The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has urged inventors and researchers on the commercialisation of their Intellectual Property (IP) for economic gains.
The Acting Director-General of NOTAP, Dr Theresa Imiyoho, gave the advice on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
She said the office was working assiduously to ensure that Nigerian inventors and innovators exploited the financial benefits of their research results through the establishment of IP offices in knowledge institutions across the country.
“ Intellectual property offices were established across the country to ensure that researchers who have patented their inventions can exploit their financial benefits through commercialisation.
“Patents that cannot address economic challenges like unemployment, poverty or translate into products and services, become liabilities and are not worth keeping.
“Researchers with patented inventions or innovations can license them for the purposes of getting royalties accruing from their research undertakings or sell them off to venture capitalists for onward commercialisation.
According to her, over the years, the country has depended more on consumption of products from foreign countries, while Nigeria is blessed with an array of intellectuals.
“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, researchers are to ensure the commercialisation of their patents in order to exploit the financial benefits.
“Intellectual property is the property of human intellect and should be exploited through commercialisation for the financial benefit of the holder.
“IP 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 to recoup his/her investment.
“No meaningful technology development could be achieved by any country without investing heavily on research, which is capable of turning products to the market for local satisfaction,” she said.
