APPRAISAL OF THE LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS PROTECTION IN NIGERIA

Intellectual property is an intangible form of property which emanates from man’s creativity and ingenuity. It plays a vital role in the development of a nation if its benefits are properly harnessed and protected. We live in a technologically advanced era which was made possible by globalization, thus, the importance of adequate protection for IPR’s cannot be over emphasized. The aim of this study is to examine the extant laws and bodies governing IPR’s in Nigeria and make recommendations on how to improve the intellectual property regime in Nigeria, hence, this study will be limited territorially and geographically to Nigeria. Notwithstanding, this study adopts the doctrinal research method in analyzing the IP laws in Nigeria while tracing its historical development using the historical approach and making comparisons between the TRIPS Agreement and the intellectual property laws in Nigeria through the comparative approach. It is obvious that IP development in Nigeria is hindered by certain factors such as lack of public awareness, corruption, weak custom enforcement, delay in judicial system, piracy, parallel importation, to mention a few. These challenges which the intellectual property regime faces are largely because of the state of the extant laws which are meant to protect EPRs and the lack of proper enforcement of these rights by the relevant bodies. Consequently, this study proposes the creation of an Intellectual Property Commission where the administration of copyrights, patents, trademarks, industrial designs and other related EPRs will be regulated under one body but with each EPR forming a separate department in other to streamline the administration of EPRs in Nigeria.