‘Domitilla’: Zeb Ejiro wins as tribunal revokes Njemanze’s trademark brand

The Federal Trademark Registry has revoked all documents issued to Anne Njemanze on the brand ownership of ‘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, an actress, has been in a long battle with Zeb Ejiro, the ace filmmaker, 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, the late Ada Ameh, and Kate Henshaw.

‘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 was said to have trademarked the name “Domitilla and Device” on September 16, 2020.

She later approached the trademark registry to register the name, causing a protracted tussle with Ejiro.

Delivering his judgment on the dispute, Shefiu Adamu, the registrar of the trademark department who led two other members, revoked all documents issued to Njemanze.

“The petitioner (Ejiro) has been using ‘Domitilla’ for a long time. Even the respondent acted in the film named Domitilla’ for the petitioner,” he said.

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

“The registrar of the trademark has 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 judgment, Rockson Igelige, lawyer to Ejiro, said the judgment was well-grounded and in line with the principles of intellectual property rights.