A planned court hearing in the high-stakes dispute between Nigerian tech entrepreneur, Chianugo Peter and U.S. giants, GoDaddy.com LLC and Google LLC was suddenly derailed on Tuesday when Justice Obiora Egwuatu failed to appear at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
With the judge absent and no explanation given, clerks adjourned the matter until July 16.
Justice Egwuatu had fixed today for the defence to cross-examine Peter after he was led in evidence virtually on the last adjourned date by his lawyer, Emmanuel Ekpenyong.
However, the matter, which was on number 7 on the cause list, could not proceed due to the judge’s absence.
Peter, through his lawyer, named GoDaddy.Com LLC and Google LLC as the 1st and 2nd defendants in the suit filed on April 14, 2023 and marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/238/2023.
In his earlier originating summons filed by Ekpenyong of the law firm of Fred-Young & Evans LP, the Nigerian sought a $150 million in compensation from Google LLC and GoDaddy.com LLC for the alleged cyberspace contract breach.
Peter claims that GoDaddy improperly deactivated his YouTubeAudio.com domain on December 7, 2022.
He says Google then compounded the loss by removing his YTAudio app from the Play Store on December 25, 2023—moves he describes as a breach of their cyberspace services contract and a wipe-out of eight years’ worth of brand-building.
“I acquired rights over YouTubeAudio.com domain name from GoDaddy.com LLC who conducted a search before confirming that I could make use of the name,” Peter told the court in April 2024.
He argued that YouTubeAudio is “distinct and different from YouTube trademarks,” and noted that his two attempts, in 2014 and again in 2021, to propose a formal partnership with Google went unanswered.
In an amended claim, Peter asks for ten different remedies, among them:
- A court declaration that GoDaddy and Google acted wrongly by shutting down his domain and delisting his app “without adequate compensation.”
- $50 million to cover marketing and promotional expenses from July 2015 through December 2022.
- $100 million in damages for lost future profits tied to YouTubeAudio’s brand equity and goodwill.
- ₦50 million to register a fresh business name and domain, plus ₦10 million to cover legal fees.
He has also asked that GoDaddy be ordered to reinstate YouTubeAudio.com, and that Google restore his application on the Play Store.
Google, through Senior Advocate Mark Mordi of Aluko & Oyebode, moved last November to throw out the case as “unmeritorious and lacking in merits.” In a counterclaim filed this past May, Google insisted its YOUTUBE trademarks give it exclusive usage rights, and sought $24,040.64 in costs for responding to what it calls Peter’s “deliberate infringement.”
Peter’s reply, filed in July 2024, reasserted that his domain name does not infringe Google’s marks and argued that Google is “estopped from claiming any right over the YouTubeAudio domain name,” citing its prior silence.
GoDaddy has yet to file any defence or even appear in court. Tuesday’s session was set for Google’s lawyers to cross-examine Peter following his virtual testimony at the previous hearing.
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