The Trademark Tribunal sitting at the Trademark headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, canceled the registration and application of Domittilla as a trademark by Annie Chioma Ajemanze.
In a ruling delivered by the Chief Registrar, Shafiu Adamu Yauri, the Tribunal held that Anne Njemanze’s application was malicious, insisting that all the documents issued to her were issued by the Commission in error.
The Federal Trademark Registry, had fixed May 4 for a report of settlement in a dispute between veteran film maker, Zeb Ejiro, and actress Anne Njemanze, over the rightful ownership of the brand, ”Domitilla.”
It will be recalled that actress Anne Njemanze had trademarked the name “Domitilla and Device” on September 16, 2020 as her copyright. But veteran filmmaker, Chief Zeb Ejiro, MFR, had approached the Tribunal asking it to expunge the trademark given to Anne Njemanze.
Ejiro had told the registry that the said trademark had being in use since 1996 by him in connection with films and matters which fell under Class 41 of the Register of Trademarks in Nigeria.
Ejiro had also submitted that “The applicant’s alleged application for registration and or the purported registration of “Domitilla & Device” offends section 11 of the Trade Marks Act.”
Domitilla, is the title of Zeb Ejiro’s 1996 iconic film.