Intellectual property (IP) is a term that refers to the products of intellectual creations. However, it can also refer to a broad category of intellectual creations for which the law grants the exclusive right of appropriation to the recognized proprietors. Nigeria intellectual property law is a set of laws that covers all elements of IP rights, including ownership, registration, protection, licensing, assignment, and longevity.
Several laws have a bearing on the protection and administration of various rights that make up intellectual property in Nigeria. The Copyrights Act, the Patents and Designs Act, and the Trademarks Act are the three principal acts governing intellectual property law in Nigeria. The following laws govern the protection and administration of Nigeria’s most important intellectual property:
Copyright
Copyright in an intellectual work refers to the author’s exclusive right to control or enable the doing of certain expressly stated acts in relation to the entire or substantial part of the work, whether in its original form or in any other recognizably derived form, subject to certain statutory exceptions. As a result, copyright laws refer to a collection of laws aimed at protecting the rights of authors of works that have been expressed in specified ways for transformation or reproduction by people who are not authorized or 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 provides for works protected by copyright which include: Literary works; Musical works; Artistic works; Cinematograph films; Sound recordings; Broadcasts
Originality and fixation are the two criteria used to determine whether a work is eligible for copyright protection in Nigeria. To be protected under the law, all copyright works must be original and expressed in a specific medium. This is because copyright does not protect ideas but rather how ideas are expressed. A literary, musical, or artistic work must meet the dual conditions of “originality and fixation” under section 1(2) of the Copyright Act.
Finally, works that meet the foregoing criteria are automatically copyright protected without the need for registration or adherence to any formal procedures. Nonetheless, the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) allows copyright owners to deposit a copy of their works with the NCC in exchange for a certificate that serves as notice to the general public of the work’s existence.
Trademarks
A trademark is any mark, sign, or combination of marks that the owners create to identify and distinguish their product from that of other producers, particularly competitors. There is a peculiar measure of identity associated with your goods. A trademark, according to Section 67 of the Trademarks Act, Cap T3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, is: A word, letter, label, numeral, colour, 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.
In the law governing trademarks and service marks, trademark uniqueness is a crucial issue. If a trademark performs the important trademark function listed above and is distinctive, it may be eligible for registration. A trademark’s primary function is to direct consumers to the source of the marked products and services; in order to do so, the trademark must differentiate the goods or be capable of doing so.
The registration of a trademark requires distinctiveness. Distinctiveness connotes uniqueness, speciality, peculiarity and a distinguishable feature of a particular mark from another. Distinctiveness has an impact on everything from a mark’s registrability to its scope of protection, enforcement, and long-term validity. When evaluating the strength of trademark protection against other competitors who may try to use trademarks as a tool of deception, misdirection, or deception on purchasers or consumers of goods, trademark distinctiveness is critical. The Act provides that a mark can be rejected for being deceptive, scandalous, contrary to public policy.
Patents
Patent law is geared toward safeguarding inventions that include machinery, gadgets, chemical compositions, and industrial methods. Essentially, the law protects the proprietor from the patented subject matter being developed independently. It is a grant from a government that confers upon an inventor the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, importing or offering an invention for sale for a fixed period. This invention could be a brand-new product or method. The inventor is protected by the patent from others who could try to create, use, distribute, or sell the innovation without the permission of the patent owner.
Patentable inventions are those for which a patent will be granted under the law. The Patent & Designs Act, Cap P2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1988, lays forth the requirements for a patentable invention. An invention is considered patentable if it fits the following conditions, according to section 1(1) of the Patent & Designs Act: It must be new; It must be the result of an inventive step; and It must be capable of industrial application.
In Nigeria, Patents cannot be validly obtained in respect of:
(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 public disclosure given to the public through oral revelation, a document, or prior use will remove the requirement of novelty and render an invention non-patentable. 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 preceding of filing a patent application in respect of the invention.
Again, a patentee’s rights are not automatically granted. They must be registered as required by section 2 of the Act in order to take effect. 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 ensure that they comply with the Act’s requirements.
In making an application, it is crucial for an applicant to adequately state the specifications and claims of his invention. Once an application satisfies all the Patents & Designs Act requirements, the Registrar will grant the application without any further examination of the fact of patentability or non-patentability. A patentee is entitled to the sole ownership and profits arising from his invention during the patent’s lifetime, usually twenty years (20 years) in Nigeria.
Industrial Designs
The characteristics added into mass-produced items that tend to increase attractiveness by their look are known as industrial designs. Original and novel designs are covered by industrial design protection. It is called industrial design because for it to qualify for protection, the design must be capable of application for mass or industrial reproduction.
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 the functional feature of a product without which the product cannot perform its functions, according to section 12 of the Patents & Designs Act.
As a result, if a design pertains to a functional element or improves a product’s utility, it will not be registrable as an industrial design and and is more suitable for patent protection. The overall consequence of this section is that a design does not have to be functional or bring value to the article’s ability or substance. To influence consumers, it is sufficient if the design only serves to draw attention or is visually appealing. There are two fundamental conditions an industrial design must fulfil before it can be registrable: Newness; Not contrary to public order or morality. The right to preserve a registrable industrial design is dependent on registration priority, which means that whoever registers first has priority. The statutory creator has the right to register the design under Section 14 of the Patent and Designs Act. A product’s shape, such as lines, colors, or any three-dimensional form, is protected by a registered design. A registered design is protected for five years from the date of the application for the registration.
To stay relevant in today’s global marketplace, 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, technology, and designs that set you apart from other competitors or businesses, intellectual property is a valuable asset that must be protected if your firm is to survive.
You can see a list of Nigeria IP firms here.