{"id":109418,"date":"2026-01-24T08:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T07:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.digitalbusiness.africa\/?p=109418"},"modified":"2026-01-24T13:49:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T12:49:54","slug":"the-irish-company-ac-shining-stars-initiates-legal-proceedings-against-mtn-group-and-seeks-cfa-2600-billion-in-damages-for-the-unauthorized-use-of-the-mobile-money-trademark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.digitalbusiness.africa\/en\/the-irish-company-ac-shining-stars-initiates-legal-proceedings-against-mtn-group-and-seeks-cfa-2600-billion-in-damages-for-the-unauthorized-use-of-the-mobile-money-trademark\/","title":{"rendered":"The Irish company AC Shining Stars initiates legal proceedings against MTN Group and seeks CFA 2,600 billion in damages for the unauthorized use of the Mobile Money trademark"},"content":{"rendered":"

[DIGITAL Business Africa] \u2013<\/strong> Irish company AC Shining Stars Management Ltd (ACS)<\/strong> announced on January 21, 2026, from Dublin, that it has initiated international legal proceedings against South African telecommunications group MTN Group Limited and several of its subsidiaries, for the unauthorised use of the registered trademark \u201cMOBILE MONEY\u00ae\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to the statement released by ACS, the proceedings target the alleged exploitation of this trademark in 14 countries: Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Congo, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, France, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea (Conakry), Kenya, Liberia, Namibia, Rwanda, and Zambia.<\/p>\n

The claimant company says it is seeking more than \u20ac4 billion in damages, equivalent to approximately CFA 2,600 billion, for what it describes as massive violations of its intellectual property rights.<\/p>\n

A trademark registered in 37 jurisdictions<\/h4>\n

AC Shining Stars states that it is the holder of the \u201cMOBILE MONEY\u00ae\u201d trademark, registered with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) under number ROM.1318304. According to the company, the trademark is protected in 37 jurisdictions across three continents, including Europe, Africa, and Asia.<\/p>\n

According to explanations provided by AC Shining Stars, whose legal counsel is ensured by Ma\u00eetre Paul Bayemi of \u00c9toiles Avocats (Paris, France), the protection invoked is based both on direct national registrations in around twenty countries\u2014including France, China, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia, Rwanda, and Zambia\u2014and on a regional registration via the African Intellectual Property Organization, covering 17 African States, including Cameroon, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Senegal, Mali, and Chad.<\/p>\n

ACS further states that these registrations were examined and validated by more than twenty national and regional intellectual property offices.<\/p>\n

Legal action following unsuccessful non-contentious efforts<\/h4>\n

Still, according to the statement, the legal action follows several years of unsuccessful attempts at amicable settlement. AC Shining Stars claims to have undertaken non-contentious initiatives, including what it describes as diplomatic approaches, which did not succeed.<\/p>\n

The company says it decided to refer the matter to the competent courts after concluding that its efforts had been ignored by MTN Group and that the situation could no longer be resolved outside judicial proceedings.<\/p>\n

A contested commercial exploitation<\/h4>\n

In its communication, AC Shining Stars accuses MTN Group and its subsidiaries of having commercially exploited the \u201cMOBILE MONEY\u00ae\u201d trademark in several protected markets without authorisation, to the detriment of partners holding, according to the company, legitimate licenses.<\/p>\n

The company considers that such uses constitute trademark infringement and justify the damages claim filed in the ongoing proceedings.<\/p>\n

A warning to market players<\/h5>\n

Through this legal action and its public communication, AC Shining Stars says it seeks to reaffirm that the \u201cMOBILE MONEY\u00ae\u201d trademark is a protected intellectual property and that no organisation or individual is authorised to use it without prior written consent.<\/p>\n

The company adds that any unauthorised use, including use as a generic term, may constitute a trademark violation and be subject to legal action.<\/p>\n

At this stage, MTN Group has not yet publicly commented on the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cMOBILE MONEY\u201d trademark: what WIPO\u2019s official registers show<\/h5>\n

Following the statement released by AC Shining Stars, Digital Business Africa consulted the international trademark register of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) via the Madrid Monitor system<\/a><\/strong> to verify information regarding the \u201cMOBILE MONEY\u201d trademark.<\/p>\n

The available data confirm the existence of an active international registration and reveal significant nuances in the actual scope of protection across countries and service classes.<\/p>\n

\"AC<\/a> A trademark registered since 2016 and still active<\/h5>\n

The \u201cMOBILE MONEY\u201d word mark has been registered since July 21, 2016, in the name of AC Shining Stars Management Ltd, based in Cork, Ireland. The international registration is listed as active, with an expiry date of July 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

The filing language is French, and the trademark is represented in standard characters.<\/p>\n

Three key classes for FinTech and telecommunications<\/h4>\n

The international registration covers three classes under the Nice Classification, which are particularly sensitive to the digital ecosystem:<\/p>\n

\u2013 Class 9,<\/strong> relating to electronic equipment, software, digital devices, and technological hardware;
\n\u2013 Class 36<\/strong>, covering financial, banking, payment, insurance, and financial management services;
\n\u2013 Class 38,<\/strong> dedicated to telecommunications, mobile communications, and network access services.<\/p>\n

These classes correspond directly to the core activities of mobile money services and modern telecom offerings.<\/p>\n

Territorial protection varies by country<\/h5>\n

As provided for under the Madrid system, protection of an international trademark is not uniform and depends on decisions taken by each national office.<\/p>\n

WIPO registers show that the trademark enjoys full protection in certain States, such as Morocco, where Classes 9, 36, and 38 were expressly accepted by the competent national office.<\/p>\n

Conversely, in other countries, protection is partial. In Madagascar, for example, WIPO data indicate that only Class 9 is protected, while financial and telecommunications services under Classes 36 and 38 were subject to a partial provisional refusal notified in 2017.<\/p>\n

A change of ownership was recorded in 2024<\/h4>\n

Another element appears in the official history of the trademark: a change of holder was recorded on August 23, 2024.<\/p>\n

At this stage, the information available in WIPO\u2019s international register does not specify the nature of this change (assignment, restructuring, transfer, or otherwise), nor the identity of the previous holder.<\/p>\n

In the absence of these public details, it is not possible, based solely on the register, to determine the exact terms of the transfer or to draw conclusions regarding prior ownership of the trademark.<\/p>\n

Key takeaways<\/h5>\n

The verifications carried out by Digital Business Africa, therefore, confirm the existence of a valid international registration of the \u201cMOBILE MONEY\u201d trademark, in force until July 2026. They also show that the scope of this protection varies across territories and service classes, a central element in any analysis or proceedings relating to the use of this trademark.<\/p>\n

About AC Shining Stars Management Ltd<\/h4>\n

AC Shining Stars Management Ltd is an Irish limited liability company registered with the Companies Registration Office (CRO), the official register of companies in Ireland. According to information available in the professional database SoloCheck, the company was incorporated on Friday, September 3, 2021, and currently has a normal (active) status.<\/p>\n

Still, according to SoloCheck, AC Shining Stars Management Ltd is registered under company number 703071. Its declared address is partial and located in Dublin 2, an area that hosts a large number of companies; the company shares its Eircode with more than 1,600 other registered entities.<\/p>\n

The company is classified as a micro-enterprise, with a declared principal activity under code [6202] \u2013 Computer consultancy activities. It may trade under the name AC Shining Stars Management Ltd.<\/p>\n

Governance and positioning<\/h5>\n
\"AC<\/a>
C\u00e9dric Atangana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Contacted by Digital Business Africa, Cameroonian national C\u00e9dric Atangana\u00a0states that he is the Chairman of the Board of AC Shining Stars Management Ltd. He further says that the company relies on \u201can expanded board of directors made up of international experts spread across all five continents\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

A company claiming an international footprint<\/h5>\n

On its website, AC Shining Stars Management Ltd presents itself as an independent international financial technology services company, founded on a values-driven culture and a long-term value creation approach.<\/p>\n

Based in Dublin, at the heart of one of Europe\u2019s leading financial hubs, the company says it relies on multidisciplinary expertise, structured intellectual capital, and a global network to support its clients and partners.<\/p>\n

It claims an operational presence in more than 85 countries across Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa.<\/p>\n

Declared areas of expertise<\/h5>\n

According to its institutional communications, AC Shining Stars Management operates notably in:
\n\u2013 intellectual property and investments in intangible assets;
\n\u2013 financial advisory and financial technology services;
\n\u2013 digital payments and international remittances;
\n\u2013 data analytics, business intelligence, and decision support;
\n\u2013 venture capital and private equity investments.<\/p>\n

A model structured around five business pillars<\/h5>\n

The company states that it bases its long-term development on a model structured around five interconnected activities:
\n\u2013 intellectual property investments and private equity;
\n\u2013 digital payments and remittance services;
\n\u2013 financial inclusion;
\n\u2013 data analytics, insights, and business intelligence;
\n\u2013 international purchasing centre.<\/p>\n

An intellectual property\u2013focused strategy<\/h5>\n

AC Shining Stars Management says it invests in the acquisition, protection, exploitation, and licensing of intellectual property rights, including trademarks, patents, inventions, trade secrets, copyrights, and artistic assets.<\/p>\n

The company also indicates that it is involved in the financing of intellectual property litigation, particularly when assets it owns or operates in partnership are, in its view, subject to abusive use.<\/p>\n

In this context, as AC Shining Stars Management claims to base part of its business model on investing in the acquisition, protection, exploitation, and licensing of intellectual property rights, the legal proceedings initiated against MTN Group are expected to be closely followed.<\/p>\n

They should make it possible to assess, before the competent courts, the concrete scope of this investment strategy in intangible assets, as well as its potential implications for the mobile money and FinTech ecosystem at the African and international levels.<\/p>\n

By Beaugas-Orain DJOYUM<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[DIGITAL Business Africa] \u2013 Irish company AC Shining Stars Management Ltd (ACS) announced on January 21, 2026, from Dublin, that it has initiated international legal proceedings against South African telecommunications group MTN Group Limited and several of its subsidiaries, for the unauthorised use of the registered trademark \u201cMOBILE MONEY\u00ae\u201d. According to the statement released by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":109417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[46587,46501,46541,46627,46623,46536,46608,46582,46514],"tags":[67408,67406,67407,67410,67409],"class_list":{"0":"post-109418","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-african-countries","8":"category-central-africa","9":"category-latest-publications","10":"category-mtn-news","11":"category-operators","12":"category-recommended-articles","13":"category-reglementation","14":"category-slidehome-en","15":"category-west-africa","16":"tag-ac-shining-stars-management-ltd","17":"tag-ac-shining-stars-management-ltd-acs","18":"tag-acs","19":"tag-cedric-atangana","20":"tag-mobile-money"},"yoast_head":"\nAC Shining Stars seeks billions from MTN over Mobile Money - Digital Business Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u2013 Irish company AC Shining Stars Management Ltd (ACS) announced on January 21, 2026, from Dublin, that it has initiated international legal proceedings\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalbusiness.africa\/en\/the-irish-company-ac-shining-stars-initiates-legal-proceedings-against-mtn-group-and-seeks-cfa-2600-billion-in-damages-for-the-unauthorized-use-of-the-mobile-money-trademark\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AC Shining Stars seeks billions from MTN over Mobile Money - 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