A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dealt a decisive blow to eNaira Payment Solutions Ltd, voiding its claim to the ‘eNaira’ trademark and ordering the company to change its name, in a judgment that hands a clear victory to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Justice James Omotosho, delivering a consolidated judgment on Friday, issued a perpetual injunction barring eNaira Payment Solutions from holding itself out as the registered owner of the “eNaira” trademark.
The court also upheld the CBN’s counter-claims and imposed a N10 million fine against the company.The ruling brings to a close a dispute that began when eNaira Payment Solutions, incorporated since 2004, filed suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1113/2021, naming the CBN, the Registrar of Trademarks, and the Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission as defendants.
In its amended writ filed April 5, 2024, the company sought 17 reliefs including an eye-catching N90.10 billion in damages, and prayed the court to restrain the CBN from claiming ownership of the “eNaira” name.
The company argued that the defendants had unconstitutionally seized personal property it had maintained for over two decades.
The CBN pushed back forcefully, filing a counter-claim seeking a perpetual injunction, N20 billion in general damages, and N200 million in costs.
The CAC separately sought an order compelling the company to adopt an entirely different name. Justice Omotosho sided with the defendants on all major points.
The court found that the company’s name was inherently misleading, noting that an average person on the street would reasonably conclude that eNaira Payment Solutions was either an agent of the federal government or an arm of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The judge held that the company’s stated business, creating and controlling a digital fiat currency on an electronic payment platform, reinforced that misleading impression, effectively suggesting it had government authority to issue and control a digital form of the Naira.
“The plaintiff cannot assert control over the ‘eNaira’ name or issue it,” the judge stated. “This would be disastrous for the Nigerian economy and will create skepticism among users as it is not guaranteed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“The court also upheld the CAC’s position, finding that the commission was within its rights under Section 852(2)(a) and (b) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 to direct the company to change its name, a directive issued in December 2021 that the company had failed to comply with.
Justice Omotosho noted that allowing the company to retain the name would amount to surrendering Nigerian sovereignty to a private entity.Critically, the court found that the Trademark Registry had in November 2021 cancelled and withdrawn acceptance letters previously issued to the company in respect of eNaira trademark applications in classes 36 and 42, on the grounds that “eNaira is a national intellectual property and constitutes a symbol and national asset of Nigeria.”
The judge held that this left the company with no valid legal right to the trademark.
“A party that has no legal right cannot be entitled to an injunction,” he said.
The court dismissed the company’s suit in its entirety and declared that eNaira Payment Solutions was not the registered owner of the ‘eNaira’ trademark, and was not entitled to register it given that it is neither a government agency nor an entity licensed to issue legal tender in Nigeria.
Beyond the trademark ruling, the judgment carries broader implications for how Nigeria’s digital currency identity is protected.
With CBDCs gaining ground globally and Nigeria’s own eNaira remaining a live policy instrument of the apex bank, the court’s reasoning, that any digital currency bearing the ‘eNaira’ name must be understood as an official sovereign instrument, sets a clear precedent against private entities attempting to appropriate currency-linked branding.
The company is now required to change its name to one that makes no use of the word ‘Naira.’
