Mr. Lekan Akinwunmi, Secretary, Business Assets and Intellectual Property Valuation Division of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), has called for the commercialization of intellectual property in the country.
Akinwunmi, an estate surveyor and valuer and former public relations officer, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Lagos state chapter, said, however, to place the nation’s intellectual property on a commercial pedestal, various laws on the subject must be looked into to suit current realities.
He added that, the commercialization of research works of our various institutions should be at the front burner now, and awareness of various rights in namely patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, among others, should be well articulated.
According to him, there are organizations or companies that have large IP but under-utilized, adding that, it is impossible for any manufacturing or telecommunication company to have nil intangible assets on their balance sheet.
Every inventor, Akinwunmi said wants to make an impact, the monetary aspect may be played down, but monetary value cannot be overemphasized.
“The God given talent is your own wealth creation. IP comes in different forms, be it manufacturing or services. The gains from IP matter to the owners, but the big question is how such can be realized, he questioned.
“If you are ignorant, definitely you can be deceived and lose money, whenever you want to transact on your IP, you must know the market value of such rights before you conclude, sell, license or franchise.”
According to him, the commercialization of IP begins by valuation of such IP, saying that, IP valuation is the economic value of different types of IP, which takes place in the existing or new company.
“Valuation of IP assets helps the management to take decisions that can change the fortune of the organization. That is why parties must be well informed about the economic value of their IP assets, especially when going into merger.”
He added: “WIPO’S study on privatization identified IP valuation as a veritable tools in verified the profitability of privatization, unfortunately many companies often leave this behind, concentrating only on tangible assets.