ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN THE PROTECTION OF TRADEMARK RIGHTS IN NIGERIA

Trademark counterfeiting and its devastating effects raise alot of concern for the lapses in an economy because of a strong desire of unscrupulous individuals for quick wealth which makes infringers to cut corners in order to be rich. In Nigeria some major places and markets where counterfeits are generally found include Onitsha market in Anambra State, Aba market in Abia State, Alaba market Lagos State, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida market in Minna town, Abubakar Rimi market in Sabon gari Kano town which are allegedly dominated by counterfeiters, creating barriers of entry for the producers of the genuine products’. The situation is so bad that trademark counterfeiting is fast becoming a full time vocation or profession for some individuals, and they even have apprentices to take over from them. The demand for general legal protection against unfair imitation of marks and names is a product of industrial production which the manufacturers were identified with. Thus, distinguishing products from others by trademarks became very important. Most advertisements teach the consumers to buy by product mark or manufacturing, household name and keep reiterating the message in the hope of persuading buyers not to deviate to rivals. As Nigeria advances industrially, there is indeed a great need for the protection of trademarks rights. However, this met with a lot of challenges for enforcement. In this country, there are many fake products with marks imitating the trademarks and names of the genuine manufacturers being smuggled into the country from some foreign countries. Apart from these fake products which are imported, many other counterfeit products which are produced locally within the country also carry marks which imitate often times the trademarks and names of the genuine Nigerian and non-Nigerian manufacturers. The thrust of this paper is to examine the issues and challenges that make the protection of trademark ineffective in Nigeria. It would recommend appropriate steps in combating these challenges and other