Photo from Pho Restaurant Instagram
The statement was posted on their social media accounts.
Read the full statement from Pho Restaurant below:
We have seen some conversations this week about a trademark related to our brand that has been misunderstood.
Our founders opened Pho to pay tribute to the national dish of Vietnam, after falling in love with it during their travels. Let us categorically state – we would never attempt to trademark this dish. Like many of you who have shared passionate comments about this, we believe that phở doesn’t belong to anyone but the people of Vietnam.
It’s true that we hold a registered trademark related to our brand identity and logo, but this does not prevent any other business from using the word phở in their name. Over 50 other businesses in the UK currently hold a trademark related to the word phở. Any claims that we are suing Vietnamese businesses are simply not true.
Pho exists because we love phở and want as many people as possible to enjoy it too.
We understand that confusion with our trademark has upset some people, and we hope this clarifies our brand’s relationship with phở and other local businesses.
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