Patent registration in Nigeria grants the holder an exclusive right for a period of 20 years to prevent anyone from creating, using, or selling an invention in the jurisdiction without permission or approval during the patent’s validity period. Patent law is oriented on protecting inventions that include machines, devices, chemical compositions, and manufacturing processes. Essentially, the law protects the proprietor against the patented subject matter being developed independently.
Nigerian Patent Registration Requirements
In Nigeria, an invention must meet one of the two following conditions in order to be patented:
- It must be novel, the result of creative work, and capable of industrial application:
- An invention is new where an invention has elements making it different from any other one out there.
- It results from an inventive activity where the invention was a result of a new process or method or a combination of methods or processes to arrive at the invention, it can be said to result from an inventive activity.
- The industrial application simply means that the invention is capable of being manufactured and reproduced for use in any industry.
2. It is a new invention that improves on an existing invention, is the result of inventive work, and may be used with industrial application.
According to the preceding provision, an invention must either be novel, results from the inventive activity, and be capable of industrial application, all of which requirements must be present in the invention, OR it must be a “improvement” on an existing invention, with the improvement to be novel, arise from inventive activity, and capable of industrial application.
Is it possible to patent improvements?
According to that subsection, in order to get patent protection for an improvement to an existing invention, one must demonstrate that the new use is novel, that it is the product of trials and combinations of new and old methods, and that it is capable of industrial application. If all of these conditions are not met, the invention may not be eligible for patent protection.
It’s essential to select between improving an existing invention and discovering a new application for that invention. An improvement is a new refinement, upgrade, or progress of an existing invention, arising from an inventive action, whereas a discovery has no purpose of inventing and the finding is completely coincidental.
Is it possible to patent scientific discoveries in Nigeria?
Scientific principles and discoveries are not inventions, and so are not eligible for patent protection in Nigeria.
The discovery of a new purpose for an existing invention is patentable in developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. In the United States, this is known as new-use patents, and the Patent Act allows patents for novel applications of previously unpatentable inventions. Although the patentability of this novel use would be subject to conditions, it is fascinating to notice how it differs from Nigeria’s current framework. It goes without saying that more work has to be done to the Nigerian legal structure in order for us to keep up with these countries and be able to protect people’s rights in the future.
You can find the list of Nigeria IP Firms here.