NIGERIA LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Chinyerugo Ugoji, Tiwalola Osazuwa, Rebecca Ebokpo, Jibrin Dasun, Peretimi Akinmodun, Onyinyechi Chima and Princess Otah, ǼLEX
not be considered as an abuse of a dominant position. Pursuant to the FCCPA, the dominant position of an undertaking is determined by its ability to act without considering the reaction of its custom - ers, consumers or competitors. In a dominant position, the undertaking enjoys a position of economic strength that prevents effective com - petition in the relevant market. However, where an undertaking seeks to con - tribute to improving the production or distribu - tion of goods or services or promoting techno - logical or economic progress that will benefit the consumers, it will not be treated as an abuse of a dominant position. The FCCPA directs that where the FCCPC finds that an undertaking has abused a dominant position, the FCCPC is authorised to prepare a report indicating the abusive practices, notify the undertakings of its findings and direct the undertakings to cease the abusive practices. The undertaking is also liable upon conviction to a fine of not less than 10% of its turnover in the preceding business year or a higher percentage, as the court may determine. A patent is a legal right granted to an inven - tor that gives the inventor the exclusive right to make, use, sell and license an invention for a certain period of time. A patented invention could be a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem. An invention is patentable if it is new, results from inventive activity and is capable of indus - 7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents
trial application, or if it constitutes an improve - ment upon an existing patented invention. An invention is considered new if it does not form part of the state of the art (ie, the field of knowledge relating to the invention which has been made available to the public before the date of filing a patent application). An invention is deemed to result from inventive activity if it does not obviously follow from the state of the art, and it is deemed capable of industrial appli - cation if it can be manufactured or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture. A patent cannot be obtained in respect of plant or animal varieties, essentially biological pro - cesses for the production of plants or animals, or any invention whose publication or exploitation would be contrary to public order or morality. The right to patent an invention is vested in the first person to file a patent application in Nigeria or to validly claim priority to a foreign applica - tion, whether or not they are the true inventor. The true inventor must, however, be named in the patent, even if they are not the person apply - ing for the patent. An application for a patent is to be made to the Registrar of Patents and accompanied by a description of the relevant invention with any appropriate plans and drawings. The application process typically takes about 12 months. There is no substantive examination of patents by the Registrar before a grant is made in respect of an invention. As such, patents are granted at the risk of the patentees and without a guaran - tee of their validity. A patent, when granted, is valid for a period of 20 years from the date of filing, subject to the payment of the prescribed annual fees.
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