The House of Representatives on Thursday at plenary, took steps to protect the intellectual property rights of Nigerians as it passed through the second reading, Patent and Designs (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2019.
Sponsored by Oluga Taiwo (APC, Ogun), the Bill seeks to repeal the Patents and Designs Act CAP P2 LFN 2004 and enact the Patents and Designs Act 2019 to strengthen the legal protection of inventions such as Patents, Utility Models, and Designs.
It provides protection for exclusive exploitation, assignment, transmission, and the contracting-out of novel creations of the intellect and is designed to enhance the quality of life of all Nigerians.
The Bill also provides a comprehensive industrial/intellectual property system that protects innovations and creative expression; protection for exclusive exploitation, assignment, transmission, and the contracting-out of novel creations of the intellect.
The proposed legislation is to also bring about an upgrade in the body of laws governing Patents, Designs, and Utility Models in Nigeria as the 1971 Act does not even recognize Utility Models as a type of Patent or Class of Intellectual Property in Nigeria.
Read Also: Reps halt bill to transfer drugs, poison to the concurrent list
In her lead debate, Taiwo argued that the nonrecognition of the Utility Model by the old law is in contravention of the International Legal Instruments on Intellectual Property.
She said the current legal framework for the administration of Patents in Nigeria is not only outdated but also inadequate to meet the needs of modern society, stressing that in the current age of international trade, Nigeria cannot afford to be isolated either nor insulated from the world events.
“Therefore, the Prospects of doing business in Nigeria should be at par with what obtains in other countries of the world by strengthening the Intellectual Property Regime in Nigeria, through the instrumentality of this Bill.
“The Intellectual property rights are exclusive rights that are conferred by law to an individual, enterprise, corporation, or any legal entity for the products of that individual, enterprise or corporation or any legal entity for the product of his or its intellects. Products of intellects can take many forms as we know, and those that would be protected include scientific inventions,
Industrial designs, signs of a purely commercial value or trademarks, a trade secret on the one hand; and they may be in the form of literary works, it may be in a form of artistic work or musical work.
“Intellectual property law does confer on the individual, the exclusive rights of exploiting, assigning, transmitting, and contracting out creations of intellect. Those creations would have to be in some form as expressed in a legally admissible formal and, in some cases, are subject to registration procedures.
“In other words, the same way a person owns land or a person may own a car or any other item or property, the law provides for the protection of those tangible rights and ownership, provides
Protection and grants the individual exclusive rights to exploits the
Land or car in terms of selling it, renting it, or exporting or importing a car or tangible asset, in the same way with intellectual property.
“The New Bill seeks to repeal the old law and re-enact a fresh Patent, Designs, and Utility Model Law, which updates the Extant 1971 Patent and Designs Act and it incorporates several recommendations from the Publications of the World Intellectual Property Organization”, he stated.
