Region: Nigeria

The SANOFI case: Federal High Court issues key ruling on trademark infringement by company names

The judgment will put to bed the conflict between prior registered trademarks and company names in Nigeria.

08 September 2023

Proposed trademark online filing platform: why the stakes are high

While a new platform has recently been proposed, a failure to properly address the failings of the current platform would represent a disaster for trademark prosecution in Nigeria.

26 July 2023

Trademark cancellation in Nigeria: a post­-registration process?

Recent adjustments made by the trademark registry concerning cancellation under Section 31 of the Trademarks Act could have unintended negative consequences.

28 April 2023

The Start-up Act 2022 - what you need to know

A key aspect of the new Start-up Act is that it recognises the need for the protection of IP rights for start-up companies.

13 January 2023

The need for a national IP policy and strategy in Nigeria

The Nigerian government has recently organised a workshop - in collaboration with WIPO - for the validation of the draft “National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy”, demonstrating a new level of commitment to the formulation of a national IP policy.

27 October 2022

Growth in IP awareness in Nigeria: comedian takes on Friesland Foods and UACN Foods

Recent cases involving Nigerian comedian Chukwuemeka Ejekwu, popularly known as Oga Sabinus, highlight the growing awareness of the importance of IP rights protection in the country.

22 July 2022

Popular expressions: brand owners beware

A Nigerian comedian and content creator, who is credited as having popularised the phrase ‘something hooge’, recently threatened legal action against the owners of a milk brand over the use of the expression in an Instagram post.

13 June 2022

Federal High Court considers registrability of similar trademarks under Section 5 of the Trademarks Act

The decision did not leave any room for doubt as to the rights vested by the law on the proprietor of a registered trademark in Nigeria.

06 May 2022

Government MDAs ordered to migrate to Nigeria’s second-level domain

Under a recently approved policy, federal government ministries, departments and agencies must migrate their websites and official email addresses from generic extensions to Nigeria’s second-level domain.

03 March 2022

Urgent action needed as filing and processing of applications on new online platform come to a standstill

The fanfare that accompanied the introduction of the new online filing platform has now been replaced by outcry, as some of the new features have brought applications to a halt.

25 January 2022

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