Litigation

When CultureTree's tweet and hashtag #Yorubaisnotforsale went viral, it ignited an online debate about whether registering a trademark name for an ethnic group is cultural appropriation.

The Yoruba people – who live mainly in Benin, Nigeria and Togo – represent around 35 million people in Africa, making them one of the largest ethnic groups on the continent. Most are from Nigeria, where they represent up to 15.5% of the country’s population.

Introduction

By the end of 2019, humanity was confronted by a new infectious disease caused by a new coronavirus, the covid-19 that led, on March 11th, 2020 the Word Health Organization (WHO) to declare the state of a global pandemic.

In June 2021, the Casablanca Commercial Court invalidated the Moroccan businessman Mohamed Zehraoui’s claim to use the word “Habanos”, which belongs to the Cuban Habanos Corporation, on cigars manufactured in Morocco.

It all started in 2011 when the entrepreneur registered the company name Habanos SA in the Casablanca Commercial Register, taking advantage of the fact that the Cuban corporation of the same name had not registered the brand in Morocco.

We are proud to announce that our firm, Inventa International, is distinguished as Leading IP Firm for Trademark and Patent Prosecution and Highly Recommended firm in IP Litigation, in Leaders League 2021 Portugal ranking.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic which effectively put much of life on hold, Nigeria enjoyed an extremely productive 2020 with respect to copyright law reforms and court decisions.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Industrial Property Law has been in force since 1982. Article 5 stipulates that there are three kinds of patent:

In the latest IP judgment to be handed down in South Africa, the Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Koni Multinational Brands against a court decision ruling that its Connie men's shower gel products are confusingly similar to those of Nivea.

The products and their devices are depicted below.

Inventa International contributed with the Portugal chapter in the International Comparative Legal Guides - Trade Marks 2021, published by Global Legal Group.

These guidelines summarize legislation and regulations regarding trademarks in Portugal focusing on the main steps, timings, requirements and other related rights.

Over the years, concrete efforts have been made to develop Nigeria's indigenous IP regime. The earliest attempt at developing Nigeria’s IP dates to post-independence Nigeria. However, these various attempts have not been fruitful as Nigeria has failed to fully exploit the benefits that could be accrued from proper management and protection of Intellectual Property Rights in the country. The current economic and trade conditions in the world is susceptible to change, therefore requiring constant improvement to ensure economic development.

For the past seven years, fashion retailer Truworths has had its eye on the PRIMARK trademark. In 2018 it successfully cancelled Primark Holdings’ UK mark for non-use and in 2019 the company applied for its own version of the mark. Truworths CEO Michael Mark has now announced that it will launch 15 stores in the next few months in an attempt to adapt to changing shopping habits following the covid-19 outbreak.

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