Court rules CBN owns 'eNaira' trademark, fines private company N10m, orders name change

A Federal High Court in Abuja voided eNaira Payment Solutions Ltd's claim to the 'eNaira' trademark, issuing a perpetual injunction barring the company from holding itself out as the trademark's registered owner.

Justice James Omotosho upheld the CBN's counterclaims and imposed a N10 million fine on eNaira Payment Solutions, dismissing the company's suit, which had sought N90.10 billion in damages, in its entirety.

The court found the company's name inherently misleading to the average person, ruled that the Trademark Registry had validly cancelled the company's eNaira trademark applications in November 2021, and ordered the company to adopt a new name containing no use of the word 'Naira.'

This ruling sets a clear legal precedent for currency-linked branding. Any name invoking 'Naira' or implying sovereign monetary authority is off-limits for private Nigerian companies, regardless of how long they have held that name.

Nigerian fintech founders and startup lawyers should treat this judgment as an immediate compliance signal: any company whose name, product, or trademark borrows from official currency terminology or implies CBN affiliation is now exposed to regulatory and legal challenge.

Within the coming months, expect the Corporate Affairs Commission to use this ruling as backing to accelerate name-change directives against similarly positioned entities.

It is too early to know whether this will prompt a broader audit of fintech branding across the sector, but the signal to watch is whether the CAC or CBN issues fresh guidance on permissible naming conventions for digital finance companies.