Also at the Travel & Tourism
Law Committee (7th Annual Business Law Conference of the Section on
Business Law ), Professor Ikechi
Mgbeoji argued that the “Comprador Complex” is the bane of Nigeria and
Africa’s IP administration.
He gave examples of
the operation of the “Comprador Complex” viz: the continued retention of colonial
structures of IPRs laws and administration in Africa, the application of
Western IPRs to African bio-cultural knowledge, Nigerian universities treating
IPRs as an appendage to other law disciplines etc.
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| Professor Ikechi Mgbeoji |
Professor Mgbeoji
also stated that beyond statutory provisions, the administrative machineries
for IP protection in Nigeria are grossly inadequate. According to him, lawyers
involved in IPRs practice in Nigeria cannot favourably compete or compare with
their foreign counterparts nor are Nigerian IPR disputes important or seminal
enough to command the scholarly attention or judicial notice of foreign courts.
Professor Mgbeoji
further observed that the absence of substantive examination in the processes
leading to the grant of patents in Nigeria is quite disturbing. He suggested
that Nigeria’s Patent laws should provide for domestic examination of patents
and more importantly establish institutions where patent agents can be trained
in the techniques of claims drafting unlike the current situation where all
qualified Nigerian lawyers are patent agents.
Some of Professor Mgbeoji’s
own words:
“Most of the prestigious law firms with “reputation” in
IPRs practice in Nigeria are largely engaged in the submission of ready-made
applications, especially on patents, on behalf of the major law firms of Europe
and North America.”
“The administration of medicines and drugs laws in African States should be orientated towards safety rather than an inquisitorial approach towards African bio-cultural medicinal products”.
“Copyright laws in Africa can be geared towards greater open access to copyright works”.
“It is impossible to have a responsible and responsive IPRs regime without a credible Industrial Policy”.
In conclusion, it
was stated that, to tackle the “Comprador Complex”, Nigeria needs a clear
industrial policy which will identify the roles that Nigeria’s bio-cultural
wealth can play in various industrial sectors.
The resonating
issues at both the IP and the Travel & Tourism Law Committees are the need
for an IP policy document, need to adapt national IP regimes to suit
developmental needs of each country and the need for coalitions with emerging
economies that have achieved success in building a formidable and
development-oriented IP regime.
For this Leo, it
would have been interesting to get the reaction of members of the IP Committee (and indeed, Nigeria’s IP-focused Law Firms) to Professor
Mgbeoji's paper.
Would that this Leo
had the opportunity to ask all (Nigeria-based) IP practitioners, “Wherefrom doth your claim to "IP
expertise" flow”?
