The Trademark Tribunal sitting at the Trademark headquarters in Abuja on Thursday has in a ruling delivered by the Chief Registrar, Shafiu Adamu Yauri, canceled the registration and application of Domittila as a trademark by Annie Njemanze, saying all the documents issued to her were issued by the commission in error.
A legal dispute had ensued between veteran filmmaker, Zeb Ejiro, and actress Anne Njemanze, over the rightful ownership of the brand, ”Domitilla.”
“Domitilla” is the title of a movie produced in 1996 by Zeb Ejiro, which starred Njemanze as the lead character.
The movie which also featured other veteran actresses such as Sandra Achums, late Ada Ameh and Kate Henshaw – portrays the life of a young woman struggling to make ends meet as a Lagos prostitute.
A sequel, Domitilla 2, was also produced and released in 1999 by Ejiro, while a remake is scheduled for release in 2023.
Years after the release of Domitilla 1 and 2, Njemanze reportedly trademarked the name “Domitilla and Device” on September 16, 2020.
Ejiro, through his team of lawyers, led by Mr Rockson Igelige, approached the registry to challenge the purported registration of the brand “Domitila and Device’ by Njemanze.
Igelige told the registry that the said trademark had being in use since 1996 by Ejiro in connection with films and matters which fell under class 41 of the Register of Trademarks in Nigeria.
Igelige said that both in 1996 and 1999, the Petitioner employed and paid the applicant to act in his films “Domitilla” and “Domitilla 2” adding that the applicant knew of the Petitioner’s prior and continuous use of the name since 1996.
“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.
“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 word.
