Nigeria

Firm overview

PUNUKA is a member of Lawyers Associated Worldwide (LAW), a global network of over 100 independent law firms located in more than 180 major commercial centers around the world. The state of reciprocity is such that we are able to extend to our clients the benefits of our accumulated goodwill to assist them whenever their cross border transactions touch on those jurisdictions where our correspondents and member firms operate.

We are members of the Capital Market Solicitors Association (CMSA) which our Senior Partner is the founding Chairman. The Firm is also a member of the Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria. We maintain affiliations to a network of international firms and experts in related fields of law whose services will be readily available where necessary for accomplishment of assigned tasks. In particular, members of the Firm are members of INSOL, the International voice of business restructuring and insolvency practice and IAEL, the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers amongst others.

Firm overview

G. Elias is one of Nigeria’s leading business law firms. We have been in business since 1994. We are known for the originality of our thinking, the thoroughness of the content of our work, our speed of response and our integrity and resolve to executing our client’s work to the highest standards. The quality of our work is recognized in all the leading international directories of lawyers. Our paramount aim in our IP practice as in all our other practices has always been to offer our clients, services of very highest quality. That means that we emphasize technical proficiency, attention to detail and creativity in developing practical solutions to clients' problems. We are known for our sensitivity to clients' business needs and concerns and promptness in responding to and executing their requests. We have expertise and experience, and we welcome enquiries and instructions.

We have invested in the technology, facilities and support personnel that we need to excel at what we do. We have unusual breadth in the range of our work. We are organized into sixteen practice groups and twenty-five subsectors. We have been consistently highly ranked in global directories of lawyers vis a vis , Chambers Global, World Trademark Review, The IP stars amongst others. Our IP practice has consistently been highly rated. We are unusual among law firms in that we have the ISO 9001:2008 certification and are currently transitioning to ISO 9001:2015 certification. In the field of intellectual property ("IP"), infringement prosecution, defense, and enforcement of trademarks including online enforcement, patents, utility models and design models as well as preparing and concluding licence agreements, G. Elias & Co. is your go-to firm.

Our Intellectual Property practice is central to our vibrant New Economy practice. (By "New Economy" we mean telecommunications, technology, media and entertainment--subsectors that today contribute 15% of Nigeria’s gross domestic product.) We work with patents in the telecommunications and technology subsectors; on copyright in the media and entertainment subsectors and on trademarks across all New Economy subsectors.

We represent writers, actors, directors, producers, production companies, media companies, distributors, sales agents, authors, musicians, composers, management companies and journalists across media platforms. Our work cuts across the film, music, television, theatre, print and publishing, radio, gaming and other areas of established and emerging media. We have industry experience in drafting, negotiating, recording talent and executive employment agreements and advising creative media and entertainment and new media companies.

Our experience in providing legal and business solutions to technology companies extends to licensing, advising on data privacy, protection and registration with relevant regulatory bodies and to structuring and providing comprehensive legal services to protect and advance our clients position in transactions.

Financial Services
Food manufacturing
Commodities
Food and Beverage
Fast moving consumer goods
Automobile
Medical Technology
Information Technology
Media and Entertainment
Agricultural services
Health and Pharmaceuticals
Cosmetics and Fashion
Sports
Education
Transport
Electrical and Electronics
Hotel and Hospitality

Firm overview

Established in 1996, Jackson, Etti & Edu is a full-service law firm headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, with an internationally renowned IP practice. With three offices in Nigeria and an office in Accra, Ghana – the hubs of business in West Africa – as well as an enviable network of top-rated associate agents across the continent, we are uniquely positioned to offer superior IP services throughout Africa.

Our IP practice offers services relating to all aspects of intellectual property, including trademarks, patents, designs, copyright, media and entertainment, anti-counterfeiting and brand protection, IP litigation, IP due diligence and commercial intellectual property (e.g, licensing, franchising and distributorship). We offer ancillary services including assisting clients with regulatory registrations with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion and other regulatory agencies. Our IP practice also offers advisory services to the federal government of Nigeria on IP policies and IP law reforms and provides regional perspectives on IP-related matters.

Our services are provided through a complement of experienced and seasoned practitioners who have distinguished themselves in this field for many years and have been recognised as experts and leaders in this specialist area of the law. Our lawyers possess impressive expertise and have been involved in some of the most high-profile IP transactions. They also hold leadership positions in local IP organisations. One of the partners is a World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) consultant and regularly offers advice on myriad IP-related issues.
Our clientele includes a broad spectrum of local and international blue-chip organisations, including major multinationals and conglomerates that trust us with the execution of specific business goals in the territories of interest.

The many awards, recognitions and rankings which our IP practice has received from globally and locally renowned organisations, as well as our frequent engagements by international IP bodies – including WIPO and the International Trademark Association (INTA) – are testimonies of our remarkable achievements in IP practice in Nigeria. We have been rated as a Tier 1 firm for contentious and non-contentious trademark and patent work in Nigeria from 2001 to 2017 by Managing Intellectual Property’s Annual Survey; ranked among the World’s Leading Trademark Professionals 2017; awarded the Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year 2016 at the ESQ/Nigeria Legal Awards; recognised by Global Law Experts (Practice Award, as Full-service IP Law Firm of the Year 2014); named Nigeria Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year at the Corporate Livewire Global Awards (2014-2015); and named Nigerian Trademark Law Firm of The Year 2014 at the Acquisition International Legal Awards. Further, the firm was shortlisted as one of seven firms worldwide for IP Firm of the Year in an Emerging Market by Informa Law.

As one of Africa’s leading IP practices and Nigeria’s largest practice, we have made our mark in contributing to the growth and awareness of intellectual property in Nigeria and several African countries. We have significant experience in raising public awareness on the subject of intellectual property, and have facilitated several public awareness forums organised by WIPO and INTA as well as various government offices, including the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Commercial Department and the Nigerian Copyright Commission.

Network Memberships: INTA, AIPPI, ITMA

Last updated 28th March 2018

Firm overview