The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion NOTAP has charged Intellectual Property stakeholders to ensure the commercialisation of their Patents in order to reap the financial benefits.
Speaking at a one-day Patentees Forum held in Owerri, the Imo State capital on Wednesday, titled “After Patent What Next”,the acting Director General of NOTAP, Dr. Theresa Imiyoho said that the programme was organised by the Office to ensure that Nigerian inventors and innovators exploit the financial benefits of their research result.
In a statement signed by NOTAP’s assistant chief information officer, Raymond Ogbu, the Acting DG said that the programme is being organised in all the six geo-political zones of the country to ensure that researchers who have patented their inventions can exploit their financial benefits through Commercialisation.
Dr. Imiyoho said that patents that cannot translate into products and services become liabilities, hence not worth keeping.
She stated that researchers with patented inventions or innovations can licence them for the purposes of getting royalties accruing from their research undertakings or sell them outrightly to venture capitalists for onward commercialisation.
“Over the years, the Country had depended more on consumption of products from foreign Countries, while Nigeria is blessed with an array of intellectuals.”
Dr Imiyoho further said that inventions and innovations are products of research therefore Nigerian researchers should take up market and demand-driven research that will translate into goods and services for the benefit of the country rather than the conventional research for the purposes of career progression.
“In the early 70s, Nigeria, South Korea and Brazil were referred to as developing Countries but today, Nigeria is still grapling with scarcity of funds for research while South Korea is flooding Nigeria and other African Countries with products of their research”.
She added that NOTAP was ready and willing to ensure the development of indigenous research and development of R&D results to fast-track Nigerian Science, Technology and Innovation ecosystem.
In his goodwill message, the Head, Development Finance, Central Bank of Nigeria, Owerri, Mr. Ogbuagu Camillus said that the organisation is collaborating with development banks in ensuring that funds are made available to undertake critical research works. He said that inventors and innovators with bankable research works can approach the CBN, Bank of Industry (BOI)or other development banks for loans as well as grants where attainable.
In the same vein, the Director of Technology Acquisition and Research Coordination (TARC) department of NOTAP, Mrs. Caroline. Anie-Osuagwu in her paper titled “Exploitation of Intellectual Property Rights” said that Intellectual Property is the property of human intellect and should be exploited through Commercialisation for the financial benefit of the holder.
Mrs. Osuagwu said that Intellectual Property Right is a right granted to the owner of an invitation by the government to exclude others from financial exploitation of the invention for a number of years to enable the owner recup his investment.
She reiterated that no meaningful technology development could be achieved by any country without investing heavily on research that is capable of turning products to the market for local satisfaction.
She encouraged researchers to patent and licence their inventions to venture capitalists to avail them the opportunity of recouping money from the investment on their research.
Participants/stakeholders from the host, Southeast Zone commended NOTAP for the impactful programme and requested the Office to link them with investors/up-takers to invest in the Commercialization of their inventions and also requested for more funding.
