The recent Sabzi dispute offers a timely reminder of how trade mark rights can misfire when cultural understanding lags behind commercial strategy. A small business in Cornwall secured a UK registration for the word sabzi and then sought to prevent an author from using the word as the title of her cookbook. What unfolded was a mix of legal escalation, public campaigning, and disruption to the author’s livelihood, including the removal of her book from Amazon.
It is easy to treat this as an unusual controversy, but the underlying issues are neither rare nor new. They go to the heart of how trade marks should function and, equally, how they should not.
Sabzi is a common word across South Asian and Middle Eastern languages, denoting vegetables or cooked greens. It is part of everyday speech for millions. Under UK law, terms that are descriptive or customary in the relevant trade should not be registered as exclusive rights for any one party. That this mark proceeded to registration shows how challenging it can be for examiners to assess non-English terms that sit outside mainstream UK usage but retain significant meaning globally.
Once registered, however, even a weak mark can become a lever for disproportionate action. The correspondence described in the article, including intrusive demands for business information and reliance on platform takedown processes, illustrates how formal rights can have real effects long before any tribunal examines the legal merits. For individuals or small businesses, the disruption caused by an online takedown or a well-publicised allegation can far exceed the value of the underlying dispute.
For trade mark owners, there is an important practical lesson. A registration is not automatically a strategic asset. If a term is culturally embedded, widely used abroad or likely to provoke public challenge, the commercial gain from exclusivity may be outweighed by reputational or legal risk. Distinctiveness remains the strongest foundation for a defensible brand.
For Trade Mark Attorneys, the case underscores the value of context. Filing decisions should take account not only of registrability in a narrow legal sense but also of the broader cultural environment in which the mark will operate. Enforcement needs similar calibration: proportionality is not merely good practice; it protects clients from avoidable fallout.
The Sabzi episode will pass, but its message is enduring. Trade mark protection is strongest when it aligns with public understanding of what can legitimately belong to a single business. Some words, by their very nature, remain part of the collective vocabulary.
I hope the case leads to reflection in the UK trademark office and that training is introduced so that examiners develop greater cultural literacy. There also need to be safeguards against privatising common words and clearer routes of appeal. Food is something we share, not something we own, and it should stay in the hands of all those who keep it alive.
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