Trade Mark Registration Can Prevent Identical Company Name

• Published date: 05 April 2024
• Law Firm: G.O.Sodipo & Co.
• Author: Ms Aderinsola Adeliyi

Utilising the Provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act for Trademark Protection: A review of Citigroup Inc and Citi Bank Nigeria Limited v. Corporate Affairs Commission, Citicorp Financial Services Ltd & Ors.¹

There are several ways in which a business can protect its trade mark in Nigeria. One way is enforcing the statutory obligation in the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). From our law firm's archives, we present Citigroup Inc and Citi Bank Nigeria Limited v Corporate Affairs Commission, Citicorp Financial Services Ltd & Ors., where our firm set a precedent on the use of CAMA to prevent a company from registering or continue to use an identical or confusingly similar name to a registered trade mark.

Facts

Citigroup is a United States financial services conglomerate with the trademark 'CITICORP' registered in over a hundred countries including Nigeria. Citigroup registered the trademark Citicorp under class 16 (printed materials and publications) of the Trade Marks Register in Nigeria in 1975. However, at that time, there was no protection for service marks in Nigeria. Citicorp is associated with Citigroup especially...