An American restaurant chain that has trademarked the word “Cava” for its company name “Cava Group Inc” has sparked a new word ownership debate, with grave concerns expressed in the Pacific over its similarity to the word “kava”, perceived to be exclusively owned by cultures in the Pacific.
In a revelation to this newspaper, outgoing Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) Henry Puna said he had recently met with Daren Tang, director general of the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Office to share his concerns.
“There are already kava houses in New York and they’re doing a roaring trade,” Mr Puna said.
“I was in Geneva in February and I took the liberty of approaching WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office) and met with the Director General Daren Tang, I said we’re very concerned about this
application from this kava people in Florida who want to use the name kava.”
American pioneer kava grower in Tampa Bay, Florida Matt Masifilo said Cava Group’s trademarking is currently being legally challenged in the American courts.
“A kava bar owner told me this company is going after kava bars here trying to prevent them from using the word ‘kava’ in their business names.”
Mr Puna said the name belongs to the Pacific people and should remain so.
“It’s not for everybody else to use,” he said.
“If they’re selling a similar product, well, they can use a different name. But we have to be realistic and accept that there are other tropical zones in the world where they grow this product.
“I think next month there will be a meeting of the region to deal with this particular issue, hosted by WIPO.
“And I’m hoping that we can move forward quickly in order to protect that name, it’s a geographical name that must always belong, and remain with the Pacific.
“So fingers crossed that we’ll be able to achieve that.”
