The Chief of Air Staff, Air
Marshal Adesola Amosu, says it has become expedient for the service to protect the intellectual ingenuity of its brilliant minds in research and development.
Amosu stated this last Wednesday in Abuja, when he declared open a three-day training on “Intellectual Property Rights Management’’ for officers of the Nigerian Air Force(NAF).
Amosu, who was represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans, AVM James Gbum, said that Research and Development (R&D) coupled with intellectual property rights are crucial to self- reliance.
He noted that through research, nations had acquired enviable military capabilities and economic prosperity.
“In our efforts to achieve our R&D goals, we must conform to current international standards in terms of our own compliance with patent laws.
“We must accept the existing limitations and understand that international patent laws are a double edged sword.
“These laws work both to protect us from intellectual theft and to help us remain within the bounds of international best practice in our R&D efforts,’’ he said.
Amosu listed some of the recent achievements of the Air Force research and development to include: production of the Mi-35p Helicopter Hydraulic Accumulator Diaphragm.
Others are Inverter Test benches for the Alpha Jet and Dornier 228 aircraft, as well as Portable Ground Power units for the Dornier 228.
The air chief, however, explained that if no concrete measures were taken by way of patents, to protect against intellectual mischief makers, these products could be pirated.
“Thus it has become expedient for the NAF to protect the intellectual ingenuity of her brilliant minds. It is against this backdrop that the intellectual property rights training programme was conceived.
He said research and development, coupled with a keen understanding of intellectual property rights are imperatives that would illuminate the path to advance technology, and lead to self-reliance and economic growth.
Amosu urged participants to pay attention to and assimilate the essence of the training programme as the expertise acquired would assist NAF to acquire property rights.
He said that NAF would depend on the participants to train other personnel.
Dr Umar Bindr, Director –General National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTOP), said that the training was critical as NAF has a lot of innovations .
Represented by Mr Joseph Nwosa, Deputy Director Department of Technology Acquisition and Research, Bindr said the innovations could save the economy a lot of money.
He explained that there were innovations on the shelves, adding that it was only when knowledge is impacted that it becomes a product.
Earlier in his welcome address, the NAF Chief of Standards and Evaluation, AVM Abdulahi Shehu, said that NAF had recorded encouraging successes in research activities.
Shehu said that the laudable efforts resulted in development of innovative products and had greatly increased the quest for self-reliance and operational effectiveness.
“This bring to the fore the need to acquire Intellectual property rights for these innovations.”