News Every Author's Nightmare...

[AgentPete]

And yes, this really is something that writers worry about, although almost always, without any good reason.

Yasmin Khan’s cookbook Sabzi ignited a legal battle when a Cornish deli of the same name attempted to claim ownership of the widely used South and Central Asian word (it apparently means “vegetables”).

The Guardian frames this as a typical colonial-era pattern of cultural appropriation / theft:

I called my recipe book Sabzi – vegetables. But the name was trademarked. And my legal ordeal began

Which, for my money, isn’t exactly what this is all about: simply, the trademark should never have been granted, and the foolish owners of the deli chain were clearly out of their tiny minds in seeking to get hot and legally-heavy with this author. Very, very stupid indeed.

 

[BrianY]

How is this possible? The words "subzi," and "sabzi," both appear on countless Indian cuisine menus across the world as a heading for the vegetable/vegetarian selection. You couldn't trademark "mains" or "sides" or even "antipasto" as a food business name, could you?

 

[MattScho]

So the argument is that while the word is common use, it's in a bunch of funny languages that no one really understands, so in that sense is unique and trademark-able?
I guess you could make the case that the word isn't spelled sabzi because that is transliterated from something in letters that can't possibly be real...

I do have one argument with the very completely correct case being made by the author. She refers to "sabzi – the Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Persian, Dari and Pashto" and later talks about this being a symptom of the global north treatment of the global south.
None of those languages are dominant in southern nations. Some of India is below the southern most piece of Texas, but a good sized chunk of it is not. both are well north of the equator, and Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, etc are all substantially north of anything that can be called south.
I know, this is the current phrase, but it's wrong. It's not half and half. It's wrong. These are not southern nations, not by any geographical sense.
I agree, it's replacing the old and long done and dusted "Third World." But that was long replaced, after the fall of the Soviet Union, really.
Back when I covered Iran's nuclear program, the term to discuss these nations was "non-aligned" though that was an old UN coalition phrase.
So, bigger issue, sabzi should be common usage and non-trademarkable.
But the use of global south is a bad trend phrase, inexact, incorrect and should be stopped.

 

[Aethalope]

Looks like was initially framed as 'plucky small business owner takes on cold-hearted corporate giant'. The business owner was so set on starring in a Hallmark movie that she didn't stop to think.

 

[BrianY]

Matt, that is indeed the big question. The only mystery for me is how the cookbook publisher missed this when they went to press. Several of my titles had to be changed to avoid trademark infringement.

 

[AgentPete]

Matt, that is indeed the big question. The only mystery for me is how the cookbook publisher missed this when they went to press. Several of my titles had to be changed to avoid trademark infringement.

It’s always a good idea, when considering titles, to spend a few mins on Google etc. Ultimately, it’s the author who makes a warranty to the publisher. It’s just sensible to see what else is out there.

I would love tp know who the deli owner’s lawyer was… (I have a shrewd idea…). This could, and should, have been totally nipped in the bud, amicably.

 

[E G Logan]

clearly out of their tiny minds in seeking to get hot and legally-heavy with this author.

I'd have thought they could have done some sort of a deal – think of the photo ops! – that'd benefit both sides...?

 

[Bloo]

I'd have thought they could have done some sort of a deal – think of the photo ops! – that'd benefit both sides...?

An idea that should've been obvious. Yet too many of us view interactions with others through a zero-sum lens.