Culture Tree, an educational organisation promoting the learning of African languages in the United Kingdom, has called out a British clothing brand for registering “Yoruba” as its trademark.
The company, via its Instagram page over the weekend, said it discovered that ‘Yoruba’ has been trademarked while it was trying to trademark ‘Yoruba Stars’ that had become popular among its students, as part of a programme that teaches children the Yoruba language.
Culture Tree stated;
I noticed that there was a company called Timbuktu Limited @timbuktuglobal based in Lancashire who had registered the word ‘Yoruba’.
They go on to note that the registration of that word stopped anyone from using or registering any brands with the word ‘YORUBA’ under the category it had been registered under. “I went ahead and registered my trademark of ‘Yoruba Stars’ as I was sure there wouldn’t be an issue. A few months later I received an email from the IPO that @TimbuktuGlobal had opposed me registering the trademark products or having anything to do with Yoruba at all.
The educational company said its legal representatives reached out to Timbuktu, which then offered to sell the trademarked word to them.
The Instagram post, which was also shared on Twitter, sparked outrage on the social media site, with people questioning why the name of a tribe in Africa would be trademarked by the British government.
Timbuktu did not return a request seeking comments, but a Twitter user posted what appeared to be a response from the company via email.
“By registering Yoruba, we in no way aimed to insult anyone. This was not our intention and never would be. We did not profit from this name and never intended to,” according to the response said to be from Timbuktu.
I emailed. They responded. Not good enough. How would you not insult someone by doing this? I don’t care about how much it cost. pic.twitter.com/ebSLNpBw2y
— Sheree Atcheson #DemandingMore OUT NOW
(@nirushika) May 23, 2021
The company notes that they had protected the name “Yoruba” for over five years with thousands of pounds.
A visit to the brand’s website shows that they offer no product under the name “Yoruba”, despite it being registered by them.
The website of Intellectual Property Office shows that the name was registered in 2015.
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Under British trademark law, the owners of a trade mark can legally defend their mark against infringements, if the trade mark has either been registered, or has been used for a period of time so that it is popularly linked to the owners.
Meanwhile, under Nigerian trademark regulations 2021, trademarks which would likely deceive or cause confusion may not be registered.
Yoruba and other Nigerian tribes and languages have long been considered protected from being owned by an individual or entity, but it was unclear if the Nigerian government will be allowed to file charges or pursue arbitration over the trademarking of ‘Yoruba’ by a foreign entity in a foreign country.
See some reactions to the news by Nigerians on Twitter below;
Oles, taking the piss. Bloody plonkers. And the fool that agreed to issue that trademark sef! Imagine trying to trademark English!
— Kadaria Ahmed (@KadariaAhmed) May 23, 2021
Is this not madness? This is like someone waking up and trademarking ENGLISH or FRENCH or GERMAN. What sort of nonsense is this in God’s name?
— Orifunke Lawal (@Orifunke) May 23, 2021
And they have a page on their website on ‘sustainability’ saying “We take sustainability serious and fully commit ourselves to creating products that cause as little impact on the environment as possible.” But what about the ethics of trademarking a Nigerian word?
— Furaha Asani (@DrFuraha_Asani) May 23, 2021
How can a language/heritage of a tribe in Nigeria be trademarked in England?
— Tokunbo Albert (@Toksgreat) May 23, 2021
You should counter sue. Connect with the likes of Professor Akintoye, Afenifere, @realFFK. It is an illegal trademark.
— Yemi A (@morola76) May 23, 2021
While it is undoubtedly really shitty that @TimbuktuGlobal even applied for the trademark, the fault also lies with the registry for not telling them to get fucked in the first place – the website even tells you “common or non-distinctive” words or phrases can’t be trademarked. pic.twitter.com/QEGFwKI5p2
— Lissie (@wisewombat) May 23, 2021
We need to put in an objection against this because it’s actually unacceptable. https://t.co/L2V97dNBbr
— Toks 4.0 (@Toksyk27) May 23, 2021
Trade Mark Yoruba !!!
Are They 4 real #Colonialism Africa Proverbs -“Goat business is not Sheep business” #Yorubanot4sale @Naijagreenwich @AyoAkinfe @carmel_britto @OluBabatola @our_heritage_uk @AMCo1 @CANUKonline @NigeriaNewsdesk @NigeriaGov @FebBlackHistory @panafricanuk
— Black Female Entrepreneur Greenwich (@BFEGreenwich) May 25, 2021
I’m confused. HOW THE heck did the trademark approve the request. Like WTF
The disrespect that that has SMDH— Krys (@byetwit) May 23, 2021
Sadly, not a first … and likely not a last attempt at appropriating:https://t.co/hV0gKwGci4
— MerciNoCoup (@MerciNoCoup) May 23, 2021
Would it be okay for the Nigerian trademark office to allow a Nigerian or a Nigerian company to trademark “England” and “English”, and to then forbid English people from registering it, in any combination?
— David Fátúnmbí (@davidfatunmbi) May 23, 2021
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