*Tribunal cancels her registration of ‘Domitilla’ as a trademark

By Benjamin Njoku

Legendary film maker Zeb Ejiro has said that the only option to end his legal battle with Ann Njemanze over the rightful ownership of the ‘Domitilla’ brand is for the actress to apologize to him.

The Sheikh of Nollywood gave this option in reaction to Thursday’s ruling by the Trademark Tribunal sitting at the Trademark headquarters in Abuja, which canceled the registration and application of Domitilla as a trademark by Annie Ajemanze.

Recall that Njemanze, who played the lead character in the 1996 movie, “Domitilla’ produced by Zeb Ejiro had dragged the latter alongside his business partners to court, demanding N50 million as compensation over the use of the name,’Domitilla’, having trademarked the name on September 16, 2020.

This reportedly was the same year that Zeb Ejiro Productions in collaboration with FilmOne Entertainment and Omoni Oboli’s Dioni Vision announced plans to make a sequel to the original movie, titled “Domitilla: The Reboot.”

However, while the case is still in court, Ejiro had approached the Tribunal asking it to expunge the trademark given to Anne Njemanze.

In a ruling delivered by the Chief Registrar, Shafiu Adamu Yauri Thursday, the Tribunal held that Ann Njemanze’s application was malicious, insisting that all the documents issued to her were issued by the Commission in error.

The Federal Trademark Registry, had fixed Thursday, May 4, for a report of settlement in a dispute between , Ejiro, and actress Anne Njemanze, over the rightful ownership of the brand, ”Domitilla.”

Ejiro had told the registry that the said trademark had been in use since 1996 by him in connection with films and matters which fell under Class 41 of the Register of Trademarks in Nigeria.

He had also submitted that “The applicant’s alleged application for registration and or the purported registration of “Domitilla and Device” offends section 11 of the Trade Marks Act.”

However, reacting to the ruling in a chat with Sunday Vanguard, Zeb Ejiro said “I give God all the glory. Even as the case is still in court, I’m ready to go all out to prove to the world that I am the rightful owner of the copyright of Domitilla.”

He insists that Ann Njemanze must tender an apology to him, being the only thing they can talk about as a statement. In other words, he will not relent in his resolve to see to the end of the matter, despite being advised to settle the matter out of court. Meanwhile, Njemanze has not reacted to the Tribunal’s ruling.