Call for Welsh Language Minister to act over company that trademarked ‘cariad’ and ‘hiraeth’
The chair of a Senedd committee has called on the Welsh Language Minister to act after a company trademarked the words ‘cariad’ and ‘hiraeth’.
Delyth Jewell the Chair of the Culture, Communications and Welsh Language, Committee wrote to both the minister Jeremy Miles and also the office of the Welsh Language Commissioner.
The words ‘cariad’ and ‘hiraeth’ were copyrighted by the company Fizzy Foam from Bridgend after an application to the Intellectual Property Office.
Delyth Jewell said that she was concerned that the move would open the door to the “commercial exploitation of evocative Welsh words which obviously resonate with speakers of both languages in Wales”.
“I would be grateful if you could let me know if you plan to contact the IPO with regards to this decision,” she told the Welsh Language Minister.
She wrote to the office of the Welsh Language Commissioner: “I understand you are looking at what action can be taken to revoke this application.
“I would be grateful if you could let me know of the response from the IPO with regards to this decision.”
The Welsh Language Commissioner’s office earlier told Nation.Cymru that they had contacted the Intellectual Property Office to investigate what had happened.
“We have contacted the Intellectual Property Office to ask for a response to the situation,” they said. “We are going to wait for a response from them before taking any further steps.”
‘No bar’
An expert on intellectual property, who spoke to Nation.Cymru, however said that they thought people had over-reacted to the news.
Speaking anonymously they told us that they thought that people had misunderstood how trademarks function or are registered, and pointed to the UK Government’s rules on the matter.
They pointed out that the word ‘cariad’ among others had been trademarked before, and that a list of trademarked words was publicly available
“All trademarks have to specify which classes of goods and services they are registered in – there is no blanket registration that would bar every other person from using a trademark,” they said.
They said that the word Polo was a good example, as it had been trademarked in the context of “cars, shirts and mints”.
However, a lawyer who specialises in intellectual property has declared himself “amazed” after learning of the decision.
Jonty Gordon the director of Cwmni Amgen Law said that attempts to copyright such common words in English, particularly ‘love’, had been rejected.
He added that the decision would cause “sleepless nights” for other companies in Wales.
“It really amazes me that they got this permission – that it’s registered,” Jonty Gordon told the BBC.
“The Intellectual Property Office has been very strict on registering Welsh words on common goods such as candles, and in this context a fairly common word as well.
“There’s a famous case of the word ‘love’ where it has been rejected many times on all kinds of goods or services and when I’ve advised on registrations like that I’ve referred to that case and the Intellectual Property Office always refers to it as well and rejects any similar word.”
‘Shocked’
The decision had prompted a backlash online, with concern that the Welsh language would be bought up and others stopped from using words.
Reacting on social media, Efan ap Ifor said that the move was “outrageous”. He added that “both the Intellectual Property Office and Fizzy foam have made a major error here.
“These words belong to everyone in Wales and no one has the right to attempt to possess them as property.”
Mart Verallo John said that the decision was “disgusting”.
“Genuinely shocked the Intellectual Property Office have approved this. The Welsh language belongs to its people, it’s not for businesses to own, trademark, commodify and restrict our culture and heritage out of greed.”
Tracey Jones added: “Good grief. How can they be allowed to trademark words?? I wouldn’t buy from this company on principle.”
Morgan Lloyd said: “Money can’t buy you love, but it can trademark it in Welsh so its use is restricted if you want to put it on a candle.”
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Being cynical, should one ask where the IPO is based? The answer is Cardiff Road, Newport which is actually in Wales. So it looks as if the folk there are taking the p**s and waiting to see how much fuss (if any) we the public make.
If anybody is really cross about it, perhaps a letter to the company asking what product is to get this inappropriate label. Once we know that we can set up a Twitter Storm about not buying it.
“The words ‘cariad’ and ‘hiraeth’ were copyrighted by the company Fizzy Foam from Bridgend after an application to the Intellectual Property Office.”
its not possible to copyright a word
Daddy’s sauce has been a registered trade name for as long as I can remember. It has never been a problem, I could still call my father daddy and if l was a baker I could name a loaf “Daddy’s loaf”.
If someone else called their brown sauce “Daddy’s” it would lead to confusion.
The headline maybe should be “Three Stupid People Don’t Understand Registered Trademarks”.
(There are currently seven classes of goods and services that have “Cariad” as a registered name.)
Including an expert in trademarks?
Perhaps the headline should be, “Posters in the Comments Sections Now World Experts on Everything”
or
“Comments Sections Everywhere Confirm theories of Dunning and Kruger”