Intellectual Property Rights and Economic Development

Abstract

The essence of intellectual property rights is essentially that no one unlawfully annexes the fruits of another person’s labour. The right must be respected not only because of the commercial value attached to it but also because the right to stop the commercial activities of another person has now been given the status of an intangible right of property. Moreover, awareness by all and sundry of this area of the law will obviously stem considerably not only the ever rising trend of piracy, particularly in the book, music and film industries but also trade marks and trade names malpractices. Investors and industrial designers will be able also to reap fully the fruits of their inventions and creations.

The government must also now focus its attention to this sector of our economy. It has been stated that the music and entertainment industries in the most advanced countries of the world notably, the United States of America, France, United Kingdom and Germany etc and responsible for nothing less than 25 percent of the Gross National Income of the economics of these countries. In Nigeria it was disclosed that the movie industry alone has generated an income of about 30 billion naira over the years and that this sector will in future hold the key to the economic growth of a country. The essence of this paper is to look into the importance of intellectual property rights on the economic development of a country. In this paper we will be highlighting the meaning of intellectual property, intellectual property right, development, the meaning of Development in the light of intellectual property, the importance of intellectual property rights on the economic development of a country, the challenges to enforcement of intellectual property and the recommendations on ways to tackle these challenges.

Keywords: Intellectual Property Rights, Economic Development.