The tribalists always rear their ugly heads. Why did this writer have to say "a group of ethnic Igbo Nigerian film industry investors to purchase his Nollywood trademark"? Why not just say "a group of Nigerian film industry investors"?

That statement automatically relegates this guy to be an Igbo person. That last name can be Ikwerre or Etche (I know this one is a minefield).

Are we to assume that an Ikwerre or Etche person cannot be this skillful?

Anyway, Good move!

As reported by linkedin article below:
https://www./article/20141016171837-311299913--uspto-affirms-nollywood-trademark-belongs-to-enigmatic-nicholas-opara?trk=object-title

This enigmatic US based Nigerian entrepreneur named Nicholas Opara recently won a trademark infringement action against the owner of the website nollywood.com over its unauthorized use of the term “Nollywood” in its website name. Nollywood.com streamed online trailers and distributed Nigerian/African movies on DVD. The Nigerian/African movie industry is valued at $5.1Billion (indiewire reported in a recent article that the Nollywood Mobile Video Market is Worth More than US$7 Billion Annually see Shadow and Act article: Nollywood Mobile Video Market is Worth More than US$7 Billion Annually). This is the first time that Nicholas Opara of Washington State has taken legal action to protect his extremely valuable brand.

This infringement action was a result of the USPTO ruling on September 5th, 2014 reaffirming the ownership of the Nollywood trademark by Nicholas Opara. The trademark in question here (according to the USPTO Mr. Opara owns several “Nollywood” intellectual properties) is in classes 038 and 035 which includes Audio broadcasting, video broadcasting and multimedia content via the Internet and other communications networks.

From all indications, the infringement action was brought against the website nollywood.com after the owner and the website hosting company – Dotster Inc. - were offered a licensing deal. While the owner of the website refused to license the Nollywood trademark, the hosting company felt differently and capitulated to Mr. Opara’s request. The standard practice for major companies in trademark disputes is to quickly honor a Cease and Desist legal action from a valid trademark owner. This protects them from financial sanctions via a 3rd party claim by the trademark owner.

According to several news articles, it is clear that this development is squarely in the forefront of discussions within the Nigerian/African film industry and even the Nigerian Presidency. Emotions are quite charged on this topic. Nigerian Movie industry personalities have actually lost their composure and publicly made death threats towards Nicholas Opara (see Segun Arinze’s interview: Nigerian Tribune|August 9th 2014|An American journalist coined Nollywood). Segun Arinze’s threats were perhaps not the best civilized way to express his displeasure over a strictly business matter.

While some people will look at this development with trepidation and dismay, the USPTO ruling in Nicholas Opara’s favor sends a message that companies and websites cannot violate the trademark and other intellectual property rights of any individual. This ruling can now act as a catalyst to developing an intellectual property and brand framework that the Nigerian movie industry lacks.

What is missing in this whole dynamics is the input of forward thinking and obviously very private Nicholas Opara. So many questions remain to be answered by this man. I am sure the readers will agree. These questions include: What are his future plans for the Nollywood brand and these intellectual properties that he has acquired? Are the speculations in some circles true that he has been approached by the tech giants in the U.S.A like Google/Youtube, Microsoft and a group of ethnic Igbo Nigerian film industry investors to purchase his Nollywood trademark (note that companies like google/youtube/Microsoft cannot use the name on any of their video channels because they will be infringing on his trademark)? Has he been in touch with the Nigerian government/Nigerian movie practitioners regarding licensing or at least giving them first bid preference on purchasing the intellectual property? Can Nicholas Opara at least give an interview or press release regarding his game plan? And why is the present President of the actor’s guild of Nigeria – IB Fiberisima - not talking to him?

Regardless of how this saga unfolds, Nicholas Opara has positioned himself as a person to be reckoned within the Nigerian and African Movie Industry. His foresight by acquiring the Nollywood intellectual property makes him, for all intents and purposes, the gatekeeper of the Nollywood brand and the most powerful man in the African Film industry.

All legal hell has indeed broken loose!

I just got confirmation from a contact in the registrar and hosting company for the site http://nollywood.com that the site has been suspended due to the trademark infringement of the term "nollywood" owned by Nicholas Opara.

And I went to check the site and the usual content is gone.

This is a precursor to having that domain name turned over to the trademark owner.

I have been following this saga from the start and my analysis is that this individual - Nicholas Opara - is extremely forward thinking and obviously an outstanding entrepreneur. A true Igbo/Ikwerre man. The law is on his side. I am sure he has employed his legal people to look at the pros and cons. He is in essence doing what the Nigerian government and the industry did not think about, which is: Bringing the industry under an intellectual property umbrella in the highest yielding markets for nollywood.

From a business perspective, It would be to the benefit of the Nigerian government and industry professionals to engage him and work with him. After all he is still a Nigerian, although he might be a US citizen. One would hope that he is as patriotic as he is intelligent. (Kanayo O. Kanayo/Fiberisima where are you?)

It still puzzles me that the Nigerian government never thought of this. How in the world due you base/rebase a country's GDP on something that you do not own the intellectual property to? Our people never fail to amaze me sometimes.

Below is a copy of the letter forwarded to me by my contact.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <legal@dotster-inc.com>
Date: Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 11:26 AM
Subject: [P12787475000000000] Nollywood Trademark Violation | nollywood.com | Check6/24
To: trademarkabuse@nollywood.ca


Hello,

We have suspended the account and domain name to make the website go down. Please clear your cache and cookies to make sure you are not reviewing a cache version. However if our customer provides a court order that they are allowed to use the material we will abide by the court order. Please let me know if you have any further question or concerns.

Regards,
Zach Palmer
Compliance Manager

Arrests In Nigeria After Gang-violation Posted On Internet

How come we hear this from the foreign news services first?


The Nigerian police have arrested two people in connection with the gang-violation of a woman posted on the internet.
Bala Hassan, the commissioner for police in Abia State, said the two men were detained after cyber activists posted pictures and names online.

The video has shocked Nigeria both for the brutal nature of the violation and the initial failure to investigate.

There had appeared little chance of the five men who taped themselves sexually assaulting a woman being caught.

Despite the video of the violation being widely watched online, officials in Abia State had declared their short investigations over as the victim had not come forward.

What followed was a sustained campaign on social networks to force the police back into action and to uncover clues from the video that might identify the culprits.

On Thursday the Nigerian national assembly called on the police to re-open their investigation.

Three days later, based purely on names and photos posted online, they have made two arrests.

The violation victim also appears to have been located.

A women's rights group has said they are now in touch with her and are trying to get her out of Abia State to where she can receive counselling and medical attention.

This high-profile case has highlighted what campaigners say is the Nigerian police's refusal to take violation seriously as a crime.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15048700
http://diasforum.com/forum/general/arrests-in-nigeria-after-gang-violation-posted-on-internet

http://twitter.com/#!/apnewsbrk/status/115108853695262721

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) -- A relative of the slain leader of a radical Muslim sect in Nigeria was shot dead Saturday, only two days after taking part in peace talks led by a former president, police said.

This makes for an interesting read.  Your thought?

http://diasforum.com/forum/general/briton-submits-petition-to-apologise-for-britains-role-in-biafran-war/#p5

Content below:

Created by:Fergus Dodd
Responsible department: Foreign and Commonwealth Office
After a campaign of murder and persecution against the Igbo people in Nigeria, the state of Biafra attempted to secede from Nigeria. The Government of the United Kingdom provided diplomatic support and was the largest supplier of arms to the Nigerian Government during the Biafran war. Over a million people, mainly Igbos, died during this terrible and unnecessary war. The present day British Government should apologise to the Igbo people for their complicity in the deaths of so many innocent people.

The bolded section below just jumped out at me "commit rape of both sexes". Are these police people that desperate?  Nah wah - A man is not even safe from sexual assault in police custody?  Abi nah Police Women dey rape the Men?

Preface:
Police in Nigeria commit extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, and extortion with relative impunity. Nigeria Police Force personnel routinely carry out summary executions of persons accused or suspected of crime; rely on torture as a principal means of investigation; commit rape of both sexes, with a particular focus on sex workers; and engage in extortion at nearly every opportunity.

Read the full report here: May 2010 Nigeria Police ABUSE Report http://massob.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/may-2010-open-society-justice-initiative-nigeria-police-abuse-report.pdf

Part 2 is located here:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-478531.0.html

2nd part of Ojukwu's war speech.

The eloquence continues.

http://massob.org/2010/07/13/ojukwus-war-speech-biafra-the-struggle-for-survival_part2/

Impressive enunciation.

First part in this post:
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-476588.0.html

50 years of dysfunction at the very core.  50 years of treating several rotting cancers instead of just chopping the appendages off.

Call me a pessimist but listen to this eloquently put together argument for reasons for our dysfunction and you might become a pessimist too.

http://massob.org/2010/07/08/ojukwus-war-speech-biafra-the-struggle-for-survival_part1/

The sad thing is that we have devolved so much that today's politicians/military leaders are so ill read that they can barely articulate their sentences(even when it is prepared for them).

What in the world happened?

Are we seeing a trend here?

I know that some of these soldiers make more money "moonlighting".  This shows that the worst is yet to come.

http://massob.org/2010/04/07/nigerian-soldiers-defecting-to-massob-and-mend/

Everyone is taking a poll: example below.

http://massob.org/2010/03/16/poll-do-you-think-the-muslim-world-will-agree-with-gaddafi-to-divide-nigeria-in-two/

Do we really think that the suggestions of Gaddafi will change the trend of affairs and let northern Nigeria leave the south alone?

I think that stands as a confirmation from their website.

http://mendnigerdelta.com/current-news/m-e-n-d-press-releases/

I found the press release here:

http://mendnigerdelta.com/current-news/m-e-n-d-press-releases/

I think that stands as a confirmation.

I follow all MASSOB News in one place - www.massobnews.com - because there is information coming from everywhere:
http://massobnews.com/

Well, they say that a child that does not want his father to sleep, will not sleep either.

Nigeria does not want the easterners to sleep, let us see if they will sleep.

Interesting article.

http://massob.org/2010/03/12/the-recent-problem-in-jos-can-be-avoided/

But really, do you think this gentleman's point is valid?

Do you think groups like MASSOB and MEND should get into the mix?

http://mendnigerdelta.com/2009/12/mend-nigerdelta-news-niger-delta-militants-break-ceasefire/

So can we safely assume that the amnesty program has imploded too? I mean, we all knew it was a "sham" in the first place but we didnt quite expect things to fall apart this fast.

What is going to happen to all the ex militants being "re-educated".

Na wah!