- African
2. The Nigerian Industrial Property Office is responsible for managing trademark affairs and the official language is English.
3. Nigeria adopts the Nice classification and does not accept applications for multiple types of trademarks. The elements that can be registered as trademarks include: text, name, graphics, specific three-dimensional shapes, slogans, commercial appearance/decoration, holograms, etc. The trademarks that can be applied for registration include: series trademarks, joint trademarks, defensive trademarks, and certification trademarks.
The trademark registration in Nigeria adopts the principle of balancing "application first" and "use first".
Nigeria is a party to international intellectual property treaties such as the Paris Convention, WIPO Convention, Geneva Convention, and TRIPS Agreement, and has not yet joined the Madrid Agreement or Madrid Protocol. Therefore, trademark registration in Nigeria can only be processed through the "single country registration" method.
The validity period is 7 years from the date of application; Renewal can be processed within 3 months before the expiration date, with a grace period of 1 month (additional fees apply) and a validity period of 14 years.
If a trademark has not been used for five consecutive years, an application for revocation can be filed.
1. A power of attorney signed by the applicant;
2. 10 trademark designs, if it is a colored trademark, an additional 10 colored designs are required;
3. Trademark Usage Statement;
4. Official Trademark Search Report.
5. If the applicant requests the use of priority, priority documents are also required.
The trademark in the application can be transferred or changed, and the required documents include a transfer agreement (signed and stamped by both parties), a copy of the registration certificate or acceptance notice; Copy of change certificate, registration certificate or acceptance notice.
The applicant submits the trademark application documents to the Nigerian Institute of Internal Relations, and the registrar conducts a legality review of the submitted application documents, trademark drawings, power of attorney, and other documents after submission; Those who meet the requirements will be granted the application date and application number.
The Internal Cooperation Bureau will first conduct a search on previously registered or applied Nigerian trademarks and issue a search report. The applicant will receive the above search report before the trademark is approved for publication and decide whether to arrange for trademark publication.
When reviewing trademark applications in Nigeria, the Internal Cooperation Bureau only examines their registrability (i.e. distinctiveness), also known as absolute reasons, without examining relative reasons, which means that the application will not be rejected citing prior rights.
After examination, the trademark registrar considers that the trademark application can be accepted and will publish a notice in the official trademark announcement of Nigeria. The objection period is 3 months from the date of announcement.
Trademarks that have been ruled to be eligible for registration after opposition, or trademarks that have been published without opposition, will be granted registration and a registration certificate will be issued. The entire smooth application process (if there are no rejections, objections, etc.) will take approximately 24-36 months.
