ABSTRACT
Startups have been regarded as the face of novel innovative ideas with the potential of a large target audience. In most countries, it has been established to be a company which has as its objective, the development of a unique product or service, with a potentially large market in mind as target. In Nigeria, one of the major qualifications for a company to be classified as a startup is that such company must have as its objects, ‘innovation, development, production, improvement and commercialization of a digital technology innovative product or process.’ Thus, by its very nature startups are creators of intellectual property. As such, it becomes necessary for the law to ensure the protection of these intellectual property in mind, having in mind, the benefits thereof as well as the population of startups in Nigeria on similar ideas. Therefore, this long essay has as its summary objective, an appraisal of the current legal regime for the protection of intellectual property rights of startups in Nigeria. It also examines the different legal frameworks adopted by different jurisdictions and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for the protection of IPR of startups. This long essay is set to make use of the doctrinal method of research which is the library-based approach. Reliance will be on the Startup Act, 2022 and the relevant intellectual property laws and case laws in Nigeria, as primary sources of authority. Reference will also be made to secondary sources such as books, articles and online publications in providing the contributions of several authors on the subject. Furthermore, this long essay found out that Nigeria was lacking in comprehensive laws that focused specifically in the protection of intellectual property rights of startups in the country. In addition, the awareness on the need and current regimes protecting startup IPR was considerably low amongst the startup companies in Nigeria. Therefore, some positive recommendations suggested in this long essay were that, the current legal framework be improved upon to ensure the effective protection of IPR of startups, and massive awareness be made as to the overwhelming benefits for protection of IPR of startups by relevant institutions.
