Music Trademark
Registration 

Our Music Trademark Registration Service at 1710Media is specifically tailored to the unique needs of Musicians, Music companies, and other entities in the Nigerian Music industry. We understand the importance of protecting your musical brand and intellectual property.

trademark

We are committed to protecting your music brand's identity, ensuring your intellectual property rights are secure, and helping you establish a strong presence in the music industry.

Our Trademark Registration Service provides musicians with expert assistance in protecting their brand identity and intellectual property rights. With a team of experienced Chartered Secretaries and I.P attorneys specializing in trademarks for the Music and Entertainment industry, 1710Media aims to simplify the registration process and ensure musicians can secure legal protection for their band names, logos, and other identifying elements.

We conduct a comprehensive search to assess the availability and potential conflicts with existing trademarks, enabling musicians to make informed decisions and minimize the risk of disputes or rejection. Our service handles all aspects of preparing the trademark application, ensuring compliance with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment requirements. We handle documentation preparation, including the application form, descriptions, trademark samples, and supporting evidence.

Taking the burden off musicians, we submit the trademark application on their behalf, ensuring correct filing and timely submission. Throughout the registration process, we diligently monitor the application's progress and address any office actions or objections that may arise. Our goal is to provide musicians with a streamlined and effective trademark registration experience.

Benefits

Trademarking your brand as a musician in Nigeria offers several benefits. Here are some specific advantages of trademark registration in Nigeria:

  • Legal Protection: Trademark registration provides legal protection for your brand in Nigeria. It establishes your exclusive rights to use and protect your band name, logo, or other identifying elements. This means that you can take legal action against anyone who infringes on your trademark and use the legal system to enforce your rights.

  • Brand Recognition: Trademarks help build brand recognition and distinguish your music from others in the industry. By registering your band name or logo, you create a unique and recognizable identity that fans can associate with your music. This can contribute to increased visibility, fan loyalty, and overall market presence.

  • Market Exclusivity: Trademark registration in Nigeria gives you the exclusive right to use your brand name or logo for music-related goods and services. It prevents others from using a similar name or logo which could cause confusion among consumers. This exclusivity helps protect your market share and prevents unauthorized use of your brand identity. It also gives you legal grounds to take action against infringers who attempt to use your trademark without permission.

  • Licensing Opportunities: Trademarks can open up licensing opportunities for musicians in Nigeria. By registering your brand, you can grant licenses to third parties to use your trademark on merchandise, concert promotions, endorsements, and other commercial ventures. This allows you to generate additional revenue streams and expand your brand reach.

  • Brand Value and Asset: A registered trademark can enhance the value of your brand as an intangible asset. Over time, as your music career progresses and your brand gains recognition, the trademark can appreciate in value. This can be beneficial if you plan to secure investors, enter into partnerships, or sell your brand in the future.

  • National and International Protection: Registering your trademark in Nigeria provides protection within the country's borders. However, it also establishes a foundation for seeking protection in other countries.

    Nigeria is a member of international agreements like the Madrid Protocol and the Paris Convention, which prevents unauthorized use on an international scale in up to 96 other territories. This is particularly beneficial for musicians who tour internationally or have a global fan base. 

  • Enforcement and Legal Remedies: Trademark registration strengthens your legal position in case of trademark infringement. It makes it easier to enforce your rights and seek legal remedies in court. If someone infringes on your trademark, you can take legal action to stop the infringement and seek damages or other appropriate remedies.

  • Merchandising Opportunities: Trademarks can be valuable for merchandise sales. By trademarking your band name or logo, you can create a distinct brand that fans can associate with your music.
    This enables you to sell merchandise like t-shirts, hats, posters, and other items featuring your trademarked name or logo, generating additional income streams.

  • Sponsorship Deals: Trademarks can enhance your ability to enter into sponsorship agreements. A registered trademark adds credibility and value to your brand, making it more attractive to potential sponsors and licensing partners. These partnerships can provide financial support, exposure, and opportunities for your music to reach wider audiences.

Register

Get started with Trademark Registration Service.
Complete the form below to begin the process. 

Trademark Form
Select which is applicable
What of entity to be trademarked.
Add an additional information.

Features

Here are the Features included in our Music Trademark Registration Service:

Consultation and Strategy: We start by providing a consultation session to understand your business, products/services, and branding goals.

Trademark Search and Analysis: Before proceeding with the registration process, we conduct a thorough trademark search to ensure the availability of your desired mark.

Application Preparation: Once the availability of your trademark is confirmed, we prepare the trademark application on your behalf.

Filing and Documentation: We handle the filing of your trademark application with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment.

Application Tracking and Monitoring: We keep track of your trademark application throughout the registration process. 

Response to Office Actions: In the event of any office actions or objections raised by the trademark office, we assist in preparing a comprehensive response on your behalf.

Trademark Registration Certificate: Upon successful registration, we deliver the trademark registration certificate for your mark. 

Digital delivery of CTC of the registration form - which includes all relevant details contained within the registered mark.

Digital storage of Documents.

Issuance of Registration Certificate (2 Weeks from Submission).

FAQs

Check out some of the Most Frequently asked questions relating to Music Trademark Registration:

Trademarks, similarly to copyrights, are a form of protection. They tend to protect anything that’s used to brand a good or service. In terms of the music industry, you can protect your name, as well as your logo, song titles, and phrases included in your lyrics or symbols.

As a form of identifier, trademarks are used to help people identify the source of the product or the service. Trademarks aim to prevent any unfair competition, such as someone causing confusion by having a name/logo/slogan similar to yours or entirely the same.

This means that trademark protection legally reassures artists that no other musicians or bands can take advantage of particular identifying factors to confuse the buying public. It may for instance happen that another band performs under the same name as you do, causing misunderstandings among your fans. Instead of buying tickets to your gig, they may mistakenly buy tickets to the other band’s concert. In such a case, trademarking the band’s name will prevent you from encountering such situations.

No. It is not compulsory to do so and many artists never do so. However, if you’re serious about a recording career and have your sights set on big success in the music industry, it may be a good idea. If you don’t and someone else comes along after you and trademarks the same name as yours, they may be able to stop you using your name to make music.

If you’ve already had thousands of downloads and garnered hundreds of followers on each social media channel, this is a problem. You may be made to stop using your name and fans will struggle to find you.  

So if you do decide to trademark your name, the sooner you do it the better. Depending on your name a duplicate scenario may be unlikely though. We’ll take a look at who should and shouldn’t be trademarking their name, shortly.  

Just like trademarks, copyrights, too, are a type of property protection.

Copyrights are used to protect the creative, original works of art and provide the rights to artistic works that have been created through a tangible medium, such as digital track, tape, disk, or other formats.

They are essential for the protection of almost any type of artistic expression. These are namely, in the context of music, sound recordings, and musical compositions, but also lyrics, melodies, arrangements, performances, etc.

While copyrights tend to protect the artistic side of intellectual property, trademarks protect their commercial side aligned with the law.

More importantly, however, trademarks are used to protect the unique and specific identification of a brand in our case, the artist or the band, and the product. meaning their name, the album’s or song’s name, slogan, logo, etc. Meanwhile, copyright in music shall prevent unauthorized copying, reproduction, or distribution of a specific piece of work.

Additionally, copyright is generated automatically upon the creation of work. However, one needs to take additional steps to ensure that the copyright is enforced. (Note: this very much depends on where you are based - e.g in Europe, no further registration is required to enforce the copyright protections, but in the USA, you need to register the copyright with the Copyright Office). Trademark protection needs to be applied for.

Although the duration of trademark protection can vary, the most common duration period is 10 years. Afterward, the validity of the trademark can be prolonged indefinitely as long as the trademark is still used in commerce. You will need to pay renewal fees to prolong the validity of your trademark.

Sometimes it happens that the trademark owner decides not to use the trademark anymore. In such a case, after three years of not being used in commerce, the trademark falls through, after being presumed abandoned.