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The Trade Marks Act, Cap T. 13, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 regulates trademarks in Nigeria. The Act states what may be registered as a trademark and what is not permissible for registration. This newsletter seeks to discuss what may not be registered as a trademark under the Act. The essence of this restriction is to safeguard the interest of existing businesses, public interest and also for consumer protection.
The Act expressly prohibits trademarks that are deceptive and scandalous. Such trademarks reflect an untrue description of the character or quality of the goods. Sometimes it erroneously suggests a connection with another known brand. The aim of the applicant is to mislead or misinform the consuming public. On the other hand, a trademark is scandalous if it is capable of causing disaffection or adversely affecting the values of the society. Proposed trademarks with religious connotations, vulgar words, gender, religious or ethnic disparagement are prohibited.

Distinctiveness is another issue to consider. Marks that are identical and which resemble existing trademarks are prohibited from registration. Section 13 of the Act provides that;

“No trademark shall be registered in respect of any goods or description of goods that is identical with a trademark belonging to a different proprietor and already on the register in respect of the same goods or description of goods, or that so nearly resembles such a trade mark as to be likely to deceive or cause confusion”.

In order to determine the distinctiveness of a trademark, the sight, sound and meaning of the trademark in question are considered. Any trademark that is likely to cause confusion as a result of a similarity with an existing trademark is not registrable.

Classes 1, 3 and 5 of the Nice classification have to do with chemical substance, section 12 of the Act prohibits registration of a trademark which is similar to a single chemical element. The objective is to avoid a situation where a single manufacturer arrogates to itself the exclusive right in respect of a chemical substance to the detriment of the other manufacturers in the same line of business. To pass the registrability test, the name of the chemical substance must be registered in association with another word to denote a particular brand. Only the name of the chemical substance is not registrable.

Also, use of words like National, President, Governor, Coat of Arms and other words which relates to the government of Nigeria is prohibited. The authorization of the Government agency involved must be sought and obtained before it can be accepted for registration.

In conclusion, trademarks that are deceptive, scandalous, erroneously imply government patronage, identical to existing trademarks and which reflect single chemical elements are prohibited from registration.

For further enquiries on registration of trademarks in Nigeria, visit

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