Lukman Olabiyi 

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court, Lagos, has granted an Anton Piller order authorising Western Lotto Nigeria Limited to take possession of all products, equipment, and games style called “Ghana Games” from other lottery operators in Nigeria.

The Anton Piller order is an order of court, made ex-parte and requiring a defendant or respondent to allow certain persons to enter his premises to search for documents and movable articles as are specified in the court order, and to permit such documents or articles to be taken away

The court also authorised Western Lotto to inspect, photograph, and look for materials and documents which constitute evidence of the infringement of Western Lotto Nigeria Ltd’s exclusive rights to use the trademark associated with Ghana Games.

But the judge refused Western Lotto’s application to destroy all products, equipment and games of the firms offering Ghana Games products.

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These include those offering their products as Monday Special Lotto, Lucky Tuesday Lotto, Midweek Lotto, Fortune Lotto, Friday Bonanza Lotto, Saturday National Lotto, VAG Lotto, and Super Six Lotto, which are in breach of Western Lotto’s exclusive rights to use the trade names and trademarks associated with the Ghana Games Lotto products.

The judge gave the orders after dismissing preliminary objections filed by 25 respondents in the suit.

The respondents in their preliminary objections asked the court to decline jurisdiction on the matter and strike out Western Lotto’s suit for being incompetent.

The respondents in the suit marked FHC/L/CL/2321/19 are: National Lottery Regulatory Commission; Registrar of Trade Marks, Premier Lotto Limited, Secure Electronic Technology Limited, Richwell Plaza Limited, Peoples Empowerment Lottery Limited, Gab Lotto Limited, Payday Lotteries Limited, and R&S Lotto Ltd.