World Intellectual Property Day

April 28, 2024

Friday, 26 April, was the World Intellectual Property Day 2024. With regard to the Day, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) website states: “World Intellectual Property Day offers a unique opportunity to join with others around the globe to consider how intellectual property (IP) helps the global arts scene to flourish and enables the technological innovation that drives human progress. The campaign is also an opportunity to highlight the role that IP rights, such as, patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright, play in encouraging innovation and creativity. … IP rights enable researchers, inventors, businesses, designers, artists and others to legally protect their innovative and creative outputs and secure an economic return from them.”

According to daysoftheyear.com, “the idea for World Intellectual Property Day got its start in 1988 when it was proposed by the National Algerian Institute for Industrial Property as part of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).” However, it was slow to gain traction. In 1999, China proposed to the General Assembly of WIPO that 26 April on which WIPO was created in 1970 be chosen as the World Intellectual Property Day and be celebrated from 2000 which was the 30th anniversary of the United Nations agency. These were approved and adopted. 

In his 2024 commemorative speech, the WIPO Director General, Daren Tang, said: “Throughout history, when faced with challenges, it has been human ingenuity, ideas and innovation that has allowed us to overcome and succeed. … From electric vehicles to lifesaving drugs, clean and green tech, to AI and digital technologies – IP can be the vehicle to turn bold new ideas into real world impact. … and build a better world for all.”

In continuation of the commemoration of the Day, this column today features an interview with Professor Grace Ogunlusi of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife. In it, she shares her views on different aspects of IP, as

Nuances: Good day, Prof. Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Ogunlusi: My name is Grace Olufunmilayo Ogunlusi, a Professor of Chemistry at OAU. I am currently serving the University as Director of the Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office (IPTTO) which is a unit under the Central Office of Research.

Nuances: What is the key significance of the World IP Day?

Ogunlusi: The World IP Day is set aside to sensitise people to the critical role that IP plays in innovation and development across the world. It is a day dedicated to showcase the importance and significance of IP in every area of human endeavour. The vast benefits of the IP system in protecting creativity, providing support for creatives and creating unlimited access to innovations globally are seen all around us. What we utilise daily to enhance human lives and ensure economic development, e.g. phones, watches, shoes, clothes, laptops, cars, etc., contain several patents, trademarks, industrial designs and copyrights that are protected and promoted by the IP system. The theme for this year’s World IP day is “IP and the SDGs: Building our Common Future with Innovation and Creativity”, and is central to all events and programmes across the world on Friday, 26 April, 2024, and possibly beyond, as we celebrate the World IP Day.

Nuances: How does OAU relate to this Day?

Ogunlusi: The most significant index of OAU’s relationship with the IP Day is the establishment of the Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office (IPTTO) in the University. This office is responsible for the general IP assets management in OAU. The office, from its inception in 2006, has been celebrating the World IP Day yearly, through several programmes and activities geared towards increasing awareness about IP in the university community. The office aligns her programmes with WIPO’s team for each year and organises educative and informative activities to create the platform for interaction on issues relating to IP and its importance in research, innovation and development. In some of the previous World IP Day celebrations in OAU, the office gave awards of Excellent Performance in Research (EPR) to patentees in the University in a bid to further motivate them and also encourage other researchers to pay more attention to the IP components of their research in order to make their research products commercialisable.

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This year, IPTTO hosted a virtual event in collaboration with the Patent Information Centres (PATLIBs) Network of the European Patent Office (EPO) where we had two lectures as follows: “From Ideas to Impact: The Interplay between Creativity, IP and Sustainable Development” and “Digital Economy and the SDGs: Opportunities for the Nigerian Youths?” This event was thought-provoking and enriching. Participants were exposed to vital and beneficial information that can challenge them to be solution providers through the utilisation of the IP system for their creative and innovative activities.

Nuances: What efforts are being made to propagate information about World IP Day 2024, in particular, and IP, in general?

Ogunlusi: IPTTO has extensively utilised the internet to advertise this year’s World IP Day and the response in terms of registration was encouraging. The OAUnet, Whatsapp, Linkedln and email platforms have been utilised to spread the news about this year’s World IP Day event in OAU. The office has also engaged the Law IP Club, which is the students arm, to spread the event among students in the University. As part of the effort to propagate information on IP, IPTTO in February this year hosted an intensive and very successful 3-day Research Commercialisation and Acceleration Programme (RECAP) training for selected researchers, postgraduate students and senior academics in OAU. Some participants from 3 other universities and research centres in Osun and Ondo States also participated in the event. This was part of the efforts to equip researchers with the relevant skills they need to engage in innovative research and utilise the IP system to enhance their research activities as well as commercialise their research outputs. Among other activities, we have also implemented a weekly IP advocacy programme to provide IP knowledge to the university community through the OAUNet platform.

Nuances: Are there plans to mainstream University’s curriculum IP issues in the?

Ogunlusi: IPTTO has already designed an IP training material for the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Development Studies (IFEDS) at OAU. The material is used by the Centre to train students on IP as one of the elective courses in the university. Efforts are ongoing by the Central Office of Research (COR) through the IP Asset Committee to ensure that IP is further mainstreamed in the curriculum of the University in the nearest future.

Nuances: In recent times, there have controversies about the minimum input that can entitle a person to make patent or copyright claims on a product. Could you give your perspective on this?

Ogunlusi: Some of us are doing great things that appear little to us but can transform our society and economy. If one person has done one thing and a second person subsequently does the same thing in a better way, the second person has the Intellectual Property Right to the modified product and can safely commercialise it on the basis of the new features.

Copyright authorship and ownership are also clearly stated in the Nigerian Copyright Act, 2022. Section 5 states as follows: “5. Copyright shall be conferred by this section on every work that is eligible, where the author or in the case of a work of joint authorship, any of the authors is at the time when the work or a substantial part made is – (a) an individual who is a Nigerian citizen or is habitually resident in Nigeria; or (b) a body corporate incorporated by or under the laws of Nigeria.”

Moreover, section 29 states as follows: ”29. Except as otherwise provided by agreement – (a) copyright in a collective work shall vest in the person on whose initiative or direction the work was created; and (b) the authors of the works incorporated in a collective work shall have the right to exploit their works independent of the right in the collective work.”

From the above provisions, authorship in a joint work is based on a substantive contribution from each member of the team. To resolve any controversy on the issue of authorship and ownership in a jointly copyrighted work, there should be a written agreement where all parties in the jointly copyrighted work agree to the terms that determine the authorship and ownership of their copyrighted work in line with the provisions of relevant copyright laws.

Nuances: What plans are there to extend enlightenment efforts to communities outside the University?

Ogunlusi: We are already reaching out to people outside the University. We were on Great FM (OAU’s Radio Station) and aired discussions around IP for the community for 2 days as part of the activities to mark the World IP Day 2023. The virtual version of the sensitisation programmes of IPTTO has always attracted participants beyond the walls of the University. As mentioned earlier, the RECAP training organised by IPTTO in February 2024 had 22 participants from outside OAU. We will continue to reach out to communities outside the University through the virtual programmes one of which took place on Friday, 26 April, to celebrate this year’s World IP Day. Physically taking IP enlightenment programmes to communities outside the University as part of our town-and-gown initiatives could also be undertaken as resources become available.

Nuances: What can we expect from the IPTTO between now and World IP Day 2025?

Ogunlusi: There will be more IP training programmes such as the RECAP, IP advocacy and outreaches to faculties to sensitise researchers on the important roles of IP in research. We will continue to provide support services to researchers in obtaining protection for their inventions and also to the IP Law Club (students) to implement their various activities. We are also pursuing the commercialisation of some of the patented inventions in the University and, hopefully, we will be able to achieve success in this area before the World IP Day 2025.

Nuances: Do you have any parting words for us, Prof?

Ogunlusi: It is important to know that the IP system provides numerous opportunities to access innovations across the world that we can learn from, adapt and utilise in addressing our indigenous problems as a nation. We have the large and ready market that has the capacity to absorb our indigenous solutions to challenges and the IP system is a readily available companion to provide necessary support for innovations across different fields. In addition, commercialisation of innovations will yield financial benefits to the innovators, generate income for our institutions and lead to societal development. I will like to end by saying, in all we do, let us think innovation and think IP. Thank you.

• Nuances: Thank you for your time.

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