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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has disclosed that the Copyright Bill which has been passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly is awaiting transmission and assent by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Malami further disclosed that the present administration in October 2017, ratified four treaties in the field of copyright with the intention of bringing the country’s intellectual property laws to international standard.
The Minister spoke in Abuja at the National multi-stakeholders workshop for the validation of the draft National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, organized by the Federal government in cooperation with World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO).
The AGF was represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary and Solicitor General of the Federation, Beatrice Jedy-Agba Ejodamen.
He further disclosed that earlier in 2021, the president had assented to the Plants Varieties Protection Act as part of a deliberate policy to protect the rights of plant breeders who propagate new and improved plant varieties.
“As expected, it is hoped that the new Intellectual Property Policy would serve as a catalyst for the needed reforms in all aspects of intellectual property law and administration, especially the Trade Marks Act, the Patents and Designs Act as well as the Merchandise Marks Act, all of which require comprehensive review.
“The Government is aware of the importance of a national policy in the generation, protection, use and promotion of intellectual property assets. However, a Policy is only as good as its implementation. It is therefore heartwarming that a complementary implementation strategy has also been developed outside the Policy.
The Minister expressed the need to intensify our engagement with relevant stakeholders to make them understand and use the document for informed actions.
“Only recently, the Nigerian Copyright Commission, in collaboration with the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities developed a Model Intellectual Property Policy for Nigerian Universities.
“It is hoped that this National IP Policy would further support the use of the intellectual property system in our tertiary and research institutions as a key to unlocking the wealth in those institutions and diversifying their revenue base.
In his speech at the workshop, the Director General of World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO, Daren Tang
noted that with a population of over 218 million, with a median age of 18.1, the huge creative and innovative potential existing even amongst the youth demographic in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized.
The WIPO Director General who was represented by Mrs Loretta Asiedu expressed the need to properly harness the creative potential of this kind of human capital by the adoption of policies that promote innovation and creativity through the intellect property system.
” It is important therefore, to develop a framework to unlock innovative potential by facilitating the use of the IP system for economic empowerment by all stakeholder groups and levels, including hitherto underserved parts of the population, including women, youth, small and medium enterprises and indigenous communities. Considering developments on the continent, such as the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area, with its potential impact on intellectual property rights, the time for this framework is now.
” For us in the World Intellectual Property Organization who are acquainted with the development of the IP landscape on the continent, it is very encouraging to note that stakeholders in Africa are attaching great importance to intellectual property issues, shifting the paradigm from merely raising awareness on the subject, through assisting member states to develop legislative and institutional frameworks for the promotion and protection of IPRs, through building the capacity of member state IP offices to process applications, to assisting member states to develop, by way of a thoroughly engaging consultative process, National IP Policies and Strategies that demystify intellectual property and makes it far from a preserve of the wealthy developed nations.
