Trademark Registration in Nigeria

If you’ve been on social media for a while and have an interest in the comic industry, you should have realized how important a trademark is to brands. It’s not just about having that fine, small capital “R” inside a circle to signify “registered”; it plays a key role in brand awareness and positioning.

The most popular trademarked entities worldwide are Google, Apple, Android, and IOS. These identities have been trademarked by their parent countries to solidify their brands and prevent any other entities from using these names

You wouldn’t want anyone to use the identity you spent a lot of time, money, and other resources creating without your consent. Hence, filing for a trademark immediately forbids the public from using your brand identity without your permission.

Generally, any literary work can be legally trademarked. It may take the form of a name, sound, logo, signature, picture, piece of text, object, or a combination of these.

Trademark law in Nigeria

In Nigeria, there are two laws guiding trademarks in Nigeria: the “Trade Marks Act, Cap. T. 13, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004″ and the “Trademark Regulations of 1990.” These laws empower the Trademark, Patent, and Design Registry under the Commercial Department of the Ministry of Trade and Investment to accept and reject trademark applications. Thus, once a trademark has been registered, the trademark owner has the legal right to seek redress for a breach of its rights in any competent court of law in Nigeria.

These Acts define a trademark as a device, heading, brand, signature, word, label, ticket, name, letter, numeral, or any combination thereof.

How much does trademark registration cost in Nigeria?

The cost of trademark registration in Nigeria is between N180,000 and N200,000. Of course, this is not a regulatory cost; it totally depends on the firm handling the registration for you. And depending on your negotiation skills and relationship, there could be some waiver in cost.

As you’re aware, trademark registration is not free. There’s no golden rule to the cost; it depends entirely on the lawyer or accredited agent you hired to assist you with the registration. The applicable cost will cover three essential stages of trademark registration: conducting a search, accepting the registration, and obtaining certification of registration.

Meanwhile, if you don’t have the money to pay in full, you can hire an agent to complete the first two stages (search and acceptance) and get the certificate later when you do have the money.

How do You register a trademark in Nigeria?

Before proceeding further, it’s imperative to note that there are three stages in Nigeria’s trademark registration. These stages begin with searching to obtain the certificate of registration, as explained below.

1) SEARCH & APPLICATION 

The “search and application” is the first stage for registering a trademark in Nigeria. This stage involves providing the accredited agent or a lawyer with the basic information about the trademark you intend to register. This basic information cuts across the description of the trademark, logo, symbol, or design to be registered.

Once the above information has been made available, a trademark search is instituted. Just like in company registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission, the trademark search aims to check if such a trademark has been registered. Upon confirmation that no such trademark exists, and hence it is not in conflict with any trademark, an application for your trademark registration can be submitted to the Trademarks, Patents, and Designs Registry of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment.

Note that this application can be made online or offline.

Once the process goes well, the application will be considered valid, and the registrar of the ministry will issue an acknowledgment letter regarding your application. The success of this stage shows that your application has a chance of being approved and registered.

2) ACCEPTANCE

When an application is approved following a successful search, the Registry will accept, register the trademark, and issue an acceptance letter to the applicant. The acceptance letter serves as preliminary proof that the trademark has been properly registered.

3) Publication and certification

The third stage of trademark registration in Nigeria involves publication in a trademark journal and certification.

When a trademark registration application is accepted, the registrar will ensure that a notice of the application is published in the Trademark Journal. This notification will include complete information about the application and the applicant.

The purpose of the publication is for the registrar to entertain any grievances as to why the applicant should not be issued a certificate. This is similar to the marriage registry, where couples’ names are published on the notice board before the marriage date.

In this case, any person with reasons why the name should not be registered can contest the issuance of a certificate. The most common reason people contend for registering a trademark, as published in the Trademark Journal, is that the name is likely to mislead or confuse the public due to the presence of an existing or similar trademark.

Protests or oppositions containing the grounds for the protest must be submitted to the Registrar of Trademarks within two months of the notice being published in a journal.

Any protest or opposition received will be communicated to the applicant by the Registrar. The applicant has one month from receipt of the registrar’s notice to respond to such opposition. An applicant may be deemed to have abandoned his or her application if he or she fails to respond to the opposition received with his or her counter-statement.

When the Registrar receives the applicant’s response stating why the applicant is entitled to such a trademark, the Registrar of Trademarks shall convene a tribunal to resolve the conflict in favor of one of the parties.

If there is no opposition to the publication in the journal, or if an opposition is made and successfully resolved in favor of the applicant, the Certificate of Registration for the trademark sought will be issued.

The certificate serves as proof of proper registration and the completion of all processes. It grants the proprietor or owner the exclusive right to use the trademark over all other entities.

However, if any other person or entity successfully challenges the applicant in opposing a trademark registration, the Registrar will issue the applicant a refusal letter.

How long does it take to get a trademark in Nigeria?

As mentioned earlier, there are three stages involved in trademark registration in Nigeria, and these stages and their durations are: 

• To obtain an acceptance letter from the date of submission of the trademark takes between 4-6 weeks.
• To make publication in the Trademark Journal takes between 3-6 months from the date of obtaining an acceptance letter, and
• To be granted a Certificate of Registration takes 12 weeks from publication in the Trademark Journal.

Can You register a trademark by myself?

No, trademark registration in Nigeria requires the service of either a lawyer or an accredited trademark registration agent. These are the only two classes of persons permitted by law with whom you can authorize via a power of attorney to carry out the registration of your trade on your behalf.

Final Thought

One of the key benefits of a trademark for your brand is that it creates that differentiating factor. You become solely associated with a particular identity that nobody else can claim, and if anybody tries to impersonate you by using your identity, you have the locus standi to sue the person or entity.