A new word has taken hold in conversations between friends, enemies, and the general press: metaverse. And for a good reason, Facebook has announced that it is developing a technology that will make it possible to materialize the passage to this data-ized and algorithmized virtual world where the flesh and blood creatures that we are, will navigate.

Opinion:  Why Facebook must stay out of Metaverse – Yusuf Odukoya

The metaverse, which is a contraction of a meta-universe, describes a parallel and virtual world historically imagined and designed by video game players. By this intellectually exciting technological realization, one can only hope that Facebook do not control our behaviour even more by imposing itself on the market of life and digital reports.

While the metaverse is worth exploring for a variety of reasons, perhaps it shouldn’t be in the hands of a company like Facebook.

For a long time, the construction of virtual worlds has been explored in the field of entertainment through video games, but not only that; Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality were also used in the following ways;

1. Training of airplane pilots using flight simulators
2. Education
3. Treatment of certain traumas
4. Company for people undergoing isolation

All the above-mentioned applications illustrate some of the benefits of the digital virtualization of the world.

The scientific and technical success also have some exciting effect on other fields. Computer Vision – a discipline that involves building algorithmic models that can analyze photos and videos, and give feedback in near real-time. In this idea, Facebook is investing billions of dollars on hiring thousands of talents all over the world to explore this intellectually stimulating scientific and technological breakthrough even deeper.

The Reinforced virtualization of social life

This project is in reality only the tree that hides the forest, or the visible face of the iceberg of the strategy – in this case – of Facebook.

By taking technological control of this universe and its uses by individuals, the company can collect a gigantic amount of information concerning our personalities, our interactions with others, our desires, even our fears.

Once structured, this information can become a formidable lever to fuel even more – not to say strengthen – the economic model of the company already widely criticized.

We collect demographic data on individuals through their static characteristics – such as gender, age, place of residence etc., and dynamic – such as behaviour. On social networks, these behaviours are materialized by the content we like and share, or the type and frequency of our comments.

That being said, we understand the importance of the metaverse to collect even more information by moving to a higher level in the simulation of our behaviours. This includes our interactions with others, but also vis-à-vis a given situation or scenario.

Through this enhanced virtualization of social life, we could then analyze more precisely our character, our attitudes, and our tastes in order to anticipate our reactions or to offer us more targeted commercial content.

Conclusion

I think the motivation of a company like Facebook is questionable, especially considering its historical cases of privacy abuses and scandals in the world of social networks.

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Peak Milk’s Something Hooge Ad

Sabinus’ legal adviser and representative, Mr Stanley Alieke, slapped a hefty ₦1 Billion Naira lawsuit on Friesland Foods WAMCO, stating that the phrase “Something Hooge” is a registered trademark of his client. UAC Foods, on the other hand, received a lawsuit demanding that they pay ₦100 Million Naira for damages.

While Friesland’s violation was outrightly using his trademarked phrase, “Something Hooge” on a social media ad creative for Peak Milk, UAC’s offence was using a cartooned version of Sabinus’ signature pose in an ad for Gala Sausage Roll.

Pic: The Gala’s ad creative which was accused of intellectual theft.

However, UAC’s case drew so much controversy, with so many people maintaining the sentiment that there wasn’t so much resemblance to conclude that it was Sabinus. Some people opined that even if there was a resemblance, the pose was not, and cannot be trademarked.

Both Friesland Foods and UAC seem unbothered by the current brouhaha as they have yet to bring down the ad creatives at the time of writing this article.

Perhaps, a case of “do your worst”. 🤣🤣

What could hinder Oga Sabinus from further pursuing his claim?

According to Resolution Law Nigeria, a registered trademark is an identity and distinction that sets apart products of particular providers from those of others in the marketplace and affords the opportunity to benefit from the valuable reputation built over time in course of using the trademark.

Now, here’s the catch: A trademark applicant who intends to register a mark on more than one class of goods can file a separate application for each classification of the trademark to be registered. 

What this means is that a trademark must be registered in more than one trademark class to broaden the spectrum of its trademark protection. If an infringement occurs outside of the registered trademark class, then it will NOT be protected by the trademark law.

There are currently 45 classes of trademarks according to the trademark classification guidelines in Nigeria. Classes 1 to 34 are for goods, while Classes 35 to 45 are for services. Meanwhile, Oga Sabinus had registered his trademark phrase, “Something Hooge” as a Class 36 trademark only.  See the image below for proof.

Oga Sabinus’ Something Hooge Trademark Acceptance Letter

If you want to know what types of products and services are covered in each trademark class, please read this resource.

Trademark Class 36: Insurance; financial services; real estate agency services; building society services; banking; stockbroking; financial services provided via the Internet; issuing of tokens of value in relation to bonus and loyalty schemes; provision of financial information.

For the above reason, Oga Sabinus’ trademark infringement claim can not be legally pursued.

What are the Consequences for Oga Sabinus? – My Opinion

Sabinus should have just avoided the uninformed pursuit of a lawsuit like this one, especially considering that it would make the headlines. If only he knew what it takes to actually win a lawsuit against one giant company, talk more of filing two cases against two big giants at once.

Also, seeking ₦1 billion Naira in damages from Friesland for the alleged infringement upon a trademark that was yet to be finalized, is a big joke. This single act may deter brands from working with him in the future. It’s a big stain on his image, but I hope it fades away.

The process of trademarking a name takes a decent amount of time — From the initial filing to the final certification stage.

It will take at least, five months from the date of filing for the trademark to the notification of acceptance. Not to mention the stage where it will be published in the official trademark gazette before getting to the final certification stage where a trademark certificate is issued.

An Acceptance Letter from a Trademark Office is not legal proof that you own a trademark name. In this case, Sabinus applied for a trademark around November 2021, but in May 2022, he is already suing companies to the tune of ₦1 billion Naira for trademark infringement.

It is worth noting that these companies are no rookies in corporate laws and governance, and they know exactly what they are doing.

Cheap mistakes like this happen when you put money first and image next, but I hope that Sabinus learns from it and become a better businessman.

Branditechture is a DMCA-compliant organization. Please note that the assets used in this article are properties of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended. If you are convinced that there is a copyright infringement, please submit a Takedown Request via email to dmca@branditechture-agency.local or through the DMCA using this link.

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It was confirmed by several reliable sources that the Glo advert, which was a “Link Your NIN” campaign was neither submitted nor approved for exposure by the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP).

Just so you know, the Advertising Standards Panel is an independent body that was set up to ensure that advertisements are in line with the prevailing laws and code of ethics guiding all forms of advertisements in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In a letter to Globacom Limited, APCON demanded that the advertisement be immediately removed on all broadcast and social media channels in order to prevent further circulation of the advertisement/commercial.

An excerpt from the letter reads;

The monitoring department of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) has flagged a Glo dial *109# “Link Your NIN’ commercial featuring a female model (Osas Ighodaro). The campaign which was caused to be exposed by Globacom Limited is currently being aired on some TV stations and social media platforms targeted at the Nigerian market and eliciting complaints about the exposure of the model’s cleavage.

See the full letter below.

APCON’s Formal Letter to Glo

So, What’s Wrong With the Glo NIN Advert?

I may be wrong, but I personally don’t see anything sexually inappropriate about the Glo NIN commercial, although it already looked like Glo drew too close to the grey area considering Osas Ighodaro’s dress code. However, I think it is still not enough to receive a criticism of this magnitude.

Sincerely, for me, it’s just not enough to trigger this takedown order from the APCON.

I think the real issue here is the fact that the commercial was published without passing through the due approval process by the Advertising Standards Panel, and as a result of this, Globacom Nigeria may be at the receiving end of a penalty.

As at the time of writing this article, the commercial is still live on their Youtube Channel.

What do  you think about the whole situation? Isn’t the APCON a little aggressive in dealing with this situation? Use the comments below.

Branditechture is a DMCA-compliant organization. Please note the video and model used in this article are properties of Globacom Nigeria Limited. No copyright infringement is intended. If you are convinced that there is a copyright infringement, please submit a Takedown Request via email to dmca@branditechture-agency.local or through the DMCA using this link.

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