Two Nigerian restaurants in the UK avoid a legal battle over the name Aso Rock

TWO Nigerian eateries in the UK have avoided getting into a legal spat after a restaurant in Kettering in the Midlands agreed to change its name to Zuma Rock from Aso Rock following a legal threat from another outlet with same name.

Katherine and Daniel Ememere opened their restaurant in the Northamptonshire town of Kettering earlier this year, welcoming  their first customers in February. However, the name of the Rockingham Road venue angered a London family-run restaurant which has been called Aso Rock since 1999, although it was not trademarked.

As a result, the London company started legal action, saying diners believed the Kettering restaurant was affiliated to them. After a row, which even saw the police called, the Kettering venue has now changed its name to Zuma Rock.

Ayo Adesina of Aso Rock in London, said: “I’m not having it. They have picked on the wrong person, the wrong company and the wrong family. We are trying to go national and we cannot have some random shop somewhere that people think is associated with us."

Katherine said they did not see anything with the same name when they registered it in Companies House last year and that there was no way they would have known but that the name was not worth fighting over. What followed was an angry row between both sides, which each accused each other of being abusive and police even called to a confrontation between them in Kettering.

Now, however, the matter has been resolved amicably after Mr Adesina wrote a cease and desist letter, explaining that his restaurant has been using the name for 25 years. He also filed a trademark application for the restaurant name Aso Rock, which is named after a monolith outside the Nigerian capital Abuja and the presidential villa.