A SUMMARY INTRODUCTION TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW IN NIGERIA

      In a normal sense what is meant by an intellectual property is refer to as what ever is resulted from the creativities and inventions of an intellect and legally  an intellectual property regime is about a legal Rights of an own to control what is done or to be done with his intellectual property, so also an intellectual property is an intangible property like a shares in a company and any other incorporeal property.

      It should be noted that the right of the an intellect has on his intellectual property does not rest only on the piece of paper of copy of the book that is protected by the copyright act in Nigeria, the right encompasses an exclusive right (intangible right ) of the intellect (author) to exploit his inventions to the exclusion of any other persons however with some exceptions.

      In Nigeria what is refer to as intellectual property and or statutory recognized as intellectual property in Nigeria are patent, designs, trademark, merchandise marks, business names, and copyright, 

      In Nigeria, invention and industrial designs are protect of by patent and design act, trademarks are protected by trade mark act and merchandise mark act while  business names are regulated by companies and allied matters act then copyright is protected by copyright act.

Definition

      Generally speaking Intellectual property just like many concept of law does not have a single accepted definition, however Merriam Webster dictionary described intellectual property as "property such as an idea, invention, or process that derives from the work of the mind or intellect", nevertheless the general scope of  intellectual property it that it is an intangible property that resulted from the ideas, inventions or creativities of an intellect.

Branches of intellectual property

      Generally speaking intellectual property is broadly divided into to two, namely;

industrial property and copyright

      According to law on industrial property article 2 (1) :

"Industrial property rights shall be patent, industrial design, trademark and appellation of origin and geographical indication." 

      From the forgoing provision industrial property as a branch of intellectual property, consist of patent, industrial design, trademark, appellation of origin and geographical indication, it should be noted that this is a provision of an international organization (WTO), however sometimes a country may fail to provide for the regulation and protection of the aforementioned, nevertheless in Nigeria the municipal law that protect  invention and industrial designs are patent and design act, trademarks are protected by trade mark act and merchandise mark act.

      While copyright on the other hand and according to Prof. M.J Umaru "Copyright ( in relation to literary, dramatic or musical work that qualifies for protection) is the exclusive right (with some exceptions) to do or to authorize other persons to do certain acts in relation to that work.

Types of intellectual property

      The types of intellectual property consist of the followings:

1. Patent

2. Copyright

3. Trademark

      Nevertheless they are many other types of intellectual property but those aforementioned three are generally accepted as types of of intellectual property, however trade secret and trade dress are also consider as types of intellectual property.

      It should be noted that one of the legal feature that all the different types of intellectual property consist is that they all establish protection for intangible property (intellectual property) that was resulted from the ideas, inventions, are creativity of the intellect.

Why intellectual property are protected?

      One of the international statutory provision for the protection of intellectual property is article 27 (2) of the universal declaration of human right (UDHR), which provide as follow: 

"Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author."

      Apart from the forgoing provision of UDHR are are also so many theories that were propounded in other to argue as to the reasons why intellectual properties need to be protected the theories among others include:

1.The Natural Rights Theory

      The opinion and argument of the propounders of this theory is that naturally the ideas and inventions of an intellect is to be consider as a property of that intellect thus deserve to be protected because is if the product of the physical efforts of a man is considered to be his property then the effort of his brain is most likely to be consider as his property, as it was said by one of the protagonist of this theory " nothing can with greater proprietary be called man's property than the fruit of his brain."

      The critics of this theory argue that the intellect where not given a monopoly over what result from his intellectuals because no idea is uniquely trace to a single particular person, they also argue that this theory does not deal with the issue of temporary right of an intellect because the ownership right of an intellect in regard to an intellectual property is limited one.

2. Ethic/Reward Theory

      The propounders of this theory argue that intellectual properties are protected because for an intellect to put his effort to create or invent something from his idea that can contribute to the utility of the humanity such an intellect deserve a reword as a monopoly of control known as exclusive Right to exploit from the benefit of such work which was resulted from his idea and thus that invention of the intellect need to be reworded and protected by the law.

      The critics of this theory argue that the rewards resulted from the effort of the intellect is not even reaped by the intellect himself rather it is reap by the capitalist, Another defect of this theory is its limitation in protecting the traditional knowledge because the old indigenous communities received no reward for their rare invention of traditional methods and art.

3. Utilitarian or Incentive Theory

      This theory is almost related to the reward theory the propounders of this theory opined that intellectual property is protected because an inventor or intellect deserves to be given  an incentive by way of limited monopoly of control of the intellectual property so as to encourage him to put more of his idea and effort to invent more things that are beneficial to the humanity.

      The criticisms rendered to oppose this theory is that  whether or not a monopoly of control is given to an inventor the inventor will continue to be creative because inventors are not often involve in to inventions for the purpose of material gain, they often involve in creativity to satisfy their zeal.

4. Personhood Theory

      The propounders of this theory propounded that intellectual property deserves to be protected because an inventor in the cause of inventing that intellectual property he also incorporated his personhood (personality) and thus that intellectual property deserves to be protected because an individual personality growth is inherent and so the personality of the inventor is suppose to grow simultaneously with the growth of the intellectual property, in a nutshell the personhood theory provides that it is the creator’s creation that builds his or her personality thereby clarifying an individual’s personality is inherent to his or her property right and that's why an intellectual property is protected.

      The critics of this theory are of the view that  when the inventor put his Idea to invent a work, the work is independent from its creator but dependent on the public domain and thus it's not that really that the personality of the inventor will grow simultaneously with the growth of the intellectual property.

Conclusion

      intellectual property are those property that are resulted from an idea or invention of an intellect, such property are intangible they consist of patent, trade mark, copyright e.t.c, many theories were propounded as believed of the reasons why such an intellectual property is protected by the law as mentioned above.