US MAN SUES SOCCER STAR CRISTIANO RONALDO OVER CR7 TRADEMARK

Global football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is
also known to fans by the shorthand CR7,
prompting the company behind his line of
sleek underwear to target a Rhode Island
man who has trademarked the letter-number
combination, according to a new lawsuit.
In a complaint filed Monday in Rhode Island
federal court, 43-year-old fitness enthusiast
Christopher Renzi said he had received
letters from lawyers for the Danish company
JBS Textile Group demanding he give up the
trademark because it had “imminent plans”
to enter the U.S. market with Ronaldo’s CR7
underwear.
JBS has also asked the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office to cancel Renzi’s
trademark, according to court documents.
Renzi is seeking the court’s declaration that
he owns the trademark.
“We just want them to leave us alone,” said
Renzi’s attorney Michael Feldhuhn.
Attorneys for JBS could not be reached for
comment.
Renzi registered the moniker in 2009 and has
put it on jeans and T-shirts, Feldhuhn said.
He also has a website advertising a seven-
minute fitness workout, also under the CR7
name.
According to the complaint, Renzi adopted
the mark based on his initials and the day he
was born, October 7.
Court materials showed that JBS, which said
it holds the “exclusive, worldwide license” to
market Ronaldo’s CR7 underwear, believed
Renzi trademarked CR7 specifically to profit
from Ronaldo’s soaring fame.
CR7 was “so closely tied to the fame and
reputation of Cristiano Ronaldo, that a
connection with the soccer player would
immediately be presumed by the general
public when encountering” Renzi’s branded
clothes, said JBS’s filing with the Trademark
Trial and Appeal Board.
The 29-year-old Ronaldo, who plays for the
Spanish club Real Madrid, is one of the most
highly paid and recognizable athletes in the
world. He has marketing deals with
numerous major companies. His Facebook
page has more than 93 million “likes.”
One of his latest postings shows a behind-
the-scenes underwear photo shoot for a CR7
campaign launching “next week.”
Besides underwear, his brand is already
expanding into shirts and shoes.
Ronaldo is a more famous user of CR7,
Feldhuhn said, “but it’s really based on who’s
using it first. We can show we were the first
use of the CR7 name in commerce in
America.”
Feldhuhn added, “They don’t really have the
trademark rights because they haven’t used
it.”

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NIGERIA: ANOTHER SUSPECTED CASE OF EBOLA VIRUS REPORTED IN LAGOS

Just seven days after Mr. Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian and US citizen, died in a private hospital in Lagos, Nigeria, one of the personnel, who helped him out of the aircraft on his arrival in Lagos, has shown signs of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

The latest victim who has not yet been named was said to have helped the late Sawyer and was among the 59 persons the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government registered to have had contact with the late Sawyer immediately on his arrival in Nigeria on Sunday, July 20.

Early symptoms of EVD include fever, headache, chills, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, sore throat, headache and joint pains, while later symptoms include bleeding from the eyes, ears nose, and the mouth as well as the rectum, eye swelling, swelling of the genitals and rashes all over the body that often contain blood. It could progress to coma, shock and death.

As at four days after Sawyer’s death in Nigeria, precisely, Monday, July 27, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, said 20 of the 59 people registered to have had contact with Sawyer had been physically screened. He said 50 per cent of these 20 people had type one contact with Sawyer and 50 per cent had type two contact.

Explaining this terminol­ogy, the Director, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Abdulsalam Nasidi, said type one contact means those who had direct one-on-one contact with the late Sawyer, while type two contact refers to those that had contact with those who had direct contact with Saw­yer.

However, he said the committee working on the Ebola virus disease emergency was following the World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline which recommended that only persons who showed signs of the EVD symptoms should be screened.

Efforts to get confirma­tion about the latest on the person showing signs of the EVD from Nasidi failed. A text message to his phone asking for confirmation was not responded to.

…No fresh case in Lagos –LASG

Lagos State Govern­ment yesterday, said no fresh case of the dreaded Ebola Vi­rus Disease has been found in the state or any part of the country.

According to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Health, Dr. (Mrs.) Ye­wande Adeshina, none of the persons said to have come in contact with the late Libe­rian victim of the Ebola Vi­rus Disease had manifested unusual body temperature or any other symptom of the dreaded virus.

She explained that all the 59 persons, who had close contact with the deceased Liberian in Nigeria were hale and hearty and had not exhibited any unusual symptoms, just as there had been no case of the dreaded disease from the country’s

borders.

Also, the Commissioner for Information, Lateef Ibirogba, has advised the citizenry to be wary of the activities of fraudsters, who were making spurious claims about their ability to provide cure for the Ebola Virus Disease, urging them to always contact health providers to report unusual feelings noticed.

He cautioned people to desist from sending panicky text messages round about the Ebola disease that could heighten tension and create anxiety.

He also advised those who wanted to make cheap money from the case to de­sist from their strange claims of cure for the disease or risk the wrath of the law, as only medical solutions were known to be appropriate for the disease.

He reminded residents of the state to make use of the emergency phone numbers- 08023169485, 08033086660, 08033065303, 08055281442 and 08055329229 provided to contact health authorities in case anyone with observed symptoms of the Ebola disease was noticed.

He also advised residents to observe the highest level of personal environmental hygiene, adding that they should visit hospitals or primary health centres nearest to them to report strange feelings noticed.

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YOUNG SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 3 POLY STUDENTS AWAITING NYSC POSTING

Three students of Kano State Polytechnic
were yesterday confirmed dead as another
explosion went off in the metropolis. The
blast, which occurred at the main campus of
the polytechnic, also injured seven other
victims, who have been rushed to the Murtala
Mohammed Hospital.
The blast went off a few minutes after 2pm at
the gate of the Central Administration of the
school, hitting a number of students who had
gathered to check their postings following the
release of the National Youth Service Corps
(NYSC) mobilization list that had just
been pasted on the notice board. The Rector,
Prof. Dalhatu Mohammed Galadachi,
confirmed the explosion on the campus
located on BUK Road, saying that the blast
was most unfortunate.
Witnesses fingered a young girl wearing a
black veil (hijab) as the agent of death ,
saying she slipped into the crowd of students
unnoticed and blew herself up. They said that
it was the impact of the explosion that killed
as well as injured those immediately around
her at the time of the explosion. The corpses
were removed to the morgue.
Speaking to Daily Sun, the Commissioner of
Police, Alhaji Adenrele Shinaba, described
the suspected bomber “as, a teenage girl
wearing black veil ( hijab)” while confirming
that three persons, which included the
suicide bomber herself, died.
The commissioner expressed concern over
the fact that recent suicide bombings in the
state were carried out by young girls wearing
veils.
He said that despite his concern, the police
have no role to play with regards to the mode
of dressing by the public, noting that as a
security organization, the police have been
sharing information with the appropriate
authorities regarding the disturbing trend in
which suicide bombers hid their bombs
under their veils. “I don’t have the power to
choose the mode of dressing of the society. I
can only advise. That decision is not mine to
make. But this is no time for sentiment. We
have to face reality. We have been sharing
our information on this with the government.
We don’t know what they would do with it,”
he said.
Meanwhile, a state of anxiety has enveloped
the state capital as residents have adopted
fresh security measures to beat the deadly
 ploys of the insurgents, among which
include avoiding places of high human traffic
or vehicles and to limit their movements to
only highly essential needs and callings.
Also, in some quarters in the state capital,
residents simply avoid direct or close
contacts with young girls wearing veils even
as checks have also shown that the mode of
dressing in a long veil is no longer
fashionable to the ladies given the suspicion
it evokes from the public and security
agencies.

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LIBERIA SHUTS SCHOOLS TO TACKLE EBOLA OUTBREAK

Liberia’s government has announced that it is
closing down all schools across the country
to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.
Some communities would be placed under
quarantine as well, President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf said.
Non-essential government workers will be
sent home for 30 days and the army
deployed to enforce the measures.
The number of people killed by the virus in
West Africa has now reached 672, according
to new UN figures.
The BBC’s West Africa correspondent Thomas
Fessy says treatment facilities have
reportedly been overwhelmed in the Liberian
capital Monrovia.
Ebola virus disease (EVD)
Symptoms include high fever, bleeding
and central nervous system damage
Fatality rate can reach 90%
Incubation period is two to 21 days
There is no vaccine or cure
Supportive care such as rehydrating
patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting
can help recovery
Fruit bats are considered to be virus’
natural host
Some wards have already filled up, forcing
health workers to treat some patients at their
homes.
President Sirleaf said that Friday 1 August
would be a non-working day in Liberia to
allow for the disinfection of all public
facilities.
“All non-essential staff – to be determined by
the heads of ministries and agencies – are to
be placed on 30 days’ compulsory leave,” she
added.

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