Introduction
As the global fashion industry increasingly embraces sustainability, Nigeria's fashion sector faces a pressing need to follow suit. The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world, with textile production contributing significantly to water pollution, waste, and carbon emissions.1 While many countries are introducing regulations and incentives to promote sustainability, Nigeria lags in establishing clear legal guidelines for eco-friendly fashion. Furthermore, intellectual property laws, which could protect designers pioneering sustainable innovations, are underutilised and poorly enforced. The law should ideally protect such innovations, but in Nigeria, legal frameworks for sustainable fashion and intellectual property (IP) rights remain weak, leaving designers vulnerable.
This article explores the intersection of sustainability and intellectual property in the Nigerian fashion industry, analysing existing legal frameworks, gaps, and opportunities for improvement. It highlights how intellectual property rights can serve as a tool to safeguard sustainable innovations while advocating for better policies to encourage ethical fashion practices in Nigeria.
Understanding Sustainability in Fashion
Sustainability in fashion refers to the adoption of eco-friendly and ethical practices throughout the supply chain, from material sourcing to production, distribution, and disposal.2 It involves ethical sourcing, fair labour practices, waste reduction, and carbon footprint reduction. Despite these benefits, the Nigerian fashion industry faces several challenges in adopting sustainability, including a lack of infrastructure for recycling textiles, limited awareness among consumers, and minimal government incentives for eco-friendly practices.
Legal Implications of Sustainability in Nigerian Fashion
Nigeria currently lacks comprehensive sustainability laws specifically addressing fashion. However, some existing environmental regulations indirectly impact the industry, such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act,3 which requires companies engaging in projects that significantly affect the environment to undergo an environmental impact assessment.4 The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) Act empowers NESREA to enforce environmental regulations in various industries, including fashion and textiles.5 Additionally, the Factories Act6 sets occupational health and safety standards, indirectly impacting sustainable labour practices. While these laws provide a basic framework, they are not tailored to the unique sustainability challenges faced by the fashion industry. A dedicated Nigerian Sustainable Fashion Act could help bridge this gap by mandating sustainable production standards, regulating waste disposal, and offering tax incentives for eco-friendly brands.
Intellectual Property Opportunities in Sustainable Fashion
Intellectual Property (IP) plays a crucial role in protecting and promoting sustainable fashion innovations. Various forms of IP rights can be leveraged by designers to secure exclusive control over their sustainable innovations.
Under the Patents and Designs Act,7 patents protect inventions that are new, involve an inventive step, and are industrially applicable.8 Sustainable fashion designers who develop innovative eco-friendly materials, such as biodegradable fabrics or recycling techniques, can patent these inventions, ensuring that their exclusive rights are recognized and preventing unauthorised replication. For example, a Nigerian designer who creates a ground-breaking method for turning agricultural waste into textile fibres could patent this process, securing legal recognition and potential commercial benefits.
Trademarks also play a significant role in sustainable fashion branding. The Trade Marks Act9 provides protection for distinctive brand names, logos, and slogans that differentiate products in the marketplace.10 A sustainable fashion brand can register a trademark for its unique label and eco-certifications, such as "100% Recycled Nigerian Fabric," ensuring brand credibility and preventing counterfeiting. This is essential in an industry where greenwashing—misleading consumers about the environmental benefits of a product—is becoming a concern. By obtaining trademark protection, genuine sustainable brands can maintain authenticity and consumer trust.
Copyright laws further support sustainable fashion by protecting original artistic works. Under the Copyright Act 2022, fashion sketches, textile patterns, and digital illustrations of eco-friendly clothing designs are recognised as original artistic expressions.11 Designers can leverage copyright laws to prevent unauthorised reproduction of their work. For instance, if a Nigerian designer creates a digital blueprint for a zero-waste clothing pattern, copyright protection ensures that others cannot use or distribute the design without permission.
Additionally, industrial designs protection under the Patents and Designs Act allows designers to register unique textile designs or eco-friendly fabric patterns, granting them exclusive rights for five years, renewable for two consecutive five-year periods.12 This ensures that sustainable designers maintain exclusivity over their aesthetic innovations, preventing mass-market reproduction without consent.
These intellectual property protections ensure that Nigerian designers who invest in sustainability can reap financial and creative rewards while discouraging counterfeiting and intellectual theft.
Recommendations & Call to Action
To strengthen sustainability and IP protection in Nigerian fashion, several measures should be taken. First, Nigeria should develop a Nigerian Sustainable Fashion Act to establish legal requirements for waste management, ethical labour, and eco-friendly materials while introducing penalties for unsustainable practices and incentives for compliance. Additionally, enhancing IP awareness among fashion designers is crucial; workshops and campaigns should be conducted to educate designers on patenting, trademarking, and copyrighting their sustainable innovations. Collaborating with legal bodies to simplify the IP registration process can also encourage more designers to protect their work.
Further, strengthening IP enforcement is necessary to combat counterfeiting and unauthorised use of sustainable fashion innovations. Increased penalties for infringement, alongside the establishment of a specialised IP tribunal for fashion-related disputes, would help safeguard designers' rights. The government should also support sustainable fashion through financial incentives, including grants, tax exemptions, and low-interest loans for eco-friendly fashion start-ups. Lastly, consumer awareness campaigns should be launched to educate buyers on the importance of supporting genuine sustainable brands, while implementing eco-labelling standards to help consumers identify legitimate eco-friendly products.
Conclusion
Sustainability in Nigerian fashion is a necessary evolution that requires strong legal backing. While current laws provide a fragmented framework, comprehensive legislation tailored to sustainable fashion is urgently needed. Additionally, intellectual property rights offer a valuable tool for protecting eco-friendly innovations, ensuring that designers benefit from their creativity and hard work.
By embracing sustainability and strengthening IP protections, Nigeria can foster a thriving fashion industry that is not only environmentally responsible but also legally secure. The government, designers, and consumers all have a role to play in making this vision a reality. Through the right policies and enforcement, Nigerian fashion can set a global standard for ethical and sustainable practices.
Footnotes
1 Climate Trade, 'The world's most polluting industries' (Climate Trade, 11 May 2023) https://climatetrade.com/the-worlds-most-polluting-industries/#:~:text=There%20are%20several%20ways%20to,and%20act%20to%20reduce%20it. accessed 21 February 2025.
2 Green Strategy, 'What is sustainable fashion?' (Green Strategy) https://greenstrategy.se/sustainable-fashion-definition/ accessed 21 February 2025.
3 Cap E12, LFN 2004.
4 Section 2 EIA Act.
5 Section 7 NESREA Act.
6 Cap F1, LFN 2004.
7 Cap P2, LFN 2004.
8 Section 1(1) Patents and Designs Act.
9 Cap T13, LFN 2004.
10 Section 9 Trade Marks Act.
11 Section 2 Copyright Act 2022.
12 Sections 12 & 20 Patents and Designs Act.
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