– Patents and Designs Act of 1971, Cap. P2, codified in the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
– Patent Rules 1971.

– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Lisbon Act1958, since September 2, 1963.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since January 1, 1995.
– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since April 9, 1995.
– Patent Law Treaty, since April 28, 2005.
– Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since May 8, 2005.

Applicant(s): may be the inventor(s) or any assignee, i.e. an individual, a company or a state.

Protection for foreigners: the same as for Nigerian nationals. Foreign applicants must file through a resident agent.

Naming of the inventor(s): is compulsory and cannot be modified by contract.

Patentability requirements: an invention must be new, result from inventive activity and must be capable of industrial application.

Novelty: worldwide novelty is required.

Territory covered: a Nigerian patent covers the territory of Nigeria.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. A petition or request for a patent with the applicant’s full name and address, signed by the applicant or by an agent if given the authority to do so;
2. A specification, including a claim or claims in duplicate (must be in English or with certified English translation);
3. Plans and drawings, if any, in duplicate, on strong calendered paper of smooth surface of 13 x 8 inches;
4. A declaration signed by the true inventor requesting that he be mentioned as such in the patent and giving his name and address;
5. If the application is made by an agent, a signed power of attorney (or “authorization of agent”) requiring no legalization;
6. An address for service in Nigeria if the applicant’s address is outside Nigeria;
7. Priority document, if any; if necessary with a sworn translation into English;
8. The prescribed fee.

Electronic filing: possible through accredited agents; all required documents (in PDF format) must be uploaded at the time of filing.

Electronic signatures: are not accepted (only wet signatures). Scanned copies of wet signed documents are accepted for filing purposes only and the original must be submitted to the Registry before the application can be processed further.

For a change of name or address: certificate of change of name or address, simply signed.

PCT applications: Nigeria’s functions as receiving Office is delegated to the International Bureau under PCT Rule 19.1(b) until further notice. Australia, Canada, and EPO’s Offices are competent authorities for international applications.

Examination: there is no substantive examination but formal examination is undertaken to confirm completeness and compliance of documentation. 

Unity of the invention: a patent application must relate to only one invention, but may include in connection with that invention: (a) claims (1) for any number of products; (2) for any number of manufacturing process for those products; and (3) for any number of applications of those products; or (b) claims (1) for any number of processes; and (2) for the means of working those processes; (3) for the resulting product(s); and (4) for the application of those products.

Specification: the specification must describe the relevant invention to be put into effect by a person skilled in the art or field of knowledge to which the invention relates, and where appropriate, the name and address of the true inventor.

Publication: no publication but notification of grant is entered in the Official Gazette.

Opposition: there is no provision for opposing the grant of a patent upon an application.

Amendments: any document or drawing relating to an invention may be amended and any irregularity in procedure may be rectified on such terms as the Registrar may direct.

Correction of errors: application is made on Form 12.

Granting: if the requirements are complete and in order, a patent is granted by the issue to the patentee of document containing: (a) the number of the patent in order of grant; (b) the name and address of the patentee and, if that address is outside Nigeria, an address for service in Nigeria; (c) the dates of the patent application and the grant; (d) if foreign priority is claimed: (1) an indication of the fact, (2) the number and date of the application on which the claim is based and the name of the country where it was made, (3) the description of the invention (with any relevant plans and drawings).

Duration of protection: subject to regular payment of the annual fees due, patents are valid for twenty years from the date of the filing of the relevant patent application.

Annuities: are due one year from the date of filing the patent application and every year thereafter for the twenty-year life of the patent. However, for Nigerian national phase applications of PCT applications, annuities are payable from the date of international application (PCT application). Patent may lapse for non-payment of the prescribed annual fees; a period of grace of six months is allowed.

Restoration: there is no provision for the restoration of lapsed patents.

Assignment: a person’s rights in a patent or patent application may be assigned, transferred by succession or held in joint ownership.

Opposition to granted patent: not possible; patents may be attacked by nullification suits before the Federal High Court.

Compulsory licenses: at any time after the expiration of a period of four years, after the filing of a patent application or three years after the grant of a patent, whichever period last expires, a person may apply to the Court for the grant of a compulsory license on one or more of the following grounds: (1) (a) that the patented invention, capable of being worked in Nigeria, has not been worked; (b) that the existing degree of working of the patented invention does not meet on reasonable terms the demand for the product; (c) that the working of the patented invention in Nigeria is being hindered or prevented by the importation of the patented article; and (d) that by reason of the refusal of the patentee to grant licenses, on reasonable terms, the establishment or development of industrial or commercial activities in Nigeria is unfairly and substantially prejudiced; or (2) if an invention protected by a patent in Nigeria cannot be worked without infringing rights derived from a patent granted on an earlier application or benefiting from an earlier foreign priority, a compulsory license may be granted to the patentee of the later patent to the extent necessary for the working of his invention if the invention serves industrial purposes different from those served by the invention which is the subject of the earlier patent or constitutes substantial technical progress in relation to that last mentioned invention.

Nullification: the Court may declare a patent null and void if (1) the subject is not patentable; (2) the description of the invention does not disclose the relevant invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for the invention to be put into effect by a person skilled in the art or field of knowledge to which the invention relates; (3) for the same invention a patent has been granted in Nigeria as the result of a prior application or an application benefiting from an earlier foreign priority.

Infringement and penalties: an infringement of the rights of a patentee is actionable at the suit of the patentee, and in any action for such an infringement all such relief by way of damages, injunction, accounts or otherwise are available to the plaintiff as is available in any corresponding proceedings in respect of the infringement of other proprietary rights.