Patenting for economic development: how aware are Nigerian pharmaceutical researchers?

Abstract

This paper presents the level of awareness of Nigerian Pharmaceutical researchers about patent matters with a view to elucidating the reasons for the low number of patents registered from their research efforts. About 42% of the researchers that responded to the study claimed to have developed some inventions. However, only 15% of the inventors have applied for patents. About 73% of the respondents claimed to be at least moderately knowledgeable about patents, and about 74% of the researchers claimed they consulted patent documents mostly when the need arises. Furthermore, about 80% of the researchers claimed to be aware of the provisions made by the Federal Government of Nigeria for patenting of inventions generated from governmentsponsored research. About 46% of these respondents opined that the provisions were adequate to motivate Nigerian researchers to generate inventions. The study recommends the introduction of patent education into university curricula and the need to create avenues such as Seminars, Workshops and Conferences, for sensitising researchers on the importance, procedure and utilisation of patents in their research endeavours.

Key words: Pharmacy, Research, Invention, Patent, University