Juliana Oboh-Joseph/
Growing up, I was an incredibly shy girl due to my stammering. The only thing I knew I was good at was singing, and I thought that was all I would do when I grew up.
After law school, I signed a music contract as a jazz singer that didn’t go as I had imagined. I got out of the contract by appealing to my benefactor who was now like a father to me. He was kind enough to let me off the contract. It was a tough experience that made me realize that many others without the knowledge of intellectual property (IP) rights could go through similar or even worse experiences.
This experience motivated me to study IP and obtain a master’s degree (LLM) in entertainment and sports law. During my study, I acquired so much knowledge on IP that I couldn’t keep it to myself. Even though I was still shy, I decided to start training people online on IP, drawing from my experience and studies around the music business, entertainment law, and general IP principles for creatives, inventors, and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
This IP training later metamorphosed into the JIIPCC Mentorship and Internship Programme, where we have provided IP training to over 200 students and young professionals across 10 African countries in two years and a fixed-term engagement with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Nigeria Office. All these breakthroughs came as a result of volunteering, hard work, and giving back in the IP space.
The theme of World IP Day (WIPD) 2023, “Women in IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity,” is timely, as many women, out of necessity and the burden of responsibility, forfeit their creative and innovative aspirations.
As a woman, I went through my music and IP Law journey while giving birth to three children and raising a family. I had to make tough decisions like choosing between signing a music contract and getting married, deciding whether to take my 3-month-old baby to sing at midnight, and lots more.
In the end, I would say my experience as a singer led me to Entertainment and IP Law, and even more, discovering myself and moving beyond my limitations.
It was an extreme honour to have planned the celebration of the WIPD within the WIPO Nigeria Office and to serve as a panelist at the United States Embassy Abuja celebration of WIPD, where I had the opportunity to share my story and encourage women.
Unique challenges exist for women in IP. However, a day like WIPD, with its unique theme for 2023, helps encourage women to push through the challenges and barriers, to keep creating, innovating, and building thriving businesses. Our dreams are valid, and our evolution story is the spice to our becoming. Therefore, do not dread your process; embrace it, and keep creating, inventing, and building for future generations!
*Oboh-Joseph is an intellectual property and
entertainment lawyer, founder of JIPPCC, and intern at World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Nigeria.