BACKGROUND/MATERIAL FACT

Domitilla’ is the title of the 1996 controversial movie produced by Zeb Ejiro, which starred Anne Njemanze as the lead character. Years after the release of the movie, Njemanze trade marked the name “Domitilla” on September 16, 2020. This was reportedly the same year that Zeb Ejiro Productions in collaboration with FilmOne Entertainment and Omoni Oboli’s Dioni Vision announced plans to make a sequel to the original movie, titled “Domitilla: The Reboot.’

EXHUMATION OF THE PROBLEM

Brand owners in Nigeria are questioning the powers of the Trade Marks Registrar following a controversial decision that has raised concerns about the status of their marks beyond the statutory opposition period.

Section 20 of the Trade Marks Act provides that ‘Any person may within two months from the date of the publication…of notice of an application, give notice to the Registrar of opposition to the registration.’ It is important to note that the Act does not create any abandonment provision for failure to file an opposition within two months. Rather, the Act stipulates that where an applicant fails to send in a counter-statement to an opposition within one month from the receipt of the opposition duplicate, such application will be deemed abandoned.

Therefore, opposition proceedings purport to give more leverage to the opposition than to an application, so as to ensure the integrity and accuracy of trade marks in the register. Indeed, one can appreciate this point further after evaluating the powers of the Registrar to rectify and correct the register.

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