigate the ever-changing world of intellectual property (IP) law. Because you invested a lot of time and effort developing ideas, technologies, and designs that set you different from other rivals or businesses, intellectual property (IP) is a valuable asset that must be protected if your firm is to grow. However, it is critical that you speak with an intellectual property lawyer in order to protect your intellectual property asset.
IP attorneys can help you ensure that no one else benefited or stole your work without acquiring legal permission or paying reasonable royalties. Speak with the top intellectual property attorneys in Nigeria to set your mind at ease about the security of your intellectual property.
You can find the list of Nigeria IP Firms here.