Section 10: Use of Red Cross and other emblems

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, it shall not be lawful for any person, without the authority of the Minister charged with responsibility for matters relating to defence, to use for any purpose whatsoever any of the following emblems or designations, that is to say-
(a) the emblem of a red cross with vertical and horizontal arms of the same length on, and completely surrounded by, a white ground, or the designation "Red Cross" or "Geneva Cross";
(b) the emblem of a red crescent moon on, and completely surrounded by, a white ground, or the designation "Red Crescent";
(c) the following emblem in red on, and completely surrounded by, a white ground, that is to say, a lion passing from right to left of, and with its face turned towards the observer, holding erect in its raised right forepaw a scimitar, with, appearing above the lion's back, the upper half of the sun shooting forth rays, or the designation "Red Lion and Sun".
(2)
Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall prevent the use of the emblem and title of the Red Cross by the Nigerian Red Cross Society and its officers and members in accordance with the provisions of the Nigerian Red Cross Society Act, and any rules made thereunder.
[Cap. N130.]
(3) Subject to the provisions of this section, it shall not be lawful for any person, without the authority of the Minister charged with responsibility for matters relating to trade marks to use for any purpose whatsoever-
(a) any design consisting of a white or silver cross with vertical and horizontal arms of the same length on, and completely surrounded by, a red ground, being the heraldic emblems of the Swiss Confederation, or any other design so nearly resembling that design as to be capable of being mistaken for that heraldic emblem;
(b) any design or wording so nearly resembling any of the emblems or designations specified in subsection (1) of this section as to be capable of being mistaken for, or, as the case may be, understood as referring to, one of those emblems.
(4) If any person contravenes any of the provisions of subsections (1), (2) or (3) of this section he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding One Hundred Naira and to forfeit any goods upon or in connection with which the emblem, designation, design or wording was used.
(5) Any goods which cannot be used without a contravention of subsection (3) of this section shall be prohibited imports for the purposes of the customs laws.
(6) The provisions of subsections (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) of this section shall not apply to a trade mark registered in Nigeria before the date on which this Act comes into operation by reason only of its consisting of or containing a design or wording which reproduces or resembles an emblem or designation specified in paragraph (b) or (c) of subsection (1) of this section and where a person is charged with using such design or wording for any purpose, and it is proved that he used it otherwise than as, or part of, a trade mark registered as aforesaid, it shall be a defence to prove-
(a) that he has lawfully used that design or wording in Nigeria for that purpose continuously since before the Ist day of September, 1959, on which date the Geneva Conventions Act, 1957, of the Parliament of the United Kingdom was made applicable to Nigeria; or
(b) in a case where he is charged with using the design or wording on goods, that the design or wording had been applied to the goods before he acquired them by some other person who had manufactured or dealt with the goods in the course of trade, and who has lawfully used the design or wording in Nigeria on similar goods continuously since before the 1st day of September, 1959.
(7) Where an offence under this section committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate. or any person purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly, and in this subsection the expression "director", in relation to any body corporate established by or under any enactment for the purpose of carrying on under public ownership any industry or undertaking or part of an industry or undertaking, being a body corporate whose affairs are managed by the members thereof, means a member of that body.
(8) It is hereby declared that this section extends to the use in or outside Nigeria of any such emblem, designation, design or wording as referred to in subsections (1) and (3) of this section on any British ship or aircraft registered in Nigeria.