Legal battle over the name "Aloha Poke"

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A company that sells poke on the mainland tries to make a mark on the words "Aloha Poke" when they are used together as part of restaurant services in the United States.

Aloha Poke Co. claims that it protects the use of its name and brand (according to the company's message on social media); but others have described the action as "offensive", calling the move "bad". "appropriation of culture" and "gentrification".

History has recently been revealed in an article published Monday in the Washington Post. A flood of social media attention related to the issue has also populated many local Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts in recent days.

Part of this "backlash" social media came in the form of a petition on exchange.org, urging Aloha Poke Co. to remove "Aloha" and "Poke" from its name. The petition, which began yesterday (Monday, July 30, 2018), garnered the support of over 25,000 people this morning (July 31, 2018).

One of the companies that was at the reception of a stop Lei Poke Stop (formerly Aloha Poke Stop) in Anchorage Alaska

In a Facebook live video posted On Monday night, Tasha Kahele, co-owner of Lei's Poke Stop, said she was "offended" by the ceasefire. letter received on May 17, 2018. "We learned by growing up that" aloha "must be lived (right), given, shared, and unrestricted, so I could not understand how it was going … and I was very hurt, "said Kahele in the video.

" Aloha does not belong to us, we know better, "said Kahele. "We fought so hard to revitalize our language and then we have people like that who could have existed by sharing that name."

"In business, I understand the violation of copyright," Kahele explained. do, but she could not afford the legal ramifications, if any, to keep the name and stay on course. "What I could not understand, honestly, was how these two words – very descriptive words, call it what you want, very general words … no matter – these two words, were copied."

The online petition goes further to explain that the words "poke" and "aloha" both come with "deep cultural meaning and symbolism."

In an effort to "re-establish the facts," an explanation was posted on a Facebook page for Aloha Poke Co. in Costa Mesa, California on Monday morning. The article says that there is "a significant amount of misinformation" shared on social media, which has caused anger and offense. "First, we want to tell them directly how sorry we are that this issue has been so important."

The message, (which is available in its entirety below) states: "Perhaps the most important question that needs to be settled is the false assertion that Aloha Poke Co. tried to own the word "Aloha" or the word "Poke", neither one nor the other, never. "

Aloha Poke Co. holds two federal marks for its logo design and the words "Aloha Poke" for use in restaurants, catering and take-away services. "This means that the company has the exclusive right to use these words together as part of catering services in the US This mark does not prevent another person or entity from using the word." Aloha alone or the word Poke alone in any case. "

Kahele described his frustrations and hopes in his live video:" We are already struggling so far from Hawaii's i and feeling so disconnected from our Åina, from our people … To learn from this company that is benefiting already – who has already benefited for two years – that is this multi-million dollar company – after us, after a kanaka-owned company to maoli, my "ohana." I took it very personally at first. "

" We just hope that kanaka, in the future, our tongue would be so sacred that no one, especially po & # 39; 39th century can not tell us that we can not use our own language in our business, in our re music, in our art. Because as a native, it's our right, "said Kahele.He said it's her hope that for generations to come," especially Kanaka maoli-ne families not need to suffer from people who try to enjoy and exploit our language and enjoy our language. "

Aloha Poke Shop in Honolulu posted a simple graphic on his Facebook page Sunday with the words "Save ALOHA." In response to a request from fans asking how the community can help, the administrators explained that they received a letter in January. "

The owners of Fairhaven Poke in Bellingham, Washington, report that they "reluctantly changed" their name from Aloha Poke Fairhaven about a year ago due to the increasing media attention at the time on Aloha. Poke Chicago LLC

David Jacobsen of Fairhaven Poke and Mark Ushijima wrote on their Fac page ebook: "We were just the first of several business owners who were forced to change our names and rebrand our businesses. The restaurant reports that the changes included requests for the removal of the words "Aloha" and "Aloha Poke" from their company name, domain name, FB page and other social media sites.

"We have since left this episode with" The two report that Aloha Poke LLC Chicago has recently faced an "increasingly violent reaction" on their actions.

Below, a message on social media published by Aloha Poke Co. Monday morning:

In the last 48 hours, a significant amount of misinformation about Aloha Poke Co. has been shared on social media.We know that this misinformation has caused a There is a lot of anger and offense among those who care passionately about their Hawaiian culture.First, we want to tell them directly how sorry we are that this issue has been so important.We sincerely hope that this statement will clarify the facts and to address the valid concerns raised by many people about matters that are very personal to them.

[19459] 016] Perhaps the most important problem to settle is the false claim that Aloha Poke Co. tried to own the word "Aloha" or the word "Poke". None is true and we would never try to do it. Never.

Secondly, there is no truth to the statement that we have tried to tell Hawaiian companies and Hawaiian natives that they can not use the word Aloha or the word Poke. . It just did not happen, and it will not happen either. We really celebrate Hawaiian culture and what makes it so wonderful, which largely explains why we scored our business as we did.

Third, it is totally false that we have filed lawsuits against companies. the word Aloha or the word Poke or searched for a "gag order" on anyone to use the words. Honestly, we do not know how one or the other of these claims appeared, but it's just not true. What we have done is trying to prevent branded counterfeiters in the restaurant industry from using the mark "Aloha Poke" without authorization. This is a very common practice used in all industries, and especially in the restaurant industry to protect the use of the name and brand of a company.

To date, the company holds two federal brands. its design logo and the words "Aloha Poke" for use in restaurants, restaurants and take-away services. This means that the company has the exclusive right to use these words together as part of restaurant services in the United States. This mark does not prevent another person or entity from using the word Aloha alone or the word Poke alone in all cases.

In the rare case where we need to send notices to those who use our brand in the restaurant industry, we have done it in a cooperative way and we all responded to our request for a name change without any legal action.

We respect and understand the concerns that have been raised about these false and misleading claims. We were moved by the passionate defense of Hawaiian culture displayed through social media and we want nothing more than to reassure everyone on these issues. We are really sorry for all the confusion this has caused.