Tribunal revokes Ann Njemanze’s trademark brand

The Federal Register of Trademarks on Thursday canceled all documents issued to actress Anne Njemanze as the owner of the trademark for the film “Domitilla”.

The Registrar, the Commercial Law Department of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, ordered the cancellation in a ruling on a trademark ownership petition.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Njemanze He had long battled with veteran filmmaker Zeb Ejiro over the rightful ownership of “Domitilla.”Brand of a movie shot and produced by Ejiro in 1996.

The film, which portrays the life of a young woman struggling to make ends meet as a prostitute in Lagos, starred Njemanze and featured other actors such as Sandra Achums, Ada Ameh and Kate Henshaw.

Its sequel, Domitilla 2, was also produced and released by Ejiro in 1999, and a remake is scheduled for release this year.

Years after the release of Domitilla 1 and 2, Njemanze announced that he had trademarked “Domitilla and Device” on 16 September 2020, and later applied to the trademark registry to register the name.

Ruling on the dispute, Shefiu Adamu, the registrar of the Trademarks Department, who led two other members, quashed all the documents issued to Njemanze.

In his words, “The applicant (Ejiro) has been using “Domitilla” for a long time, even more, the defendant acted in the film called “Domitilla” for the applicant.

“The respondent/applicant acted in a film series made for the applicant; Article 22 of the Trademark Law is quite explicit.

“Therefore, the Registrar of Trademarks has the legal authority to correct any error in the trademark application.

“The (Njemanze) request for an answer is now denied; the court invalidates any document it may have issued to the applicant; All were published in error.

“The applicant acted in a bad way, and with this, the claim of the applicant is accepted.”

In his response to the judgment, Ejiro’s lawyer, Rockson Igelige, assessed the record of the judgment, adding that the decision was well founded.

He said the ruling was in line with the principles of intellectual property rights.

Also responding to the judgment, the counsel for the petitioner/respondent, Marvin Ibem, informed the Registrar that he would request a Certified Copy (CTC) of the judgment, examine it and take it from there.

(IN)