An Appraisal of the Rights Conferred on a Patent Holder

Abstract

In most developed economies, patent laws seek to provide a framework for the protection of
inventions. A patent seeks to protect the technical solution offered by an invention. A technical
solution is an idea for solving through technical, natural laws and industrial application, a
specific technical problem encountered in our every day work life and existence. An invention
generally consists of several technical features and relationship straddling through them.
Engraving the invention with exclusivity entails an accelerated gravitation to the domain of
patents depending of course, on some variables bordering on the patentability of the invention. It
therefore follows that the assertion of any right of exclusivity by an inventor is a function of the
grant of that right by government. The right when given bestows on the right owner the legal
right to exclude or stop others from making, using and offering for sale, selling, or importing a
product or process based on the patented invention. This work notes the strides made so far in
invention protection through patent especially in advanced economies. This work also notes the
challenges militating against the enthronement of a reliable data base for patent registration
especially in this jurisdiction and suggested amendments to the existing laws. But all these will
be interrogated after an exhaustive appraisal of the historical basis of patents, patentable
inventions, the patent grant, rights of a patent holder and the procedure for application., It is
therefore the view of this writer that it is not yet dawn in the exercise and appropriation of rights
granted to a patentee in Nigeria.