The United States of America (U.S.) Embassy in Nigeria yesterday urged the Federal Government to provide appropriate legal framework for the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in Nigeria.
The call was echoed by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), pharmaceutical companies, pharmacists and lawyers, among other stakeholders.
They said such framework would address the protection and enforcement of IPRs in economic sectors.
The stakeholders also said it would promote creativity and innovation, investment in research and development and encourage local knowledge and production, instead of importation of counterfeit and pirated products.
They spoke at an Intellectual Property Symposium at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, with the theme: The Bane of Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals and Piracy: Building Respect for Intellectual Property Rights As A Strategic Resource for Economic Growth.
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The U.S. embassy expressed its support for intellectual property rights protection in the country.
Its Chargé d’Affaires Kathleen FitzGibbon said IPR protection would encourage innovation and creativity needed to bolster economic growth.
“This is not just an American issue, this is a global issue. As Nigeria moves ahead with goals of diversifying and shifting to a knowledge-based economy, a strong intellectual property rights regime will help attract investment and protect Nigerian ideas and Nigerian businesses,” she said.
An intellectual property scholar and former Director General of Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) Professor Adebambo Adewopo (SAN) said the progress of Nigeria’s development policies would be measured by its commitment to a national IPR policy that would recognise the strategic importance of its legal framework, the needs and goals of national development.
“Clearly, counterfeiting and piracy have continued to destroy the fabric of the economy: in the pharmaceutical, creative and other important sectors. Because intellectual property system also enables access to the products of creativity and innovation in order to ensure public welfare, whether in the form of providing access to educational materials to the teeming young population in schools or to affordable medicines or in achieving food security for both the young as well as the aged, the framework will also align education, health and other strategic national policies with the broader development goals of the country,” he said.
Recalling that the IP debate was not new to the country, the expert said one of the missing elements had been effective collaboration and cooperation.
These, he said, are essential to drive the debate and build momentum not only for achieving reform but also to combat the domestic and worldwide industry of counterfeiting, piracy and cybercrime.
He said: “Building strategic alliances within and outside the country is, therefore, critical, considering the global nature of digital technologies that are readily available to this formidable industry. In these alliances, we are also seeking to strengthen key institutions responsible for protecting IPRs and combating counterfeiting and piracy.
“As the global recognition of Nigeria’s creative industries continues to ride on the wings of digital technology, the gains of that industry are best secured and sustained through strategic alliance with its counterpart in Hollywood and elsewhere.
“For example, Nollywood’s rise in global reckoning strongly demonstrates how creativity can contribute to the promotion of cultural heritage as well as economic growth.
“It is important to note that the creative industries should be able to yield better dividends for its creators, operators and economy; the same for the pharmaceutical and other corporate sectors that rely on IP system.”
But Adewopo stressed that “the challenge has been how to engineer an IP system that will perform and deliver better in concrete economic terms”.
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