NOTAP to Strengthen IP Rights in Nigeria

National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has restated its commitments to strengthen the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) of Nigerian innovators and inventors to boost the creative ability of people to develop solutions to the many challenges confronting the people.

Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, director general of NOTAP, made this known in a news conference in Abuja recently to commemorate the   2024  African Day  for Technology and Intellectual Property  Rights, with the theme “Leveraging Technology and IPRs to Drive the Renewed Hope Agenda”

The NOTAP boss  said  the  commemoration,  observed by all African countries  on September 13 every year,  is important because  it will help to facilitate  the domestication of  technology and the development of IPRs in African states  to assist people to develop  solutions  to the many  challenges  confronting the continent  to eradicate  poverty and drive  sustainable development.

Amadiobi said that “NOTAP as an agency has the added responsibility of promoting inventions and innovations of Nigerian researchers and has not failed in pursuing the mandate especially in sensitising the research community and the general public on the vital role of IPR in Nigeria’s technological development.”

She noted that  these responsibilities were carried out through the establishment of over sixty-five (65) Intellectual Property and Technology Transfers Offices (IPTIOs) across the length and breadth of Nigeria;

Processing of over one thousand (1,000) patent applications received and submitted to the Nigerian Patent and Design Registry; Granting of assistance to researchers at no cost in the acquisition of over three hundred (300) patent certificates from the Nigerian Patent and Design Registry.

She added that 70 of these patent certificates have been commercialised in the Nigerian markets and five (5) in the international markets; while the agency has also launched and distributed  publication on “Guidelines for Commercialization of R&D results in Nigeria”; Identification and publishing of a compendium of viable R&D results from various research sectors in Nigeria and Sustained engagements with stakeholders in the National Innovation System (NIS) to facilitate the commercialization of viable R&D products.

She said that an initiative has been taken to develop market ready products and industry trained academia through NOTAP, Industry and Academia linkage project as NOTAP- Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship (NITTF) which has successfully witnessed the engagement of 21 fellows, viable products and generation of valuable Patents.

“To strengthen research and development infrastructure, NOTAP is also engaging the private sector to upgrade laboratories in various tertiary institutions across the country,” she added.

She also reaffirmed NOTAP’s commitment to guiding the process of technology transfer and promotion of IPRs to shore up indigenous inventors and innovators in order to drive progress and harness the benefits of innovation and creativity for the development of Nigeria to build a greater future for us all.