One of Ghana’s best events organizing firms, Charterhouse rarely gets it wrong when it comes to putting together major events – but for the first time in many years, it seems the firm has faltered.
The much-touted ‘Ghana Entertainment Awards’ which was supposed to be a new awards scheme under the aegis of the popular firm has been put on hold indefinitely because; unbeknownst to Charterhouse, the name had already been registered by another company.
Last week, Charterhouse announced the official launch of the ‘Ghana Entertainment Awards’ which was scheduled for Saturday, February 22, 2014 at Villa Monticello, but in just a few days leading to the launch, word circulated from the company that the launch had been postponed indefinitely with no official reason.
Razz Newspaper can confirm authoritatively that, Charterhouse pulled the plugs on the new awards scheme upon realizing that the name had already been taken by another firm.
Apparently, the name ‘Ghana Entertainment Awards’ had been registered by Xtreme West Entertainment and the company attained its ‘Acknowledgment of Trade Mark’ Letter from the Registrar-General’s Office on 2nd September 2013 with Reference No. RTM, 9/001788/2013.
Speaking to the paper, Mr. Henry Prince Okum, CEO of the company said he threatened to sue Charterhouse if they went ahead to launch the awards scheme. According to him, he has also got the hint that Charterhouse wants to use the tag ‘Gh. Entertainment Awards’, using ‘Gh.’ instead of ‘Ghana’, a move he claims can be litigated.
Per his account, he registered the name ‘Ghana Entertainment awards’ last year when he conceived the idea of awarding industry players in all sectors within the arts and entertainment industry. Since registering the brand in September 2013, Mr. Okum said, his firm is still putting structures and resources together to launch the awards scheme very soon.
When Razz reached out to Mr. George Quaye of Charterhouse, he admitted that his Office is aware of the registration of the name by another company and they have no option but to change the name for the awards because, as stakeholders in the industry, they understand and respect intellectual properties.
“Unfortunately, this occurrence has not happened to us before but I do not think whoever registered the name has the same concept as we do,” he said.
On their ploy to amend ‘Ghana’ to ‘Gh.’ for the awards, he stated, “If we decide to amend the name of the awards to any suitable name, I don’t see how that will affect Charterhouse.”
Explaining the postponement, Mr. Quaye claimed there were two major events in town the same night and they felt that most patrons will attend such events and especially when they wanted all industry players to be part of the launch; it was only right to push the launch date to another date.