By Abubakar Mikailu & Lukman Isah
The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to strengthening and expanding its intellectual property (IP) portfolio with the successful rollout of an intensive Intellectual Property Rights Workshop for Northern State Coordinators and Kaduna State Coordinating Office staff. The training, held on October 8, 2025, follows the September edition for South-East and South-South Coordinators in Owerri, marking a significant milestone in the Council’s strategic agenda to consolidate and protect all intellectual property rights emanating from its research and development (R&D) projects.
The workshop was facilitated by Director of the Directorate of Legal and Board Services (DLBS), Mrs. Ngozi Keshi, who emphasized that Intellectual Property is the asset, leverage or bargaining chipof a research institute like RMRDC. She underscored the importance of building the capacity of state coordinators to identify and report IP elements arising from projects in their respective jurisdictions-from inception through to research completion-to enable timely registration and protection of such assets by the DLBS.
The training aligns with Management’s vision to significantly expand the Council’s IP portfolio, currently standing at 47 patents, and ensure the legal protection of all innovations resulting from its R&D initiatives. The Council’s goal is to aggressively scale up its IP assets thereby reinforcing its role as Nigeria’s leading research-based institution driving industrial development through local raw materials innovation.
During the workshop, participants received in-depth training on key IP concepts, including patents, utility models, industrial designs, logos, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and geographical indications. Mrs. Keshi clarified that the Council’s core mission-to develop Nigeria’s local raw materials through innovation-requires deliberate protection of the resulting creations of the human mind-its intellectual property.
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She explained that Patents protect technical inventions that are novel, inventive, and industrially applicable, with a 20-year protection period renewable through annual maintenance fees. Utility models, often called “small patents,” protect incremental improvements for 10 years, while Industrial designs cover the visual or aesthetic aspects of products. Trademarks distinguish products or services through identifiable symbols or phrases, Copyrights protect literary and artistic works, and Trade secrets safeguard confidential business methods or processes.
The session also reviewed the Council’s Mandatory IP Protocol, highlighting that joint ownership of intellectual property generated through collaborations is non-negotiable. All R&D outputs developed using Council resources or within office hours are to be jointly owned by the staff inventor and the Council. Additionally, RMRDC’s IP Policy provides incentives, ensuring staff inventors are duly credited and financially rewarded upon commercialization of their innovations. State offices were further reminded that the Council’s logo is its IP and must not be used by collaborators. Staff must be mindful to document necessary legal protection clauses before giving away scientific/technical papers to requesting persons.
Participants actively engaged in a Q&A session, which addressed issues such as patent registration processes, innovations bereft of novelty but possessing market competitiveness, annuities and investor engagement for commercialization of RMRDC’s research results. The facilitator advised state coordinators to identify potential investors willing to fund the commercialization of patented innovations and to escalate such partnerships to the Council’s headquarters for proper coordination.
At the conclusion of the workshop, Mrs. Keshi urged all coordinators to immediately replicate the training within their respective states to ensure full institutional compliance and proactive documentation of emerging intellectual property from ongoing projects. She reiterated that intellectual property remains the fundamental output of RMRDC, and effective protection of these assets is critical to sustaining the Council’s leadership in Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem.
The training brought together Northern State Coordinators from 18 states namely , Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba, Benue, Niger, Kogi, Adamawa, Kebbi, Yobe, Nasarawa, Plateau, Jigawa and Zamfara reflecting the Council’s nationwide effort to institutionalize an IP-conscious culture across its operations.
