December 16, 2022
The Iranian government has banned the use of non-Persian words and signs in trademarks that are registered by national government agencies.
Details of a decree issued by President Raisi to Iran’s Culture Ministry, published November 2, showed that manufacturing, trade and business entities will be prohibited from using non-Persian words and writing methods in products that are targeted at domestic consumers as well as in shops and business centers they own.
The decree said penalties will await people violating the terms of the decree entitled “Ban on Use of Alien Nouns, Titles and Terminology,” including brief closures of factories or business places and permanent cancellation of business certificates.
Iranian firms have often used Western terms or corruptions of Western terms—to appeal as more sophisticated to Iranian shoppers. For example, there is a chain of Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food shops in Tehran, complete with the familiar Colonel Sanders’ pictures, but known in Iran as “Key-Eff-See” (KFC).
The decree said businesses and manufacturers with affiliations to Iranian ethnic groups will be able to market their products in local languages for consumers in a closed geographical area.
It said that products meant for export will be exempt from the law while adding that old trademarks with foreign elements will remain valid if they are approved by the Coordination Council on Preservation of the Persian Language. So, Colonel Sanders might still survive in the Islamic Republic.
The ban recalls the periodic efforts of a national commission on the Persian language to expunge the use of foreign origin words, such as banning “pizza” and urging use of the Persian term “cheese pie.” The language body, however, has never sought to ban the use of “merci” in Iran.
