1.0 INTRODUCTION
In the ever-evolving realm of fashion, where creativity meets commerce, the journey from concept to consumer is not merely about design and trends. Fashion product developers find themselves traversing a complex landscape of regulations and compliance that govern the industry. From ensuring product safety to respecting intellectual property rights and embracing sustainable practices, the path to delivering stylish creations is intertwined with a myriad of legal and ethical considerations.
Fashion regulation is an expansive idea that includes an assortment of legitimate issues like agreement regulation, intervention, work regulation, licensed innovation regulation. It concern issues of protection, shopper inclinations, and uncontrolled industrialism. "Fashion" has developed in the present high speed society with mechanical progressions; it has turned into an ordinarily acknowledged norm to distinguish an individual in light of how they dress, stretching out to the nature of 'brands'. Fashion, in the 21st century is not simply confined to attire is stretched out to nanotech, web based business, exceptionally fit dress, creative textures, wearable innovation like smart watches, Fit bit, savvy clothing, and so Fashion is one of the variables in friendly and relational connections, as it animates and influences social getting it. Consequently, there is a necessity for managing it.
In this research work, I embark on a voyage through the intricacies of navigating fashion regulations and compliance. Whether you are a seasoned industry professional or a budding designer, understanding the legal frameworks and ethical standards is paramount to the success and sustainability of your fashion endeavors. This research work will unravel the threads connecting creativity to responsibility, exploring the key aspects every fashion product developer must master to thrive in a conscientious and compliant fashion landscape.
1.2 FASHION INDUSTRY REGULATIONS AND COMPLIANCES
The fashion industry is currently navigating a complex regulatory landscape that emphasizes sustainability, ethical practices, and compliance with environmental standards. As consumer awareness grows regarding the industry's environmental and social impacts, regulations are becoming more stringent, requiring brands to adapt swiftly to avoid penalties and maintain their market presence. Some of these regulations include;
- PRODUCT SAFETY STANDARDS
Product safety standards play a pivotal role in the realm of fashion regulations and compliance, ensuring that the garments and accessories we wear not only meet aesthetic expectations but also adhere to stringent safety measures. From textiles to accessories, understanding and implementing these standards are essential for fashion product developers. The following are the key aspects of product safety standards in the world of fashion;
- FLAME RETARDANT REQUIREMENTS
Specific regulations apply to sleepwear to reduce the risk of burn injuries. Compliance involves using flame-resistant fabrics or applying flame-retardant treatments.
- LABELING AND INSTRUCTIONS
They provide clear and concise care instructions on labels to guide consumers on proper garment maintenance and usage. Adhere to regulations that require accurate labeling of fiber content to prevent allergic reactions and help consumers make informed choices.
- TESTING AND CERTIFICATION
Engage in third-party testing to ensure that products meet safety standards. This may involve working with certified laboratories to conduct various tests, such as flammability and chemical content testing. Obtain certifications indicating compliance with safety standards, providing assurance to consumers and retailers.
- GLOBAL COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS
If exporting products globally, be aware of and comply with international safety standards to meet the requirements of different markets.
1.2.2 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are crucial in the fashion industry to protect the creative endeavors of designers and brands. Fashion product developers must navigate a complex landscape of trademarks, copyrights, and designs to ensure their creations are legally safeguarded. Some of these subject matters, such as trademarks, are not works of the mind in the same sense as a poem or an artistic work. It has nevertheless become fashionable to describe any research results and original ideas, as intellectual property. One common feature of all species of intellectual property is their function in excluding unauthorized persons from encroaching on valuable intellectual assets. This similarity may blur the clear division between these rights.
For sake of convenience, intellectual property may be broadly categorized into two heads: industrial property and copyright. There are borderline issues such as right to privacy, right to publicity, protection of traditional and indigenous knowledge, plant breeders rights, etc., which are also treated under the rubric of intellectual property. Industrial Property consists of trade secrets, patents, industrial designs and trademarks. Copyright, on the other hand, is concerned with literary, artistic, musical, etc. Copyright stands apart from the others in its scope and levels of protection.
To qualify for copyright protection, work only needs to be original and not necessarily novel and protection is granted, for a limited duration, without any special procedure. These rights are discussed below;
- TRADEMARKS
A trademark is defined under the Trade Marks Act to mean, except in relation to a certification trade mark: a mark used or proposed to be used in relation to goods for the purpose of indicating, or so as to indicate, a connection in the course of trade between the goods and some person having the right either as proprietor or as a registered user to use the mark, whether with or without any indication of the identity of that person. In relation to a certification trade mark, a mark registered or deemed to have been registered. Trademarks enable a brand owner to protect their brand name, logo, and other distinctive symbols through trademark registration. A brand owner is advised to conduct thorough trademark searches to ensure your brand does not infringe on existing trademarks.
For a trade mark to be registered, it must have been in use or intended for use in the course of trade and in relation to product. It may be a heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word, letter, numeral, a device or any combination of these. Whereas a word or letter may qualify as a trade mark, it cannot be the subject of copyright protection. Furthermore, trade mark protection arises primarily from prior registration with the Trade Mark Registry while copyright is conferred automatically.
The registration of a trade mark gives the proprietor the exclusive right to the use of that trade mark in relation to the goods in respect of which it has been registered. That right is infringed by any person who, not being the proprietor or a registered user uses the same or resembling mark in a manner that is likely to deceive or cause confusion, in the course of trade. No person may institute proceedings to prevent or to recover damages for the infringement of an unregistered trade mark. This is however subject to the right of a proprietor in common law action of passing off against any person who employs a mark that is confusingly similar.
The Act provides for both Part A and Part B registrations: Part A being a stronger right than B. For a trade mark (other than a certification trade mark) to be registerable in Part A of the register, it must contain or consist of at least one of the following essential particulars:
(a) The name of a company, individual, or firm, represented in a special or particular manner;
(b) The signature of the applicant for registration or some predecessor in his business;
(c) An invented word or invented words;
(d) A word or words having no direct reference to the character or quality of the goods, and not being according to its ordinary signification a geographical name or a surname;
(e) Any other distinctive mark.
The law however makes a proviso that a name, signature or word other than such as fall within paragraphs (a) to (d) above, shall not be registerable under paragraph (e), except upon evidence of its distinctiveness. A mark is said to be distinctive if it is adapted to distinguish goods, which the proprietor of the trade mark is or may be connected in the course of trade from goods in the case of which no such connection subsists.
Part A registration generally gives a proprietor the exclusive right to use a particular trade mark in relation to goods. The right is deemed to be infringed by any person who, not being the proprietor of the mark (or a registered user of the mark using it as permitted). Registration of a trade mark in Part B generally gives the proprietor rights similar to those enjoyed by the proprietor of a Part A mark.
It is however provided that no injunction or other relief shall be granted to the plaintiff if the defendant establishes to the satisfaction of the court that the use of which the plaintiff complains is not likely to deceive or cause confusion or deception.
- COPYRIGHTS
Original artistic and creative designs may be eligible for copyright protection. It maintain documentation of the design process and creation timeline to support potential copyright claims. In Nigeria, the regulation of copyrights in the fashion industry is primarily governed by the Copyright Act (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2022). This Act outlines the types of works eligible for copyright protection, which includes artistic work, and it is as crucial for fashion designers to understand its implications.
In Section 2 of the Copyright Act, artistic works which encompasses fashion designs are eligible to copyright protection. However, a significant limitation exists. Section 1(3) states that an artistic work is not eligible to copyright if it is intended to be used as a model or pattern to be multiplied by any industrial process. This means that while a designer’s sketches may be protected, the actual clothing items may not be, particularly if they are intended for mass production. This limitation poses challenges for fashion designers who rely on the ability to reproduce their designs for commercial purposes.
- DESIGN PATENTS
A patent is a document issued by the sovereign authority, conferring a monopoly right on an inventor for a limited period of time. As a means of promoting technological and industrial development, the monopoly granted through the issuance of a patent is in return for the disclosure of the invention. The term ‘patent’ derives from the English ‘letters patent’ or open letter (since the letter granting the right was not sealed but rolled up and open to anyone to read) which was evidence of a royal privilege.
It gives the inventor an exclusive right to the use, manufacture and exploitation of the product or industrial process so invented for a period of 20 years. Patents, unlike copyright, are granted for novel ideas capable of industrial application. But like copyright, they have a limited duration. The patent system benefits society by encouraging inventors and companies to invest their time and money in research and development (R & D) activities, which would eventually be disclosed to the public and available to the public for exploitation at the expiration of the patent.
This is in addition to the direct benefit that the society derives from the availability of the invented products for use. The patent system provides a rich source of technical information for researchers to know what research had earlier been carried out in the field and therefore reducing the incidence of reinvention and waste of resources. Generally speaking, a patent may either relate to a product (product patent) or to a process (process patent). Section 1(1) of the Patents and Designs Act lays down the four requirements that must be met before an invention can be patentable.
This suggests that although, all patents embody inventions, not all inventions are patentable. The first requirement is that an invention, to be patentable, must be one that qualifies for patent protection under the Act. Things in respect of which patents cannot be validly obtained under section 1(4) and (5). Section 1(1) lays down the three basic requirements to be satisfied by every patentable invention. Subject to the limitations imposed under that section, the invention must be: (a) new (novelty); (b) result from inventive activity (inventive step); and (c) capable of industrial application. On who is entitled to the grant of a patent, Nigeria operates the first to file system, implying that the patent is granted to the person who, whether or not he is the true inventor, is the first to file or validly claim a foreign priority for a patent application. He is therefore known as the statutory inventor since the Act presumes him to be the inventor.
Nevertheless, the real inventor is entitled to be named in the patent, irrespective of whether he is also the statutory inventor or not and this right of the real inventor cannot be modified by contract.
- INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
Designs have always been used as part of the business of manufacture and is believed to have existed since the ‘the production of useful articles engaged the attention of man’. The ornamentation of articles of trade was obviously well known in various cultures in Nigeria. While there has always been a conscious effort to design articles of trade and make their appearance more appealing to the buyer, the origin of design registration is traceable to the earlier period of industrialization and the textile industry.
Section 12 of the Patents and Designs Act defines an industrial design is ‘any combination of hues or colors or both and any three-dimensional form whether or not associated with colors . . . if it is intended by the creator to be used as a model or pattern to be multiplied by industrial process and is not intended solely to obtain a technical result’. The close connection between industrial designs and works protected under copyright becomes very apparent when one considers that an artistic work may be denied copyright protection on the ground that it is intended for industrial multiplication, therefore qualifying only as an industrial design for which registration may be sought.
An industrial design is registerable if (a) it is new; and (b) it is not contrary to public order or morality. The Act vests the right to the registration of an industrial design in the statutory creator, i.e. the person who, whether or not he is the true creator, is the first to file or validly to claim a foreign priority for an application for registration in Nigeria. And by section 14(3), where the essential elements of an application for registration and the filing of the application had been obtained without the consent of the creator, all rights in the application and any consequent registration shall be deemed to be transferred to that other person. Where the statutory creator files for registration, then the true creator is entitled to be named as such in the register and this entitlement may not be modified by contract.
2.0 Relevance of Industrial Property to the Fashion Industry
Fashion is the result of human intellect since it is creativity that brings ‘novelty’ to design. Creativity is not only limited to the act of designing, but also includes the advertising campaign which is put together to achieve the competitive edge required for success. All of this intellectual capital linked to a unique brand becomes the greatest value of a fashion enterprise. However, many businesses do not protect their intellectual property, especially those in the fashion industry. There are many factors that influence why designers protect their intellectual property, but perhaps the key factors are that fashion is constantly changing and designs tend to lose their value quite rapidly.
Also important is the cyclicality of fashion, with styles, models, colours, prints and other elements often making a comeback and serving as inspiration for new collections and creations. When we think about protecting intellectual property in the fashion world, one question may arise: What exactly can I protect? In the fashion industry there are endless creations that can be protected and we will address each of them next. Any product or service will always be identified with a name and/or logo in order to distinguish it from other similar products on the market. Designs are not the exception, as they will always bear a label distinguishing them from other creations.
Designs printed on fabrics can also be protected, not as an Industrial Model as there is no three-dimensional shape, but as an industrial design because of the combination of images, lines or colours that are incorporated into an industrial product for decoration purposes. Invention Patents protect new technologies that are incorporated into products. Some examples of Invention Patents include the technology used to manufacture shoes, wrinkle-free fabrics, UV-filtering textiles that are resistant to fire and water-repelling textiles. Trademarks, in addition to Patents and Industrial Designs, must be innovative in order to be entitled to intellectual property protection. This protection bestows certain rights, such as excluding third parties from operating the brand, model or drawing, as well as allowing actions brought Evaluating the Legal Protection of Fashion Brands against any person who, without the consent of the owner, produces, sells, uses, imports or stores them.
In the ever-evolving industry of fashion, creative expression must be protected through intellectual property rights. The value of each industrial design asset and the brand that markets that asset are intellectual capital that strengthens a business position within the fashion industry. When considering intellectual property within the fashion industry, the most notable challenge is handling the protection of numerous designs on a seasonal basis. This includes the protection of the industrial design for each item as well as searching for and creating relevant and captivating names for each design.
2.1 RELEVANCE OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
At the heart of fashion are fresh, new designs. Among the range of intellectual property tools, the protection of industrial designs – also simply referred to as designs – is the most clearly relevant to the fashion industry. Registration of a design helps the owner to prevent all others from exploiting its new or original ornamental or aesthetic aspects, which may relate to a three-dimensional feature, such as the shape of a hat, or a two-dimensional feature, such as a textile print. The fashion industry invests huge sums to create new and original designs each season. Despite this significant investment, little use is made of relevant national and/or regional design law to register and protect these designs.
In some countries, fashion designs may be adequately protected by copyright law as works of applied art. However, a frequently cited explanation for not registering fashion designs is that the short product life cycle – often no more than one six-to-twelve month, season – does not justify the considerable time and financial cost involved. The arguments for registering a new design have to be considered on a case-by-case basis. Registering a design should help to deter others from copying it, and to fight unscrupulous competitors who do so.
Why are the norms about copying in the fashion industry seemingly so different from those in other creative industries like in the film, music, software and publishing industries? When other major content industries have obtained (and made use of) increasingly powerful intellectual property protections for their products, why does fashion design remain mostly unprotected? The ownership of an industrial design is vested in the statutory creature i.e. the first person that files an application for the registration of the design; statutory creator is different from true creator.
The employer of an employee who creates a design is the first owner of the design if created in the course of employment. The rights conferred on the design owner are valid for a period of 5 years from the date of application for registration. These rights can be renewed upon payment of a prescribed fee for two consecutive periods of 5 years each. Infringement under the Act means to, reproduce the design in the manufactured product, importing, selling or utilizing for commercial purposes.
2.2 Relevance of Patent
Patents may not immediately spring to mind when considering the fashion industry. Artistic creations cannot be patented and therefore patents are not widely adopted by designers. Yet technical innovation can equally put a fashion business ahead of the competition. For example, inventions by Buck Weimer and CSIRO which control odor and body temperature respectively in garments have been successfully patented. Another example can be Novozymes, a Danish biotech company specializing in enzymes and micro-organism, pioneered the use of enzymes in the treatment of fabrics.
Though not previously involved in the fashion industry, in 1987 the company developed and patented a technology for the treatment of ‘stone washed’ denim jeans. This technology is based on an enzyme called cellulase, which removes some of the indigo dye from denim so as to give the fabric a worn look .Within three years, most of the denim finishing industry was using cellulase under license from Novozymes. Today, Novozymes’ technology for improving production methods and fabric finishing has been licensed worldwide. The company holds more than 4,200 active patents and patent applications.
2.3 Relevance of Trademark
Trademarks are the most helpful for emerging designers, and should be considered a priority, considering the likely unavailability of copyright protection and the difficulty/expense in securing patent registrations. A fashion designer with no trademark, copyright or patent protection, risks third parties copying a particular accessory or apparels with no legal recourse.
Big fashion houses value their brand equity. Most develop a bond with their customers through their brand names and fiercely protect these through registration of trademarks and protection of associated artwork by copyright law. Trademarks are just as important for a small or start-up company in the fashion industry. The Italian clothes company, Pickwick, offers an interesting example of the strategic use of a trademark to build a successful business in the fashion industry. Pickwick now sells a range of casual fashion wear to adolescents across Europe. But not so long ago, all that the company had was the trademark itself, which depicted a young, faceless boy with a spiky hairstyle.
The trademark owner started his business by selecting items he judged would have particular style appeal to teenagers, adding his distinctive trademark and distributing them through the local shops in Rome. Teenagers perceive the Pickwick logo as trendy and are willing to pay extra for clothes bearing its trademark. Today, the company subcontracts the manufacturing and focuses on marketing, distribution and monitoring and controlling the use of the trademark.
Trademark law gives fashion designers an incentive to invest in their brand and sell high-quality goods by providing security under the law. Trademark law will keep others from stealing your consumer goodwill and prevent confusion amongst consumers as to the true source of goods. Fashion-related trademarks include: NIKE, TOMS, H&M, and any slogans or logos that these companies use (e.g., the ‘JUST DO IT’ slogan or the Nike ‘swoosh’ logo).
Trademark law attempts to prevent anyone else from ‘freeriding’ on this allure that you’ve built through hard work and with great expense. Trade Marks Designers can use trade mark law to protect not only logos and brand names, but also other distinct features of a product. For example, Bettina Liano has registered the distinctive pocket stitching on her garments as a trade mark, while British fashion house Burberry holds trade mark rights in both the trade mark ‘Burberry’ and the Burberry check pattern. Burberry has enforced its trade marks in many jurisdictions against counterfeits including a recent action in the US District Court.
2.3.1 Trade Dress
A trade dress for product packaging includes the boxes in which shoes are sold or the bags in which garments are sold. Examples of trade dress for product designs include the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader uniforms and the Louboutin red sole in contract with the rest of the shoe. The reason for protection is that the design of the apparel itself is so connected to the source in the minds of the consumers that it serves a source designating function. Keep in mind, however, that a trade dress for product design is harder to obtain, and a designer should consult a lawyer before beginning this process.
2.3.2 Registration of Trade Dresses
It is permitted during registration to limit the subsequent use of a trademark, in whole or in part, to one or more specified colours. In practice most applicants register their trademarks without limitation of color. This enables them obtain the benefits of section 16(1) of the Trademark Act which provides that where a trademark is registered without limitation of colour, it shall be taken to be registered for all colors. Although the Act permits a limitation as to colours, applicants are not permitted an exclusive appropriation of colors. Where a trademark purposed to be registered consists of a single colour without more, the application will be refused. Where the trademark consists of a mark in addition to, or superimposed on a coloured background, the application for registration of the mark must state that application for registration is in respect of the mark and its ‘device’.
2.3.3 Protection of Registered Trade Dress
If the combination of colors is in addition to any other mark or representation, the combination of colors is normally identified and registered as the accompanying ‘device’. Upon completion of the registration, the proprietor is entitled to legal protection of its exclusive use of the combination of colors registered. If it is registered as a device, the device may be used alone or in addition to the accompanying registered representation. Where therefore, a proprietor desires to use a design or get up as a trade dress, he must seek and obtain a registration of the get up sought to be used in order to obtain legal protection of its use. Where the trade dress is properly registered as a get up or device, the proprietor is entitled to maintain an action in statutory passing off of the registered trade dress in addition to the action for infringement of the registered trademark.
Where the trademark and trade dress are registered, the cause of action in passing off is a statutory cause of action independent of the common law action in passing off, and the proper forum for the trial of the case is the Federal High Court, Ayman Enterprises Ltd v Akuma Industries Ltd. Section 3 of the Trademarks Act provides that no person shall be entitled to institute any proceeding to prevent, or to recover damages, for the infringement of an unregistered trademark.
2.3.4 Protection of Unregistered Trade Dress
Where the trade dress is not registered, the proprietor will be unable to obtain legal protection under the Trademarks Act for its infringement. The present controlling authority is the case of Ferodo Ltd v Ibeto Industries Ltd. The appellant’s trademark ‘Ferodo’ was used for marketing automobile brake pads and linings. The representation that accompanied the appellant’s application for registration gave the name of the trademark as ‘Ferodo’. The representation was a red rectangle, at the upper end of which was a smaller black rectangle, inside which the name ‘Ferodo’ was printed in white and the lower end of which said red rectangle ran a black and white chequered strip. The application for registration did not specify that registration was sought for the accompanying device or design. Registration was granted for the trademark ‘Ferodo’. The trade dress of the appellant’s goods comprised the word ‘Ferodo’ and all the garnishing contained in the representation. The respondent introduced into the marked its own brand of brake pads and linings, which it marketed under the trademark ‘Union’. The appellant contended that the trade dress of the respondent’s ‘Union’ was similar to the trade dress of its ‘Ferodo’. The appellant sued for statutory infringement and passing off for the respondent’s purported infringement of its registered trademark. The Court of Appeal held that what the appellant registered was ‘Ferodo’, and that where the proprietors decided to garnish a trademark with other colorations and devices which make it appealing and decorative, it cannot be assumed that the fanciful and ornamental characters which color the package form part of the trademark. In the absence of registration the alleged use of the trade dress by the appellant was held by the Court not to give them monopoly over the use of red cardboard paper. The action failed. In the absence of registration of a trade dress, a statutory action for infringement or statutory passing off cannot be sustained.
This however does not preclude a common law action for passing off. Common law, equity and statutes of general application in force in England on January 1, 1900 are applicable in Nigerian. This is through the instrumentality of various reception laws. The High Court Laws of a typical state in Nigeria contain a provision that the High Court shall in addition to any other jurisdiction conferred by the Constitution of the Federation or by any other enactment, possess and exercise all the jurisdiction, powers and authorities which are vested in or capable of being exercised by the High Court of Justice in England.
2.3.5 Trade Secrets
Trade secret protection can theoretically last forever, which makes it unlike any area of intellectual property law. It can last forever or at least for as long as a business entity takes the necessary protective measures. The advice of a local attorney is crucial in this area because trade secret law varies state by state. In general, however, in order for information to be considered a trade secret it cannot be known outside of your business, the secret must have economic value, and you must take reasonable measures to maintain its secrecy. Reasonable measures can include the use of Nondisclosure Agreements, limiting who has access to valuable information, and instituting a strict ‘no pitch’ policy. In other words, the law will help you protect that which you take steps to protect yourself.
3.0 Problem of Intellectual Property Protection in Nigerian Fashion Industry
Fashion is a global business and Intellectual Property rights extend into the international trading system through various international treaties. It is vital for fashion enterprises to obtain sound legal advice at an early stage in order to appropriately protect their creativity through Intellectual Property rights, and be able to realize their commercial potential. Nigeria, Lagos in particular like London, Milan, New York and Paris, is a fashion hub.
There is no doubt that beyond making us a fashionable people, the fashion industry cannot be ignored as a vehicle for driving economic development but fashion does not enjoy the same level of protection with other creative industry. The intuitive position is that fashion design should be protected just like any other creative area, but it is not so.
The Nigerian Fashion Industry has experienced tremendous growth since professional and focused practitioners entered and began to make their mark more than two decades ago. Unquestionably, clothing, handbags, prints, and shoe designers (Designers) in Nigeria through sheer determination with little input from the government have grown the Nigeria Fashion Industry to a globally- reckoned with force. Nigerian fashion brands are now being showcased in reputable events all over the world and gaining international acclaim; furthermore, they have a trove of international awards to show for it.
The Nigeria Fashion Industry has the potential of becoming one of the main drivers of our economy in the not too distant future; especially given Federal Government plans to increase Nigeria’s non-oil export. With the FG having recently made Creative Industry eligible for Pioneer Status Incentive (a tax holiday of up to five years) the industry outlook is extremely positive and tremendous growth is realizable in the coming years. To spur growth of the industry, Fashion Practitioners (fashion designers, handbags designers, print designers, shoe designers, fashion executives, fashion houses, distributors, manufacturers, modeling agencies, retailers and photographers etc.), need to firmly address some lingering legal issues. Some of these include: intellectual property theft, sales promotion issues, distribution challenges and licensing.
4.0 Conclusion
The Nigeria fashion design industry may be able to effectively use the IP system to capture value, enhance the protection and commercialization of its designs, and stimulate long-term competitiveness with the adoption of a clear strategy and a set of holistic policy considerations, there are significant challenges that need to be tackled in order to ensure the sustainable development of the industry. The Nigerian fashion industry requires the conditions and support that are necessary to take advantage of the many opportunities, including the advantages that the IP system presents.
Fashion is a global business and IP rights extend into the international trading system through various international treaties. It is vital for fashion enterprises to obtain sound legal advice at an early stage in order to appropriately protect their creativity through IP rights, and be able to realize their commercial potential. Fashion SMEs need to develop an IP strategy and incorporate it into their overall business strategy. This paper therefore advocates for the following, among others as a way forward in ensuring the protection of brands, designs, and labels in the Nigerian fashion industry; the enactment of new legislation to provide proper protection for fashion designers in Nigerian fashion industry.
Also, that National IP Offices should be continually strengthened in order to establish effective synergies with various Ministries and government agencies, such as the Ministries of Trade and Industry and Culture and Tourism, in formulating national policies that incorporates the fashion design industry. Again, government incentives such as preferential credit schemes to empower upcoming fashion designers in the fashion industry by incentivizing the registration of their IP rights as a form of collateral.
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