Nigeria: will higher office fees deliver better services?

Nigeria's federal minister of commerce, Jubril Martins Kuye, approved an upward review of the official fees for trade marks, patents and designs. This increase became effective on 1 September 2010 and affects all the services offered by the respective registries. The range of increase runs from 100% to anything up to 400%, as well as imposing fees for certain services that were formerly free.

Filing figures are being monitored closely to ascertain whether the increase in fees will affect the number of filings in the long term. Meanwhile, the registrar is being pressed to improve the level of service offered -- which may be facilitated by an anticipated but still not imminent move to more spacious premises.

Source: note by Adeola Olumeyan (Jackson Etti & Edu, Lagos) in World Trademark Review