The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) will collaborate with Nigeria’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment on the establishment of an Industrial Property Automated System (IPAS) in the country for the world class upgrade, automation and transparency of the erstwhile fraud-ridden trademark patent and design registration in the country.

According to Thisday, the permanent secretary, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Dauda Kigbu, made the disclosure at the IPAS work space in Abuja, in company of WIPO Project Manager, Mr. Hisham Fayed.

“WIPO is deploying the technology and the ministry would provide the enabling environment for agents to drop their applications and leave and come back at reasonable  time to collect the acknowledgment. So there would be no interaction whatsoever with the people working in the office,” Mr. Kigbu explained.

The Ministry’s Registrar, Commercial Law Department, Salman Mann stated that the automated system would put Nigeria’s industrial property registration in line with international best practices, ensure no registration process is skipped, block opportunities for staff to siphon revenue via a manual process, and ultimately enhance revenue for the Ministry.

“It is good image for the department which will enable them to streamline all the applications, shields the process from abuse and provide better security and environment to operate,” Fayed said.

According to Salman, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, with the assistance of WIPO, the United States Patent and Trade Mark Office (USPTO), the Chinese and Brazilian governments, plans to launch an Industrial Property Academy before the end of Q1 2014 to enlighten the public on industrial property rights.