A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has struck out a copyright infringement suit filed against Nigerian Breweries (NB) Plc on the ground that the plaintiff, Mr. Paul Allen Oche, lacks locus to bring the action.
Oche and three others in the N1.5 billion suit filed three years ago against NB Plc were claiming damages against the company for the alleged breach of his copyright in the work “The Amstel Factor: An Amstel Malta Guide on how to be the best you can be”.
However, in its own action, the NB had filed a preliminary objection to the suit stating that Amstel Malta is one of the well-known brands in its portfolio for which it had launched several campaigns over the years and that the petitioners were laying a false claim to the copyright in one of such campaigns launched in 2016.
Delivering her ruling, Justice Binta Nyako held that the petitioners reserved no locus standi to institute and also maintain the action and she consequently struck it out.
The company maintained that the petitioners had earlier lodged a similar complaint at the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), where it proffered a criminal charge against the company at the same Federal High Court.
It was argued that after a further review of the suit, the commission withdrew the charge against the company in October 2019.
