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ABSTRACT
This work focuses on a specific shade of intellectual property law, particularly patents and designs rights vis-a-vis how inventions of patentees should be properly protected from undue exploitation, theft of intellectual invention by some lazy members of the public and unfair competition. Newness characterizes inventive activity. It must be capable of being multiplied and applied industrially or whether such work, technology or manufacturing process answers to the description of improvement of an existing product or process as the case may be before such can be registrable. Patenting has an origin of conferring a form of monopoly on inventors for the result of an intellectual voyage of discovering as an incentive for manifested ideas, innovations, invention or research. It must however be pointed out that the seeming monopoly of patentable inventions by inventors has been limited to twenty (20) years from the day of filing of relevant patent application in Nigeria while for industrial designs it is limited to five years from the date of application for registration. There is low pace of industrial/technological development in Nigeria unlike United States of America, China, United Kingdom etc. that is why the regime of patent laws and decided cases in this area of intellectual property law is sparse. Even the amended intellectual property bill in Nigeria has not seen the light of the day as a result of little or no interest of Nigerian Government on matters of patents and industrial designs thereby affecting hosts of global protectable rights in that regards like plant varieties which is presently recognized as non-patentable invention by the Patents and Designs Act. Meanwhile, the legislation of the United States of America on patents and designs recognizes invention of plants varieties as patentable invention. This research work will provide a general overview on the nature of patents and industrial designs, rights of inventors in Nigeria and the United States of America, the legal framework xvi and the administration of patents and industrial design rights in those two jurisdictions. It will also examine the challenges and prospects. It is expected that this research work would contribute immensely to existing knowledge on the relevance of substantive examination, investigation of newness or novelty of invention before granting patent or design right to inventors with the aid of improved legislation, development of human, infrastructural and technical searchlight so as to import sanity into the process of registration and application of patents and industrial designs by the Registrar of Patents and Designs in Nigeria, to enhance effective protections of inventors’ rights. It is also expected that this research work will show how the functions and powers of the Registrar of Patents and Designs should be decentralized and reduced to a mere supervisory role in respect of application, registration and maintenance of register. With these experts in technology, economics, art and other relevant disciplines, the administration of patents and industrial designs in Nigeria and America will operate favourably to produce brilliant results by way of protecting and preserving the rights of inventors (statutory or true) in the enforcement of patent and design laws if our recommendations are strictly followed
