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2 OUTSTANDING TRADEMARKS REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES The current Registrar of the Nigerian Trademarks Registry, Mr. Shafiu Adamu Yauri, continues to champion the clearance of all awaiting registration certificates. There has been continuous publication of awaiting applications in the Trade Mark Journals. VALIDITY OF NAFDAC E-PERMIT In September 2018, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) issued a notice that all permits for imported products issued this year will expire on the 31st December, 2018, regardless of the expiry dates indicated on the said permit. The purport of the notice is that permits are valid for importation up till 31st December in which year the permit was issued and any importation made with the expired permit will attract severe sanctions. Aluko & Oyebode urges all its clients to ensure all applications are put in well ahead of this date. As usual, our offices will be open for any emergency filings. DIGITIZATION OF NAFDAC REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES AND NOTIFICATIONS NAFDAC released a circular informing all Marketing Authorization Holders to enroll and digitize all Registration and Listing Certificates and Notification on the National Single Window for Trade before such are presented in trade for Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), Customs Clearance and other trade-related transactions. The following documents are required from the Applicants: - Applicant's Tax Identification Number (TIN); - Electronic copy of the Certificate; and - A valid address TRUSCAN TESTING DEVICE - NAFDAC PARTNERS NASARAWA STATE GOVERNMENT Nasarawa State Government partners with NAFDAC and Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN) to fight counterfeit drugs through TruScan Testing Device. TruScan Testing Device is a hand-held instrument introduced by NAFDAC to detect counterfeiting medicines on the spot to fight counterfeit in Nigeria. This was disclosed by the Permanent Secretary of Nasarawa State Ministry of Health, Mallam lshaku Abari, at a one day sensitization workshop organized by PCN on September 13, 2018 on continuing Professional Development Education Program for Pharmacist Technicians. It is hoped that other states of the Federation will follow suit. SON, NAFDAC ENHANCE OPERATIONAL SYNERGY As part of efforts to enhance operational synergy and deliver more effective and efficient services to Nigerians, Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) and NAFDAC have instituted a joint committee to harmonize operational procedures. Speaking at a meeting of the Committee hosted by SON on 5th October, 2018, the Director General, Osita Aboloma Esq. urged the members to explore areas of cooperation and collaboration to engender more efficient delivery of services to stakeholders and a faster turn around time. The Committee comprised key Directors, Technical and Special Assistants to both Chief Executives and Heads of Departments involved in product certification and registration as well as import regulations. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY NEWSLETTER- FOURTH ISSUE 2018 I 2

3 ANCLA PLEDGES SUPPORT TO SON The Association of the Nigerian Licensed Customs Agent (ANCLA) has pledged its support to SON in a bid to curb the menace of substandard products circulation in Nigeria. This pledge was made by the ANCLA Vice President, Dr. Kayode Farinto when he led newly elected Executive members of the Association on a courtesy visit to the Director General of SON, Osita Aboloma Esq., at the SON operational Headquarters, Lekki, Lagos. Dr. Farinto said this will be achieved through strengthening of SON port operations, devoid of unnecessary bottlenecks in order to guarantee seamless clearance of cargo from Nigerian ports. and platforms. SIPO has notified Nigerian Trade Mark Office (TMO) of its intentions in this regard. IPLAN TRAINING PROGRAM FOR YOUNG LAWYERS The Intellectual Property Law Association of Nigeria (IPLAN) on Tuesday, 23rd October, 2018, organized a program for lawyers between 1 to 4 years. The program was titled, "Intellectual Property Rights & Enforcement in Nigeria". Some of the topics included; Enforcement of Registered and Unregistered Marks, Convergence of Trademarks and E-Commerce, Enforcement of Patents and Designs Rights and Analysis of Patent Systems: Current and Emerging Issues. SIPO INTRODUCES WORK PLAN TO FIGHT COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT The State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO), has launched a work plan to protect Intellectual Property Rights and combat infringement in thee-commerce sector. The programme implementation is expected to run for four months starting with the establishment of a technical support system, which will include IP rights information database and detection systems to allow both rights holders and authorities to access and share research on IP infringements. SIPO has already given a directive to all her branches to enhance regulation of sales carried out on online trading platforms. SIPO also intends to work with foreign rights enforcement authorities to incorporate their IP rights into the work plan. It conveys a deep-seated commitment to fighting against infringement and has the intention of tracking-down all infringing content, websites WIPO PARTNERS WITH NCC AND NJI TO TRAIN NIGERIAN JUDGES IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) partnered with the National Judicial Institute (NJI) and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) to organize a training titled: "Practical Continuing Education Programme on Intellectual Property (IP) for Judges in Nigeria". The two-day training focused on Copyrights, Trade Marks, Patents and Industrial Design. NCC's Director General, Afam Ezekude stated that the rapid development of IP in Nigeria should be met with a corresponding increase in refresher courses and training of its judges. This will make them better suited to adjudicate in IP related matters. The training also included the creation of customized modules specifically targeted at the Nigerian Judges and a database of IP cases. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY NEWSLETTER- FOURTH ISSUE 2018 I 3

4 NOTAPADVOCATESFOR DEVELOPMENT OF IP POLICY IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion's (NOTAP) public relations officer, Raymond Ogbu, has called for development of IP policy across the various Nigerian knowledge institutions. The Director General of NOTAP, Dr Dan Azumi Ibrahim has called on the Ebonyi State University to create an Intellectual Property Transfer Office. It is believed that such offices will put an end to disputes that arise between researchers and academic institutions over the ownership of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). ACC/INTA-ACC 2018 ROUNDTABLE The Annual ACC/INTA-ACC Roundtable held on October 31, 2018 in Lagos. The theme of this year's roundtable was "Addressing the impact of counterfeiting and piracy on the ease of doing business in Nigeria". The dialogue brought together Nigerian regulators, IP practitioners, brand owners and the press to discuss the correlation between doing business in Nigeria and counterfeiting. Aluko & Oyebode s, Uche Nwokocha and Oghogho Makinde were among the speakers at the event. Following is the communique in respect of the Roundtable: The Roundtable had three (3) sessions. The first session was the Government/Regulators perspective with the theme Making Nigeria a safe haven to do business free of counterfeiting and piracy. The second session was the Brand owner's perspective with the theme "Counterfeiting and piracy: Economic Impact on business." The third session was the Stakeholders & Bar session with the theme "Law and ease of doing business." Following the discussion and interactions, the participant at the roundtable agreed on the following; 1 One of the challenges Nigeria faces is the lack of awareness of the impact of counterfeiting and piracy on the average consumer and the economy. There is need to increase public awareness and understanding of counterfeiting and piracy activities. Consumers, brand owners and government bodies must be aware of the counterfeiting problem, its economic and social effect and know what each party can do in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy. There is also need to create awareness on the importance of intellectual property rights; 2 Nigeria has a poor legal and institutional framework hence; the laws must be reviewed to ensure the establishment of an appropriate legal and institutional framework that is in line with international best practice; 3 Nigeria has not made any significant change to its IP laws. It was recommended that a proper review and amendment of all the IP laws, and speed up the legislative process to ensure that all existing bills on IP are passed into law; 4 There is deficiency in the enforcement of the existing IP legislation in Nigeria. Stakeholders must work to ensure that there is an enabling environment for the enforcement and implementation of these laws; 5 In fighting counterfeiting and piracy, there is need for public private partnership. The regulatory agencies, brand owners, government and all stakeholders must work together; 6 There is need to continuously encourage capacity building and give regular training for regulatory bodies and stakeholders to enable them address the anti-counterfeiting issues in Nigeria; INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY NEWSLETTER- FOURTH ISSUE 2018 I 4

5 7 Nigeria should consider the establishment of an IP policy as this would generally improve the protection of IP rights in Nigeria; 8 Poor implementation of IP rights and general protection of IP rights is a major challenge in Nigeria and this would greatly affect the ease of doing business in Nigeria if not addressed; and 9 There is need to engage the Ministry of Trade and Investment to ensure that the Trade Marks Registry and Patents & Design Registry under commercial law department of the ministry are allocated enough funds for the operation of both registries, as most applications or processes are delayed at the registry due to lack of basic materials. FIRM NEWS Aluko & Oyebode's Managing, Kofo Dosekun was named Female Managing of the Year at the Law Digest Africa Awards Associate, lfejesu Ogunleye was named Rising Star of the Year, while the firm was named Litigation & Dispute Resolution and Mergers and Acquisitions Team of the Year. Aluko & Oyebode wins Capital Market Team and Banking & Finance Team of the year at the ESQ Nigerian Legal Awards Aluko & Oyebode's Senior Associate, Nta Ekpiken was named a "Nigeria Rising Star (40 under 40 Award Recipient)". Nta Ekpiken Senior Associate Aluko & Oyebode has retained its ranking as a Top Tier Firm (Tier 1) in 7 practice areas in the 2019 International Financial Law Review (ILFR) 1000 Guide. IFLR also recognized Aluko & Oyebode's Chairman, Gbenga Oyebode and s Kofo Dosekun, Olubunmi Fayokun, Babatunde Fagbohunlu SAN, Adeniyi Adegbonmire SAN, Oghogho Makinde, Reginald Udom, Oludare Senbore and Ayodeji Oyetunde as highly regarded lawyers. Gbenga Oyebode Olubunmi Fayokun Adeniyi Chairman Adegbonmire SAN Kofo Doseku n Managing lfejesu Ogunleye Associate Oghogho Makinde Reginald Udom Babatunde Fagbohunlu SAN Oludare Senbore Ayodeji Oyetunde INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY NEWSLETTER- FOURTH ISSUE 2018 I 5

6 Aluko & Oyebode's Chairman and s, Gbenga Oyebode, Kofo Dosekun, Olubunmi Fayokun, Babatunde Fagbohunlu SAN, Adeniyi Adegbonmire SAN, Sunbo Akintola, Uche Nwokocha, Oghogho Makinde and Chukwuka lkwuazom were recognised in Who's Who Legal 2018 as expert in Banking, Arbitration, Restructuring & Insolvency, Data, Intellectual Property and Corporate Tax respectively. Aluko & Oyebode's new brand captures the firm's commitment to its African heritage and the provision of modern services. I /\LUKO& OYEBODE Sunbo Akintola Uche Nwokocha Chukwuka lkwuazom Aluko & Oyebode won environmental and renewables team of the year award at the African legal awards The Mrican Legal Awards 2018 WINNER ENVIRONMENTAL & RENEW ABLES TEAM OF THE YEAR Further information about the firm, its practice areas, client briefing notes and details of seminars/events are available at This is a publication of Aluko & Oyebode and is for general information only. It should not be construed as legal advice under any circumstances. For further information, please contact us at ao@aluko-oyebode.com.