Trademarks

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.

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.

Trademarks are the main form of IP right in Cape Verde. To date, 4,355 trademark applications have been advertised in the IP Bulletin.

Applicants with the highest number of trademark applications in the country originate from:

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.

Uganda’s trademark regulations have been amended, with 26 changes to provisions in the Trademark Regulations 9/2021. The most significant of these are the implementation of the registration of trademark agents and the introduction of an IP journal and fees for time extensions. The amendments were published in the Uganda Gazette on 5 February 2021 and are now in effect for trademark applications and requests filed on or after this date.

As a predominantly Muslim country, Egypt prohibits gambling in line with the Qu’ran. However, the practice is not entirely illegal and the country’s trademark legislation reflects this. The Law on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (82/2002) includes no interdiction on the registration of gambling and casino trademarks. However, Article 67(2) of the law prohibits the registration of trademarks that are considered contrary to public order or morality.

Trademarks have dominated Cape Verde’s IP field at the expense of other rights such as patents and industrial designs for many years. But this scenario could be about to change, says Diana Pereira of Inventa International.

As is the case in many countries, trademarks have taken the biggest IP share in Cape Verde ever since the creation of the region’s IP rights legislation. This has been to the detriment of other rights such as patents, utility models and industrial designs, which are all poorly represented in the jurisdiction.

Gambia in West Africa is home to the capital city in which the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation’s (ARIPO) Administrative Council first adopted the Banjul Protocol in 1993. Under ARIPO’s regional system, applicants are required to designate the member states for which their trademark protection is intended. The associated costs of the procedure depend on the number of designated states in each application. 

A successful IP system is crucial to the growth of small and medium enterprises in Nigeria, however, there are some major challenges hindering its development.

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.