Mother of Malaysian celebrity Neelofa sparks uproar on Twitter for applying to trademark ‘Harimau Menangis’ — a traditional Thai dish
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 — Social media was abuzz after a screengrab of MyIPO application, reportedly by Noor Khan Enterprise to trademark “harimau menangis” made its rounds on Twitter.
The company, which belongs to celebrity entrepreneur Neelofa’s mother Datin Noor Kartini Noor Mohamed, is believed to have made an application to trademark the Malay name which has its origins in the Thai dish Sua Rong Hai.
A screengrab of the application dated November 24, 2020 shows the status was “under formality verification” as of November 30, 2020.
NOOR KARTINI NOOR MOHAMED nie bukan ke mak kepada NEELOFA? Tanya aje. Kalau salah orang, minta maaf 🙏🏻
TAPI kenapa perlu hak cipta resepi/perkataan HARIMAU MENANGIS? Memang pemilik asal ke? Ke ada orang edit? Tanya gak nie... via #IG https://t.co/oDEZeH9izv pic.twitter.com/kchuhTOUrs— ♡ النورولاسوان مصطف ♡ (@encikISWAN) January 12, 2021
Many angry social media users took to Twitter criticising the move, saying it would affect small business owners selling the dish.
Several users also lodged a complaint to intellectual property regulators and shared a screengrab to encourage others to follow suit.
“Finished reporting to help other trades who have long used the words harimau menangis,” wrote @Kuntum_
Selesai buat bantahan demi membantu peniaga-peniaga lain yang dah lama guna perkataan ‘Harimau Menangis’. https://t.co/0Y507oPxUY pic.twitter.com/p1iK3t8Wgi
— Kuntum Mekar (@Kuntum__) January 13, 2021
Another user tweeted that objections can be made through MyIPO under Trademark & Geographical Indications.
Bantahan boleh dibuat melalui https://t.co/OEKlLwqJnp
under category Trademark & Geographical Indications dan priority as High
Ini contoh aduan, sertakan maklumat cap dagangan tersebut.
Hapuskan kapitalis. pic.twitter.com/Rbl9OxYZUh— KEEM (@keemmazni) January 13, 2021
Some users also questioned how is it possible to trademark the name of a dish that was not invented by the person.
How can one trademark food names that’s not invited by them... wow.... kardashian klate ni boleh tahan entitled ye
— nalisa alia amin (@nalisaaa) January 13, 2021
Malay language activist @UBMalaysia cited Dewan Perdana dictionary to point out that ‘harimau menangis’ is a common name and is referred to as a beef cut rather than a dish.
Nah, bukti '(daging) harimau menangis' sebagai perkataan biasa.
Terakam dalam Kamus Dewan Perdana terbitan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka tahun 2020 pada halaman 464 dengan takrif 'daging pejal pada bahagian dada di bawah tulang pinggang lembu, kerbau dsb;'.
Gunalah dalam bantahan. https://t.co/oIwZ6s1qir pic.twitter.com/9e82dOMrD5— 🌺Muaqriana | مواقريانا🌺 (@UBMalaysia) January 13, 2021
The Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) provides registration services for patents, trademarks, industry designs, geographic indicators and voluntary copyrights.
Based on its website, trademark applications take about seven months from the date of filling for expedited examination applications and 12 months for normal applications.
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