The protection of trade marks in Nigeria has been guaranteed
since 1967. Ultimately, this protection guarantees the rights of
the trademark owner against unauthorized use by a third party.
Before 2007, trade marks were registered solely as goods, so
trademarks covering services could only be registered in class 16
– as printed matter and related materials.
Throughout the Trade Marks Act 1990 Cap 436 Laws of the
Federation of Nigeria 1990 (the "Act"), the word
"services" is used in relation to the service of
documents and the Federal Civil Service Commission and not in the
sense of a product that can be trade-marked. It is therefore safe
to assume that the intention of the draftsmen was to strictly limit
the use of trade marks to the protection of goods.
