The dispute over the ownership and protection of the Jigsimur health drink brand in Nigeria is heading to the Federal High Court following a ruling by the Administrative Panel Division of the Patents and Designs Registry in favour of Jigsimur SA (Pty) Limited.

The dispute involves Jigsimur SA (Pty) Limited, another South African company, Jigsimur SA Original Pty Limited, and its Nigerian representative, Jigsimur Plus Limited, over competing claims to the Jigsimur trademark, industrial design, packaging and distribution rights in Nigeria.

In its ruling delivered on September 2, 2026, the Panel affirmed the right of Jigsimur SA (Pty) Limited to distribute the health drink in Nigeria and ordered Jigsimur Plus to cease relying on the disputed patent rights.

The Panel described its decision as a first-level alternative dispute resolution (ADR) determination intended to resolve the dispute without prolonged litigation.

It also stated that any party dissatisfied with the decision could appeal to the Federal High Court.

Jigsimur Plus has indicated its intention to challenge the decision.

The dispute centres on competing claims about when and how rights to the Jigsimur brand were acquired and whether rights established in South Africa can confer or affect proprietary rights in Nigeria.

In its written address before the Panel, counsel to Jigsimur Plus, Chief Anthony George-Ikoli (SAN), argued that his client’s claim to rights in Nigeria predated those relied upon by the opposing parties.

George-Ikoli said Jigsimur Plus applied for registration of the Jigsimur trademark in Nigeria in 2018, arguing that the application date was significant because it preceded subsequent registrations and assignments relied upon by the opposing parties.

He contended that trademark rights were territorial and that the history of the Jigsimur brand in South Africa could not, without more, confer proprietary rights in Nigeria.

According to him, Jigsimur Plus dealt throughout the relevant period with Jigsimur SA Original Pty Limited, which supplied the products and regulatory documentation, had SAHPRA-related recognition and documentation in South Africa, authorised distribution in Nigeria, and granted powers relating to trademark and design registration.

He further argued that Jigsimur SA Original Pty Limited empowered Jigsimur Plus to protect the intellectual property in Nigeria.

George-Ikoli also submitted that CAN AFFORD Products and Projects (Pty) Limited obtained Nigerian registrations for the Jigsimur name, logo and label on May 14, 2021, under Trademark Nos. 43580 and 43581, three years after Jigsimur Plus’s 2018 application.

He said Jigsimur Plus had, in the intervening period, built goodwill in Nigeria through the continuous importation and distribution of the products, marketing activities, dealer networks and customer recognition.

The lawyer also challenged reliance on a 2016 Power of Attorney and Distribution Agreement, arguing that authority to protect intellectual property did not constitute proof of a pre-existing proprietary right in Nigeria.

He maintained that there was no evidence that the opposing parties had applied for registration of the trademark in Nigeria before Jigsimur Plus’s 2018 application.

George-Ikoli further argued that a 2024 judgment from South Africa cited by the applicants could not determine ownership of intellectual property rights in Nigeria, which, he said, must be determined under Nigerian law.

Counsel to the applicants, Chief Muoneke Paschal Oluchukwu, presented a different account of the brand’s history.

In his written address, Oluchukwu said CAN AFFORD Products and Projects (Pty) Limited, owned by Perumal Chetty, was appointed the Nigerian distributor of the product in 2012, with the relationship formally documented on January 1, 2016.

He said Christian Onunkwor Ekene, a director of Jigsimur Plus, approached Chetty in 2014 seeking to become the sole distributor of the product in Nigeria and was subsequently introduced to Rouxnel Ungerer to obtain the product for regulatory approval by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

According to Oluchukwu, CAN AFFORD subsequently secured the Nigerian trademark registrations in 2021.

He said the relationship between the parties later deteriorated over the production of different product sizes allegedly without approval from the South African parent company.

The parties’ competing claims now face further judicial scrutiny as the dispute moves to the Federal High Court, where the issues of ownership, registration, distribution and protection of the Jigsimur brand in Nigeria are expected to be contested.