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OALP Client UpdateKnowledge Exchange

September, 2015Intellectual Property

Trademarks, Domain Names and Cybersquatting-developments under Nigerian Law

Th i s p ub l i c a t i o n i sp rov ided to h i g h l i gh ti s su e s and fo r ge ne ra li n fo rma t i o n pu rpo se son l y , and does no tcon s t i t u t e l ega l adv i ce .Whi l s t r e a sonab l e s tep swe re take n to en su re theaccu ra cy o f i n fo rma t i oncon ta i ned i n t h i spub l i ca t i o n , Ola n iwunAjay i LP a ccep t s nore spons ib i l i t y f o r a nylo s s o r damage t ha t maya r i s e f rom re l i a nc e oni n fo rma t i o n con ta i ned i nth i s pub l i ca t i on . Shou ldyou have a ny q ue s t i o nson i s s ue s r epo r t ed he reo r o n o the r a rea s o f l aw,p l ea se con ta c t theed i to r s o r any co unse l i nthe f i rm

Olaniwun Ajayi LP

CYBERSQUATTING UNDER NIGERIAN LAW

Introduct ionAs apt ly noted by W. Corni sh & D. L lewel lyn, in the i r book, In te l lectua lProper ty: Patents, Copyr ight , Trademarks and Al l ied Rights, S ixth Edi t ion, Sweet& Maxwel l, London, p.862 : “As E-commerce has g rown, the inte rnet has becomea v i r tua l space in which unfa i r t rading with marks, b rands and bus iness names i sl i ke ly to take p lace. To some extent, the st ructure of the system causes o lddangers of pub l ic confus ion to appear in new forms.” At thi s point, i t i s apt tonote the system for domain name reg is t rat ion, which genera l ly opera tes on a f i r st -come f i r st - se rve basi s, and a l lows anybody who i s ent i t led, to reg is ter a domainname without proof of the in tended commerc ia l use. Th is has unarguably been athorn in the f lesh of var ious indiv idual s and corporate bodies, who ownestabl i shed trademarks and often seek ways to protect the i r t rademarks in the eraof the in te rnet . Notably, i t i s no news that the advent of the internet marked thehera ld of cyber - l inked is sues such as cybersquatt ing, cyber pi racy and the mostdamaging of a l l , t rademark in f r ingement.

In Niger ia , pr ior to the enactment of the Cybercr imes (Prohib it ion, Prevent ion,Etc) Act 2015 (the Act), cybersquatt ing cou ld onl y be curbed arguably with inthe law of t rademarks or the tort of pass ing of f , which proved inadequate for th isrampant i l l ic i t act . However, with the recent enactment of the Act , came intoexi stence a lega l f ramework, governing va r ious aspects of on l ine ac t iv i t ies,inc lud ing cr imina l i z ing the act of cybersquatt ing.

It i s in th i s wise that thi s newslet ter wi l l cons ider the modern phenomenon ofcybersquat t ing in the context of t rademark inf r ingement through the regi st rat ion ofdomain names of reg i ste red mar ks.

Cybersquatt ingThe Act def ines cybersquatt ing as; “the acquis i t ion of a domain name over theinternet in bad fa ith to prof i t , mis lead, dest roy reputat ion, and depr ive othersf rom reg i ster ing the same, i f such a domain name is ; ( i) s im i la r, ident ica l, orconfus ingly s im i la r to an ex i st ing t rademark reg i stered with the appropr iategovernment agency a t the t ime of the domain name regi st rat ion; ( i i) ident ica l, or inany way s imi la r with the name of a person other than the reg ist rant, in case of apersona l name; and ( i i i) acquired without r ight or with inte l lectua l p roper tyinterests in i t .

September, 2015

Th i s pub l i ca t i o n i sp rov ided to h i gh l i g h ti s su e s a nd fo r g ene ra li n fo rma t i o n pu rpos e s on l y ,and does no t con s t i t u tel ega l adv i ce . Whi l s tr e a so nab l e s tep s we retake n to e ns u r e t heaccu ra cy o f i n fo rma t i o ncon ta i ned i n th i spub l i ca t i o n , Ola n iwunAjay i LP ac cep t s nore spons ib i l i t y f o r a ny l o s so r damage t ha t may a r i s ef rom re l i a nce o ni n fo rma t i o n con ta i ned i nth i s pub l i ca t i o n . Shou ldyou have any que s t i on s o ni s su e s r epo r ted he re o r o no the r a rea s o f l aw, p l ea secon ta c t t he ed i to r s o r anycounse l i n t he f i rm

TrademarkIn Sect ion 67 of the Niger ian Trade Marks Act (TMA), a “ trademark” i sdef ined to mean “a mark used or proposed to be used in re la t ion to goods forthe purpose of indicat ing, or so as to indicate, a connect ion in the course oft rade between the goods or serv ices and some person hav ing the r ight e ither aspropr ietor or as reg is te red use r to use the mark, whether wi th or wi thout anyindicat ion of the ident i ty of that person, and means, in re lat ion to acer t i f icat ion t rade mark, a mark reg i ste red or deemed to have been reg is te redunder sect ion 431 of th i s Act.”

Domain Names as a Mark under the Trade Mark ActWhile the def in i t ion of t rademark as conta ined in sect ion 67 of the TMA doesnot conta in ‘ se rv ices ’ and thus, cou ld a rguably be sa id to be res t r ict ive, acarefu l read of the def in i t ion of a ‘ t rademark’ under the TMA revea ls that thereis noth ing in the TMA, part icu lar ly sect ion 67 of the TMA provid ing arest r ict ive def in i t ion for a ‘mark’ . The def in i t ion of a ‘mark ’ under the TMA isqu ite b road and can arguab ly accommodate a ‘domain name . ’ Sect ion 67 TMAdef ines a ‘mark ’ to inc lude; ‘a dev ice, brand, head ing, labe l, t icket, name,s ignature, word, le tte r, numera l, or any combinat ion thereof . ’ F lowing f romth is, i t can thus be sa id that a ‘domain name ,’ when used in re lat ion to anygoods, and same being ident ica l wi th or so nea r ly resembl ing such goods, as tol ike ly dece ive or cause confus ion, in the course of t rade can be sa id to be anin f r ingement of a re g is te red mark. (Sect ion 5(2) TMA).

Cybersquatt ing: An inf r ingement o f Trademark?The requi rements fo r an act ion hinged on t rademark in f r ingement in Niger ia, asprov ided for in sect ion 5(2) TMA are as fol lows: (x) The t rademark must havebeen used by a person who i s ne ither a propr ietor nor has obta ined permiss ionto use same; (y) The mark used must have been ident ica l with the t rademark orso near ly resembl ing i t ; (z) The mark used must be l ike ly to deceive or causeconfus ion in the course of t rade and in re la t ion to any goods or se rv ices inrespect of which i t is reg is te red; and (zz) The mark must have b een used as at rademark or used upon the goods or serv ices in the course of t rade.

The f i r s t l imb of the def in i t ion of cybersquatt ing under the Act, prohib it s theregi st rat ion of domain names that are, “s im i la r , ident ica l, or confus ingly s imi la rto an exi st ing t rademark reg is te red with the appropr iate government agency a tthe t ime of the domain name regi st rat ion.” There fore, a c lea r l ink betweencybersquat t ing and t rademark in f r ingement has been c rea ted, thereby reduc ingthe need to accommodate cybersquatt ing within the f ramework of sect ion 5 (2)of the TMA which some have a rgued, cannot be appropr ia te ly expounded toaccommodate cybersquatt ing act ions.

Olaniwun Ajayi LP

September, 2015

Criminal isat ion of Cybersquatt ing in Niger ia: A Welcome DevelopmentThe Act prov ides a lega l f ramework for the commiss ion of va r ious inte rnetre lated act iv i t ies inc lud ing cybersquatt ing. By vi r tue of Sect ion 25(1) of theAct, the act of cybersquat t ing is pun ishab le on conv ic t ion to impr i sonment fora term of not more than 2 years or a f ine of not more than N5,000,000 or toboth f ine and impr i sonment.

In addit ion, Sect ion 25 (3) of the Act empowers the Federa l High Cour t tomake an order di rect ing the of fender to re l inquish such regi stered name, mark,t rademark, domain name, or other word or phrase to the r ight fu l owner.

It is important to note that the Act does not proh ib it cybersquatt ing sole lywhere the domain name i s reg is te red due to t rademark in f r ingement.Interes t ingly, the Act a lso def ines cybersquat t ing to inc lude the acquis i t ion ofa domain name which cons ist s of the persona l name of a person.

Conclus ionIn préci s, whi l st some have argued that wi th the int roduct ion of the Act, theonly remedy to cybersquatt ing in Niger ia i s th rough the provi s ions of the Act,i t may a l so be r ight ly argued that the ex is t ing TMA can a l so accommodateact ions ar is ing f rom domain name d isputes and cybersquatt ing, where thedomain name i s a regi stered t rademark. However, the pena lt ies under the Actare more s t r ingent than the civ i l rem edies which would be avai lab le under theTMA. Consequent ly, the Act may become the more preferable lega l remedy forcases where cybersquatt ing and t rademarks in te r sect.

For further information please contact:

IP@olaniwuna jay i.net , Olaniwun Ajayi LPThe Aduno la , P lo t L2, 401 Close , Banana I s land, Ikoy i , Lagos .+234 1 270 2551

Fo r f u r t he r in fo rma t io np l ea se contac t :

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mka les anwo@olan iwuna j ay i .ne t

jone le@olan iwuna jay i .ne t

Th i s p ub l i ca t i on i s p rov idedto h i g h l i g h t i s sue s a nd fo rgene ra l i n fo rma t i o npu rpos e s o n l y , a nd doe s no tcon s t i t u t e l ega l adv i ce .Whi l s t r e a sonab l e s tep swe re t ake n to en su re t heaccu ra cy o f i n fo rma t i o ncon ta i ned i n th i spub l i ca t i o n , Olan iwun Ajay iLP ac cep t s no re spon s ib i l i t yfo r a ny l o s s o r damage t ha tmay a r i s e f r om re l i a nce o ni n fo rma t i o n co n t a i ned i nth i s p ub l i c a t i o n . Shou ld youhave a ny que s t i o ns on i s sue srepo r ted he re o r o n o the ra rea s o f l aw, p l ea se co n ta c tthe ed i to r s o r a ny co un se li n the f i rm

Olaniwun Ajayi LP