UNITED KINGDOM: Restaurant Chain Surrenders Trademark amid Uproar over Monopoly on Beloved Vietnamese Name

The media has reported that Pho, the UK restaurant chain, has surrendered its UK registered trademark PHO following widespread online condemnation.

Pho is the name of a quintessential Vietnamese chicken or beef broth with rice noodles. A British couple founded Pho Restaurant following their travels to Vietnam, giving the name to the restaurant chain to reflect their love of the country’s cuisine.

The chain has significantly expanded and is now reportedly in 45 locations across the UK. It obtained a UK registered trademark (a series mark) for PHO, Pho, and pho in 1997 for goods/services in Classes 39 and 43.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that the restaurant chain sought to enforce its trademark against at least one Vietnamese business for using the word in 2013, an allegation the restaurant denied.

A significant backlash resulted, largely online, with many people voicing their concerns about the restaurant having monopoly rights over a commonly used Vietnamese word for a beloved, and important, national dish.

The Vietnamese TikTok creator known as iamyenlikethemoney led the outcry, with one of her videos highlighting the issue having received 2.7 million views and many supportive comments. She is reported to have reached out to Pho Restaurant to ask it to surrender its UK registered trademark, although conflicting reports suggest that Pho Restaurant surrendered its word mark voluntarily. The UK Intellectual Property Office’s website is now showing that the trademark registration has been surrendered.

Notably, Pho Restaurant has (thus far) maintained its registrations for PHO (Stylized):

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of this article, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest. Law & Practice updates are published without comment from INTA except where it has taken an official position.

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