At the intellectual property session hosted by the Founder Institute Lagos in collaboration with AELEX Legal Practitioners and Arbitrators on Friday, April 30, 2021, industry experts were available to give a detailed explanation on the concept of Intellectual Property and Copyright, its values, advantages and implications, particularly in relation to the startup ecosystem.
In the past few years, the startup ecosystem in the Nigerian society has arguably witnessed an alarming expansion rate with different technology-driven solutions emanating across different verticals including Fintech, Edtech, Insurtech, Medtech, Agritech among others.
While the startup founders hope to scale further and increase their penetration in the ecosystem, there is an increased need for more publicity and understanding of the concept of IP protection to prevent the founders from losing out on their innovative strategies.
Akintunde Johnson Bada explained the concept of IP from the perspective of revenue generation and its ability to protect the image of a business.
He opined that the entire operation of any business organization revolves around its understanding and protection of its Intellectual Property.
Bada asserted that the continuity and relevance of a startup is inextricably connected to its IP protection because revenue generation will continue to be an important part of the entire operation of the business and IP protection is capable of being a major revenue driver if it is done effectively.
Kaffy Shafau Ameh, a popular dance expert directly related the idea of IP protection to a business environment.
She explained that the immediate environment within which a business operates has a huge role to play in IP protection, stating that the extent to which the concept of IP is understood and adopted is largely dependent on the position of the government with respect to the subject matter.
However, despite the need for the environment to help in implementing IP protection, Kaffy believes that the extent to which a business IP is protected depends more on the founder, what he wants in his business, how he wants It and how badly he wants it.
Chidi Nwaogu, the founder of Publiseer argued that IP protection is that very important tool every startup founder needs to remain relevant in the ecosystem.
“This arises from the protection and preservation of their innovative ideas and make them enjoy a lot of advantages from such idea in the ecosystem even as competitors increase in numbers.”
Ifedy Eze, the managing director of Founder Institute Lagos explained IP from its legal perspective.
He pointed out the importance of IP protection as not just protection of intellectual rights but a protection of the entire operations of a business against public infringement.
Davidson Oturu, a legal practitioner at AELEX is of the opinion that IP protection is as important as the business itself.
He further explains that the entire success of a startup relies heavily on the extent to which the founder understands, emphasizes and protects the business IP.
Don’t miss important articles during the week. Subscribe to techbuild weekly digest for updates.
