UK restaurant which trademarked ‘pho’ responds to TikTok backlash [Video]

First it was bubble tea, now it’s pho. UK chain Pho Restaurant has publicly responded to backlash after TikTok users discovered that the white-founded business has trademarked the common Vietnamese word “pho.” This isn’t the first time the company has faced scrutiny about this trademark, which dates back to the 2000s.

Pho Restaurant released a statement addressing the uproar on Wednesday, claiming that its trademark has been “misunderstood.” 

“Let us categorically say — we would never attempt to trademark this dish [pho],” Pho Restaurant wrote in a statement posted to social media. “Like so many of you who have shared passionate comments about this, we believe that phở doesn’t belong to anyone but the people of Vietnam.”

Unfortunately, it does appear as though Pho Restaurant is splitting hairs. While Vietnamese people in the UK are free to continue making, eating, and saying “phở” without getting on Pho Restaurant’s bad side, the business still claims …