A trademark is a word, phrase, sign, or symbol owned by a business, which serves to differentiate that business’s products from others. It’s a text or design that’s unique to a brand and (ideally) isn’t borne by any other brand.
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When a business registers a trademark with the relevant authorities, it can take legal steps to protect that trademark from being used by other organizations, or force such organizations to stop using the mark if they have already adopted it.
Trademarks often take the form of a logo or trading name, but the term covers other types of physical representations of a business brand. Registered trademarks typically have the symbol ® attached to them.
If you would like to protect your trademark from being used by unauthorized parties, you should find this article useful.
A Few Facts About Trademark Registration
In Nigeria, trademarks are registered with the Trademarks, Patents, and Designs Registry, which is under the Commercial law Department of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment. Matters relating to the registration of trademarks are governed by the Trademarks Act.
Registrations are not done directly by registering parties, but by accredited individuals or organizations that they have appointed to carry it out on their behalf.
Trademarks may be registered under one or more of the 45 trademark classes recognized by the Nice Agreement (which Nigeria abides by). These classes cover a wide range of business categories, from edibles and agricultural products to chemicals, machines, and tools, as well as musical, advertising, and financial products.
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Things You Will Need
These are the items you’ll need to register your trademark in Nigeria:
- Application details including the applicants’ full names, nationality, and address
- The mark you intend to register. It should be unique and clear, with resolution 120dpi by 100dpi for physical copies, and at least 1200dpi for soft copies if you’re submitting online (this should be in jpeg format)
- Sample goods for which the trademark will be used; a separate application should be turned in for each of them
- A Power of Attorney (POA), is a letter that authorizes a legal agent to act on behalf of a business. The letter should be signed and contain the names, nationality, and addresses of the applicant
Steps To Registering Your Trademark In Nigeria
These are the steps you’ll have to take to register your trademark in Nigeria:
- Appoint an attorney or accredited trademark agent who will help you with the registration process. The agent will submit the required registration items (mentioned above) at the registry.
- The agent you appoint will search for existing trademarks that may be too similar to, or in conflict with the trademark you want to register. The search will be carried out in all the classes under which the mark is to be registered. Note that a fee is charged for the search.
- If the trademark to be registered is found to be sufficiently unique, the agent may go on to apply for a trademark license. Upon paying an application fee, they will be issued an Acknowledgement Letter, which recognizes that the application has been made. However, if the trademark conflicts with an existing mark, a Refusal Letter will be issued.
- After issuing an Acknowledgment Letter, the registry will proceed to publish your trademark in the Nigerian Trademark Journal. This publication makes your trademark public, allowing possible opposition to the registration of the trademark to see it and make their complaints about it.
- If there is no opposition to the trademark within two months from the journal’s publication, the registrar will issue you a Certificate of Registration. The certificate will have the date of initial filing as the date of the trademark’s registration.
Final Note
Registered trademarks remain valid for seven years. Be sure to renew your registered trademark not less than three months before its expiration. Subsequently, the trademark will be renewable for an indefinite number of times and will be valid for 14 years after each renewal.
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