COURTROOM NEWS 05/05/2023
‘Domittila’: Tribunal Cancels Trademark Registration, Says Njemanze Acted In Bad Faith
The Trademark Tribunal in Abuja has cancelled Annie Njemanze’s registration and application of ‘Domitilla’ as a trademark.
This was the ruling delivered by Registrar Shafiu Adamu Yauri on Thursday, stating that documents issued to her were in error.
The battle began after a disagreement over the ownership of the brand Domitilla between filmmaker Zeb Ejior and the actress.
Njemanze was said to have reportedly trademarked the name Domitilla and Device in 2020, years after the release of Domitilla and its sequel.
Ejiro then challenged the registration, arguing that the brand has been in existence since 1996. His lawyers maintained that it fell under class 41 of the Register of Trademarks in Nigeria.
According to them, Njemanze knew of Ejiro’s usage of the name as she featured in Domitilla 1 and Domitilla 2.
“The Petitioner owns the statutorily protected copyright of the film scripts of Domitilla and Domitilla 2, which were handed to the applicant in the course of her engagement as an actress in 1996 and 1999 respectively,” the tribunal ruled.
“Since the respective release of the films in 1996 and 1999, the films have continuously been in the market, first in video Cassettes; later in Compact Discs, and now majorly as internet downloads all under the proprietary name of the Petitioner.
“The applicant has no goodwill and reputation in the word, ‘Domitilla’, separate from her role in the films Domitilla and Domitilla 2, which are intellectual properties of the Petitioner.
“The Petitioner has continuously used Domitilla as a created film character and as the title of his films, ‘Domitilla’ and ‘Domitilla 2’ since 1996 till date, thereby building strong goodwill and widespread reputation in the world.”
