Domitilla: Tribunal revokes Njemanze trademark brand

The Federal Trademark Registry, has revoked all documents issued to actress Anne Njemanze in respect of brand ownership of a movie, “Domitilla”.

The registry, a Commercial Law Department of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment gave the revocation order in a judgement delivered in a petition over the ownership of the brand.

Njemanze, had been in a long battle with veteran filmmaker, Zeb Ejiro, over the rightful ownership of “Domitilla”, a brand name for a movie shot and produced by Ejiro in 1996.

The movie, which portrays the life of a young woman struggling to make ends meet as a Lagos prostitute starred Njemanze as the lead character and other actresses like Sandra Achums, late Ada Ameh and Kate Henshaw.

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

Years after the release of Domitilla 1 and 2, Njemanze reportedly trademarked the name “Domitilla and Device” on September 16, 2020, and later approached the trademark registry to register the name.

Delivering his judgement on the dispute, Mr Shefiu Adamu, the Registrar of the Trademark department who led two other members, revoked all documents issued to Njemanze.

In his words: “ the petitioner (Ejiro) has been using “Domitilla” for a long time, even the respondent acted in the film named “Domitilla” for the petitioner.

“The respondent/applicant had acted in a series of films for the petitioner, Section 22 of the Trademark Act is quite explicit.

“Therefore, the Registrar of the Trademark have the statutory power to correct any error in connection with the application of trademark

“The application of the respondent (Njemanze) is hereby refused, the tribunal cancels any document that might have been issued to the applicant, they were all issued in error.

“The applicant acted in bad fate, and with this, the petitioner’s claim is uphold.”

In his response to the Judgement, Mr Rockson Igelige, Lawyer to Ejiro, appreciated the registry for the judgement, adding that the judgement was a well-grounded judgment.

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

Also reacting to the judgement, Lawyer to the applicant/respondent, Mr Marvin Ibem, informed the Registry that he would apply for the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgement, study it and take it up from there.

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