Rights to Intellectual Property and Law of Competition/Consumer Protection; Extremes or Parallel?

Abstract

This paper addresses consumer protection within Nigeria's intellectual property Rights (IPR)
framework, defining consumers generally to include creators, innovators, owners of IP rights, and
users of creative and innovative products. It is predicated on the assumption that consumer rights
would be effectively preserved inside an IPR system via a regime that equitably balances the
interests of artists, innovators, IPR owners, and users. This work examines the many ways in which
Intellectual Property Rights and Consumer Protection Laws interact, including the various IPR
can be used to protect competition and consumer interests and how also the CPL can be used to
protect IPR. This paper then reviewed Nigeria's IP policy to assess if it supports the necessary
balance that will provide successful consumer protection, focusing on copyright, patent, and trade
mark. It recognized the present legal and policy reforms underway to attain this balance,
particularly in the copyright sector, the paper makes recommendations that both regimes can and
should coexist in a way that promotes consumer welfare, innovation and competition. Hence, it is
recommended that both laws be applied side by side to avoid conflict and confusion when issues
of intellectual property come up.