I know its a US patent… and its done by a British startup … but an African concept… maybe done elsewhere but not the concept of an individual.
and the “inventor” as said by the US patent I personally cant confirm if African.
I m not a legal expert… but most patent battles I have seen, there is always a battle of where the concept evolved from.
and the reason for my questions is…You can imagine someone watching you do something.but because you are slow at acting, they patented it .
another thing I had a thought about was … if the concept/process was patented or just the application.
so its not a blame game… its just a set of thought … to which I m sure there can be people here who can clarify. @xolubi maybe u can.
It is a US patent meaning this particular document is valid only in the US. I don’t see how anyone is going to exploit you if you want to do something in that line in Nigeria. That is the point.
Also, please confirm how you came out the fact that it is an African concept? I’m not disputing this. I just need evidence.
The problem is you’ve not even started and you’re making excuses. At least be strong in your country, then your continent. That problem will solve itself when it becomes one. “Prior art” can be used to invalidate the patent if it ever gets to that.
@jayvicson: I found it very difficult reading your comment and following your flow. A bit of friendly advice - lose the ellipsis and use standard punctuation instead.
Regarding the thrust of your point, all I can add is that I once filed a US patent. I spent thousands of dollars doing so and wasted a lot of time. Frankly, I wish I had never bothered with the process. Building on @xolubi’s point, for a Nigerian or Africa-focused startup that are not planning to export to or sell into the US, their patents pose little or no risk to you
I can testify to this. I’m part of one and just received a whatapp message from the group leader, to remind everyone contribution is due on the 1st.
I’m personally not convinced this is such a great tech problem to be honest. It’s more of social in nature (admin happens on whatsapp). In anycase, if anyone is solving this and needs some research, I’m happy to answer any questions.
Ehh, does anyone know the best time to leave an Esusu group? I mean is it right after you collect ‘your turn’ or before?
Is there any provision under Nigerian law for patents, I was told that only copyrights would apply in this type of scenario as Nigerian law as of yet does not recognize the patentablity of software?
Yes, there is a provision for patents but not for software. Only hardware and industrial designs can be patented in Nigeria. As you rightly surmised, the only protection for software in Nigeria currently is copyright protection.
@jayvicson, it is the web application through which the concept is executed that is being patented. The concept (which really is similar to an “idea”) itself has not been patented as it is not possible to patent a “concept” or an “idea”. IP protection only exists for executed or executable formats. So the inventor, in this case, is not the inventor of the concept but the inventor of the application.
IP protection is also jurisdictional so if someone decides to do same in Nigeria and the US Esusu App founders have not registered any protection in Nigeria, the Nigerian application can be granted, however, the protection will be within Nigeria alone.
I registered this domain: susu-money.com in 2013 with the sole intent of building a Community Loan platform. Wrote a business plan, researched its viability but then parked it - don’t ask me why but I feel like a “dunskey” right now.
Hello everyone,
I came across this post today. I’m the cofounder of eMoneyPool.com and although I’m not Nigerian I thought it was relevant information to this topic. We’re currently the largest susu marketplace in the United States and received venture funding from well-known non-profits interested in developing this technology. Feel free to ask me questions. Thanks
