Infringements occur where there is unauthorized use of a patent in a manner consistent with the rights vested upon the licensed owner. Actions for infringement have the following reliefs in law:
- Damages
- Injunctions
- Delivery up of infringing products
- Account of profits
The Patent (Additional Rights, etc.) Bill, 2019 has been presented for first reading before the House of Representatives, the legislative arm of government.
Industrial Designs
Industrial designs are any combination of lines or colors or both, and any 3-dimensional form, whether or not associated with colors, intended by the creator to be used as a model or pattern to be multiplied by industrial process and which is not intended solely to obtain a technical result.
To qualify for protection in Nigeria, the design must be new and not contrary to public order or morality.
Nature of right
Once issued, the creator acquires a monopoly in respect of any of the following acts:
- Reproducing the design in the manufacture of a product or
- Importing, selling, utilizing for commercial purposes a product reproducing the design and holding such product for sale or commercial purposes.
The scope of protection is determined by the claims contained in the application for registration.
Legal framework
- Patents and Designs Act CAP P2 LFN 2010.
- Contractual principles
- Case law
- The Paris Convention and the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property As discussed earlier, most of the treaties that have been ratified have not been enacted into law in Nigeria.
The Patent and Designs (Repeals and Re-enactment) Bill: The Bill seeks among other things, to overhaul the current Patent and Designs Act, broaden the scope of patent and design protection and give effect to international conventions on patents.
Priority
Priority registrations are permitted in Nigeria. The application for priority registration must be made within 6 months of the earlier application in the convention country. The applicant must furnish the Registry with a copy of the earlier application within a 3-month period after filing in Nigeria. Once completed, the registration in Nigeria equates to an application made in the convention country of origin.
Duration of right
Industrial designs have a protection term of 5 years from the date of application for registration. Upon expiration and subject to the payment of the prescribed fee, the design may be renewed for 2 consecutive periods of 5 years.
Ownership / licenses
The owner of an industrial design is known as the statutory creator or person who, whether or not they are the true creator, is the first to file the application for the registration of the design or validly claim a foreign priority for an application for registration of the design. The true creator is entitled to be named as such in the register, whether or not they are also the statutory creator, and the entitlement in question shall not be modifiable by contract.
A design owner may grant a license to any person in the same manner and with the same effect as license grants under patents.
Remedies for infringement
Infringements occur where there is unauthorized use of an industrial design in a manner consistent with the rights vested upon the licensed owner. Actions for infringement have the following reliefs at law:
- Damages
- Injunctions
- Delivery up of infringing products
- Account of profits