Pho Restaurant drops trademark on 'pho' after TikTok outrage

Pho Restaurant has given up its trademark on the Vietnamese word "pho" after receiving widespread international condemnation online. After almost two decades, Vietnamese businesses in the UK are finally able to have "pho" in their names without risking legal reprisal.

As per the UK's Intellectual Property Office, Pho Restaurant filed a request to surrender its trademark on the word "pho" this Monday. The process was officially completed two days later on Wednesday, meaning the Vietnamese word is now free and available for all businesses in the UK to use.

Pho Restaurant's trademark surrender was first reported by Daily Mail's Femail, with a spokesperson telling them that the chain had "been listening to the comments from the past week" and "understand[s] the concerns that have been raised." 

Vietnamese TikTok creator iamyenlikethemoney confirmed the news as well, stating that Pho Holdings Ltd. informed her that it had filed to surrender its trademark. The controversy was initially brought to many TikTok users' attention via one of her videos, which has 2.7 million views at time of writing. She stated in a subsequent video that she'd reached out to ask Pho Restaurant to drop their trademark.

"This was a community effort," iamyenlikethemoney said in her latest TikTok on the matter. "I truly believe in the power of community. Every single comment, every single video that was produced on this matter has helped us in reaching the goal of dropping the trademark of 'pho'."

The uproar surrounding the UK restaurant chain began earlier this month, after TikTok users became aware that the white-founded business held the trademark to the Vietnamese word "pho." Pho Restaurant trademarked the words "PHO," "Pho," and "pho" in 2007, and even threatened legal action against at least one Vietnamese business for using the word in 2013.

Social media outrage caused Pho Restaurant to back down at the time, though it still retained its legal grip on the word "pho." Now almost a decade later, this issue is finally being rectified. It seems as though this time the fury was loud enough that Pho Restaurant couldn't just wait it out or explain it away.

"We did it," said iamyenlikethemoney. "I hope they learn from their mistakes."