Overview of Intellectual Property Framework: From Domestic and

International PerspectivesUche Nwokocha, Partner, Aluko & Oyebode

DOMESTIC PERSPECTIVE

Legal and Regulatory Framework

Legal FrameworkASPECTS OF IP LAW

COPYRIGHT/LICENSING COPYRIGHTS ACT 1988

TRADEMARK TRADEMARKS ACT 1965

PATENTSPATENTS AND DESIGNS ACT

1971 DESIGNS

DOMAIN NAMES NIGERIA INTERNET REGISTRATION ASSOCIATION

TECHINICAL SERVICES AGREEMENT

NATIONAL OFFICE FOR TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION AND PROMOTION ACT 1979

FRANCHISING

Legal Framework Contd.BILLS

Copyright Amendment Bill

Intellectual Property Commission of Nigeria Bill

Anti-Counterfeit Goods` Bill

Competition Bill

Regulatory Framework

It is a body under the Ministry of Trade and Investment. It is responsible for the administration , protection and registration of industrial property in Nigeria

The Nigerian Copyright Commission is a regulatory body responsible for advising, monitoring and regulating all matters relating to Copyright in Nigeria.

The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control is a governmental agency under the Federal Ministry of Health that is responsible for regulating importation and sale of Food, Drugs, Cosmetics, Medical Devices, and Chemicals.

Regulatory Framework Contd.

The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), a statutorily established agency under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology responsible for the acquisition, promotion and development of technology. It is also responsible for the evaluation and registration of Technology Transfer Agreements/ Technical Services Agreement, commercialisation of research and development, and promotion of intellectual property (IP), among others

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria is a statutory body introduced by the government to address the concern of unsafe products entering the Nigerian market. It is vested with the responsibility of standardising and regulating the quality of all products in Nigeria. It is responsible for preparing standards related to products, measurements, materials, processes and services, certification of products, assistance in the production of quality goods and service.

Founded on March 23, 2005 as a stakeholder-led organisation, charged with the management of the Nigeria's country code Top Level Domain Name (ccTLD), dot ng.

Regulatory Framework Contd.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes. It has an IP unit which investigates, prevents and prosecute offenders who engage in intellectual property theft and piracy.

The Nigeria Customs Service has the primary responsibility of revenue collection and anti smuggling activities amongst many other functions. It has an IP unit dedicated to preventing the violation of intellectual property rights through acts of piracy, counterfeiting etc.

EFCC (IP Unit)

NCS (IP Unit)

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

COPYRIGHT: is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculpture, and films, to computer programs, databases, maps, and technical drawings.

TRADEMARK: A trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises.

PATENTS: A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem.

DESIGNS: an industrial design constitutes the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article.An industrial design may consist of three dimensional features, such as the shape of an article, or two dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or color.

GEOGRAPHIC INDICATIONS: is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. In order to function as a GI, a sign must identify a product as originating in a given place. In addition, the qualities, characteristics or reputation of the product should be essentially due to the place of origin. Since the qualities depend on the geographical place of production, there is a clear link between the product and its original place of production.

PLANT VARIETIES: Plant variety is a legal term, following the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) Convention. Recognition of a cultivated plant (a cultivar) as a "variety" in this particular sense provides its breeder with some legal protection, so-called plant breeders' rights, depending to some extent on the internal legislation of the UPOV signatory countries, such as the Plant Variety Protection Act in the US.

IP Rights Defined

International Treaties• Paris Convention1. It is an international treaty concerning the protection of Industrial Property 2. It has been adopted by 175 countries. 3. When a trademark application filed in one of the countries in the Union, the applicant may, within six months of

that filing, apply for protection in any of the other countries in the Union. 4. Any of these subsequent applications will have priority over applications filed by others during that six-month

period for the same mark.

• Berne Convention 1. It governs copyright and contains the minimum protection to be granted for literary and artistic works. 2. It provides creators such as authors, musicians, poets, painters etc. with the means to control how their works are

used, by whom, and on what terms.

• Patent Cooperation Treaty:1. It makes it possible to seek patent protection for invention in different countries by filing an international patent

application, but nominates countries of interest where the patentee desires protection.2. Such an application may be filed by anyone who is a national or resident of a PCT Contracting State.

International Treaties Contd.

• Hague System 1. The Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs .2. It provides a practical business solution for registering up to 100 designs in over 64 territories through filing

one single international application.

• Madrid SystemThe international registration of trade marks (the Madrid system) is an effective and relatively inexpensive way for trade mark owners to secure protection of their trade marks in a number of countries by filing a single international registration application with a centralised office in Madrid.

• Lisbon AgreementThe Lisbon Agreement provides for the protection of appellations of origin, that is, the "geographical denomination of a country, region, or locality, which serves to designate a product originating therein, the quality or characteristics of which are due exclusively or essentially to the geographic environment, including natural and human factors".

• TRIPS AgreementThe Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an international agreement administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that sets down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property (IP) regulation as applied to nationals of other WTO Members.

Regional Agreements

• The Community Trade Mark (CTM) system

1. Offers trademark owners a unified system of protection throughout the European Union (EU) with the filing of a single application.

2. As new member states are added to the EU, the coverage of existing CTMs automatically expands, without any action or payment on the part of the CTM owner.

3. The initial registration period is ten years from the date of filing of the CTM application.

4. The registering authority is the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM).

• ARIPO (African Regional Intellectual Property Organization)

1. Formed by members of certain English-speaking African nations.

2. The organization enables applicants to file a single application for the protection of a trademark in designated countries that are contracting states to the Lusaka Agreement, which created ARIPO. The headquarters is in Zimbabwe.

Regional Agreements Contd.• OAPI (Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle)

1. Formed by members of certain French-speaking African nations.

2. The organization enables applicants to file a single application for protection of a trademark in designated countries that are party to the Bangui Agreement, which created OAPI. It currently has 17 member states. The headquarters is in Cameroon.

• The Andean Pact

1. An agreement among the member countries of the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) that provides for one common trademark law among the member countries.

2. It does not provide for a common trademark registration. Rather, it provides for certain reciprocal rights to be made available upon request of the trademark owner. For example, an entity that first applied for registration of a trademark in a member country may lodge an opposition against a similar mark filed in any of the other member countries.

3. Use of a trademark in any one of the member countries constitutes use in all member countries if the trademark is the subject of an action for cancellation for non-use.

Classification• Nice Agreement : The Nice Agreement establishes a classification of goods and services for the purposes

of registering trademarks and service marks (the Nice Classification). The trademark offices of Contracting States must indicate, in official documents and publications in connection with each registration, the numbers of the classes of the Classification to which the goods or services for which the mark is registered belong.

• Vienna Agreement: The Vienna Agreement establishes a classification (the Vienna Classification) for marks that consist of, or contain, figurative elements. The competent offices of Contracting States must indicate in official documents and publications relating to registrations and renewals of marks the numbers of the categories, divisions and sections of the Classification to which the figurative elements of those marks belong.

• Locarno Agreement: The Locarno Agreement establishes a classification for industrial designs (the Locarno Classification). The competent offices of the Contracting States must indicate in official documents reflecting the deposit or registration of industrial designs the numbers of the classes and subclasses of the Classification to which the goods incorporating the designs belong. This must also be done in any publication the offices issue in respect of the deposit or registration of industrial designs.

• Strasbourg Agreement: The Strasbourg Agreement establishes the International Patent Classification (IPC) which divides technology into eight sections with approximately 70,000 subdivisions. Classification is indispensable for the retrieval of patent documents in the search for "prior art". Such retrieval is needed by patent-issuing authorities, potential inventors, research and development units and others concerned with the application or development of technology.

Associations that Support IP

The International Trademark Association (INTA) – a not for profit organization dedicated to supporting trademarks and related intellectual property in order to protect consumers and to promote fair and effective commerce. It is the oldest and largest gathering of IP lawyers, administrators and in-house counsel.

International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI) – an International Organization dedicated to the development and improvement of the regimes for the protection of intellectual property on both an international and national basis

International Intellectual Property Law Association (IIPLA) operates as a think tank – monitoring development and evolving trends in the field of Intellectual Property laws across the globe, with the aim of providing information on the leading edge.

The following also work as pressure groups to review IP laws among others.

Associations that Support IP

International Intellectual Property Institute -- organization for providing education and guidance about intellectual property (IP) rights to leaders and innovators in developing countries.

Intellectual Property Lawyers Association Nigeria – association of lawyers focusing on intellectual property issues of both national and international impact.

International Intellectual Property Law Association (IIPLA) operates as a think tank – monitoring development and evolving trends in the field of Intellectual Property laws across the globe, with the aim of providing information on the leading edge.

The following also work as pressure groups to review IP laws among other things.

Associations that Support IP Contd.Anti-Counterfeiting Collaboration (ACC)– is a non-profit making agency which represents the interests of brand owners. It was created with the aim of bringing together brand owners, enforcement agencies and other interested parties together in the fight against counterfeiting and illicit trade in Nigeria.

Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (SBL) – one of the specialist sections of the NBA that was set up primarily to promote the professional development of Nigerian commercial lawyers and thereby raise the level of business law practice in Nigeria.

Nigerian local chapter of the International Association for theProtection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI)– It works to promote the aims and objectives of the AIPPI on a national basis.

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