Intellectual Property Law and Copyright Laws

Nigeria's creator economy has moved from informal hustle to an investable industry. The 2025 Nigerian Creator Economy Report (NCER), the first government-backed assessment of the sector, valued it at $31.2 million, with the music industry alone paying artists roughly ₦58 billion in royalties in 2024, and the fashion sector growing into a $4.7 billion contributor to GDP. Industry forecasters expect the broader African creator economy to multiply several times over by the end of the decade.

DS Smith and its partners have launched the Reuse Fast Track initiative, Europe's first large-scale reuse acceleration program using existing industrial solutions for fiber-based e-commerce packaging. The program aims to circulate 250,000 reusable packages within 12 months while gathering critical data on consumer behavior and return rates. How will intellectual property strategies enable the scaling of circular packaging systems aligned with the EU's upcoming Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation?

As global technology companies expand their licensing programs into emerging markets, Nigeria finds itself at the center of a landmark patent dispute that could reshape how Standard Essential Patents are enforced across Africa. The case between Ericsson and Transsion, maker of Tecno and Infinix phones, raises fundamental questions about fair licensing terms, market power, and whether Nigeria's legal framework is equipped to handle the complex intersection of intellectual property rights and competition law