he Abuja chamber of commerce and industry (ACCI) has clamored for the attention to be given to the promotion of intellectual property rights (IPRs) to encourage creativity and innovation.
This call was made in support of the global celebration to mark world Intellectual Property Organization Day with the theme ‘IP and Youth Innovating for a Better Future’.
This year’s annual event which celebrated every April 26 is themed ‘IP and Youth Innovating for a Better Future’ is an opportunity for young people to find out how intellectual property (IP) rights can support their goals, help transform their ideas into reality, generate income, create jobs and make a positive impact on the world around them. With IP rights, young people have access to some of the key tools they need to advance their ambitions.
The ACCI Vice-President for ICT, Mr Osi Momoh stressed that most innovations are not registered due to a lack of adequate Property laws to protect the interests of creators by giving them proprietary rights (Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) over their creations and urge review of Patent and Trademark laws which are archaic and contains a lot of deficiencies.
PwC indicated that in 2021, Nigeria’s film industry contributed 2.3% and about 239 billion naira ($660 million) to GDP and considered a vital non-oil area that is crucial to Nigeria’s economic diversification However, a World Bank report estimates that “for every legitimate copy (of a Nigerian film) sold, nine others are pirated”
He called for action against piracy as it frustrate effort of inventors and scare investors from the creative industry, also he clamored for the change of right to patent from ‘first to come and register a patent’ to any anyone who can prove to be the inventor of a content regardless of the who came first as it will encourage more creative and innovation.
Mendi Ivivre
