Why this practice area matters to you
Intellectual Property (IP) and Information Technology (IT) are not just about law. IP & IT are essentially the power to innovate and the power to transform lives. Combining IP & IT means we have in our hands the two most powerful tools in the 21st century to grow, explore, protect, maximize, and support innovation to transform lives and even businesses.
With IP & IT Policy and Advocacy, Infusion Lawyers is committed to promoting innovation in Nigeria, Africa, and beyond to empower people and advance humankind. For us, we believe that IP & IT should not only benefit the creator and innovator but also benefit others.
Beyond IP protection, we need to push for the development dimension of IP to encourage our innovation, enrich our people, promote our culture, protect our investments, support our creative industries, and secure our future. Through our IP & IT Advocacy, we will push for a home-grown IP agenda for Africa. And because of the critical role IT plays in today’s information age, Infusion Lawyers will also promote entrepreneurial ideas built on IT.
We will also promote traditional knowledge in Africa to create wealth for African people. By working with IP bodies in Africa, we will engage with the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) to push for an international legal instrument that benefits Africans. If not, Africa must have its own regional legal instrument for traditional knowledge and folklore.
We will promote public-interest IP by supporting both global, regional, and national laws and policies that stimulate and reward innovation.
Infusion Lawyers will not support a one-size-fits-all approach to IP in Africa. We will work with Intellectual Property Lawyers Association of Nigeria (IPLAN), Intellectual Property Committee of the Nigeria Bar Association’s Section of Business Law (SBL), African Bar Association, African Intellectual Property Group (AIPG), Africa Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), and other African-focused IP organizations and groups to support public-interest IP in Africa.
Infusion Lawyers will also engage stakeholders on how best Africa IP regimes can flexibly apply World Trade Organization’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS) to benefit Africa.
In IT, we will advocate for data protection and privacy.