TVB registers Internet slang popular with netizens criticising the company

TVB has registered an internet lingo often used by netizens who dislike the company and the name of an Instagram account that claims to delve into the broadcasting company’s advertising strategy. According to information from the Intellectual Property Department, the registration of trademark text of “sayno4tvb”, “SayNo4TVB”, “Sayno4tvb”, and “Say No 4 TVB” submitted by Zennora Group was filed on 5 October 2021. “SayNo4TVB” is the name of an Instagram account that claims to offer information about TVB’s advertising strategy. At the time of writing, the account has more than 24,900 followers.

In a post, the owner of “sayno4tvb” said the name of this account is not grammatical. “It was a mistake made by other members when we started running the page. However, we did not bother to rename it since we have been using it for a long period of time,” the post wrote. “TVB understands that the name is ungrammatical but continues to register it with the government department. We believe that after completing the registration process, TVB will start reporting our account to social platforms. Apparently, TVB wants to wipe us out,” it added.

TVB's information unveils that Zennora Group is a subsidiary of the broadcasting company with its place of incorporation being the British Virgin Island. In addition, Zennora Group also filed the registration of the trademark text of “CCTVB” and “cctvb” on the same day, under multiple categories, including Licensing of television programmes (Class 45), computer services (Class 42), services in relation to the production and distribution of television programmes(Class 41), provision of online discussion forums (Class 38), advertising and promotion (Class 35) and newspapers and magazines (Class 16), to name a few.

CCTV is the acronym of China Central Television, a Chinese state-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to TVB for more details.

The marketing industry recently also had another issue related to the registration of internet lingo. Last week, one of the owners of a talent agency Valkyrie Agency is demanding for brands to stop using the internet lingo "見字飲水" (When you see this word, drink water) as it was registered by his agency in 2020 with the Intellectual Property Department of the Hong Kong government.

Several brands in Hong Kong have already received emails or letters of demand from Valkyrie Agency, requesting for them to compensate for intellectual property rights infringement. According to emails seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Valkyrie Agency has made a compensation claim, demanding for brands pay a five-figure sum. In the email, Valkyrie Agency also said it will file a lawsuit against the brand, including but not limited to the expense of the lawsuit and the removal of materials that infringe intellectual property rights, if the brand fails to reply within seven days.

Founder of Valkyrie Agency Terence Nam is demanding brands, except micro-businesses, to compensate for his losses. Nam added that on the same Facebook page, the registered trademark symbol "®" is right next to the internet lingo in the "About" section. 

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