IP ABC: Patenting Your App/Software | Infusion Lawyers

Question of the Week (1) 

We are a tech company in Nigeria. We have just finished building an app—first of its kind in Africa. Because we have big plans for this app, we need to protect it. Since the app has an innovative and intuitive technology, we want patent protection. How do we go about getting a patent in Nigeria?

Answer 

You want to patent your new and intuitive app in Nigeria.

In Nigeria—and most countries—apps are eligible for copyright protection only, not patent.

This is because apps are software programs and software programs are categorized as literary works under the Nigerian Copyright Act. They are literary works because software programs are written in computer language (whether source code or object code). The fact of their being written is what makes them literary, thus their functionalities are immaterial.

The implication of the position above is that your company cannot successfully apply for patent at the Trademarks, Patents & Designs Registry in Nigeria. Patents are granted to protect new scientific and technological inventions only, not software programs. So while your app may have "innovative and intuitive" capabilities, the Patents and Designs Act—which applies to inventions in Nigeria—does not recognize software programs as subjects of patent.