UNDERSTANDING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN NIGERIA
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IS THE CREATION OF YOUR INTELLECT, YOUR MIND AND YOUR CREATIVITY.
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UNDERSTANDING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN NIGERIA
Intellectual property is the creation of human mind, a unique asset, belonging to the owner who is the creator. It is legally protected by the owner from infringement. It could be in form of trademarks, patents, designs, or copyrights. The notion behind intellectual property is that certain creations of human intellect should be protected. This creations can be in form of tangible and intangible asset. Intellectual property include Trademark, Patents and Copyright. These concepts shall be explained thus:
TRADEMARK: Is a symbol, logo, or brand that distinguishes and represents a product that legally separates it from other products. A trademark is solely assigned to a company, that is, the company owns the trademark so that no others may use or copy it. A trademark is often associated with a company's brand or logo. By distinguishing brands of product or service, it constructs the reputation of the brand. Trademarks also impact the consumers’ choice of product. It is the symbol which makes the consumers to identify and become familiar with a particular product. The appropriate authority in charge of trademark registration is the Trademarks, Patents and Designs Registry under the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.
COPYRIGHT: This is the monopoly right given to the author of a piece of work. It enables the owner alone the right to duplicate and to copy his work. Copyright gives the owner the exclusive right to authorize or prohibit certain uses of his work by others. Copyrights are governed by the Copyright Act Cap 68 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990. The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) provides owners of copyrights the option to deposit a copy of their works with the NCC and receive a certificate which serves as notification of the existence of the work to the public.
PATENT: A patent is a property right for an inventor. The patent allows the inventor exclusive rights to the invention, which could be a design, process, an improvement, or physical invention such as a machine, software. Technology companies often have patents for their designs. Patent law in Nigeria is regulated by the Patent and Design Act Cap P2 Law of Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004. The lifespan of the patent lasts for 20 years provided the annual renewal fees are paid for the duration of its potential life.
Finally, it is important that an author, inventor and content creator protect their work from infringement. Once the intellectual property has been registered, it enables the owner to enforce it against any form of infringement by an unauthorised third party.
WRITTEN BY CHAMAN LAW FIRM TEAM
EMAIL: chamanlawfirm@gmail.com
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