Audemars Piguet Sends Lawyer's Letter To Ayam Penyet Hawker Over 'AP' Logo Spoof
The parodied logo spelled 'Ayam Penyet' instead of Audemars Piguet.
The parodied logo spelled 'Ayam Penyet' instead of Audemars Piguet.
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A local ayam penyet hawker playfully spoofed Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet’s logo and tagline, and ended up having to watch his words when the latter served up a lawyer’s letter citing trademark infringement.
Nornizam ‘Nizam’ bin Amin, 49, a watch enthusiast who owns halal food stall Rayyan’s Waroeng Upnormal at Amoy Street Food Centre, had asked a designer friend to create the logo. Instead of Audemars Piguet’s brand name, it cheekily spelled out ‘Ayam Penyet’.
The brand’s original tagline of “le maître de l'horlogerie depuis 1875 (the master of watchmaking since 1875)” was also modified to become “le maître du poulet frit depuis 2014 (the master of fried chicken since 2014)”.
Late last year, Nizam printed the logo on a small batch of T-shirts and stickers for his pals, and displayed the sticker at his stall. It quickly went viral online (8days.sg also reported on it in November 2020). Netizens were tickled by Nizam’s wit, with some requesting to buy his ‘AP’ T-shirt.
As Nizam’s friends had advised him to “be careful”, he considered contacting Audemars Piguet about potential trademark infringement when his logo went viral. Ultimately, he decided not to “because my T-shirts and stickers went to such a small number of people”.
But the public attention would result in a legal pickle for the former SIA leading steward (left in photo, with his wife). Two weeks ago, he received a lawyer’s letter from Audemars Piguet’s legal team. Nizam says the letter — which 8days.sg has seen — was hand-delivered by a courier to his stall. “I read it and it was very formal lah. They talked about my unauthorised use of their trademark, and how I cosmetically modified their logo and tagline,” he shares.
According to the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), trademark infringement occurs when “a registered trademark is used in the course of trade without the consent of the trademark owner”.
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Fortunately for Nizam, AP was willing to “settle amicably” if he removed his logo and its mention on every medium that it has appeared on (including 8 Days’ earlier article). Nizam immediately complied, stating that he feels “a bit of relief” that AP had wanted to resolve the matter amicably.
He adds, “They did mention that if I did not accede to their request, they will take it to the next level. But I just followed what they wanted me to do within seven days and didn’t object to anything. Hopefully, it’ll be okay.” At press time, Nizam has yet to hear from AP’s legal representatives.
He also had to sign a written reassurance that he had ceased using the logo, and write a letter to reinforce the reassurance. “I wrote it myself, without the help of a lawyer, and mailed it to [the law firm] last Saturday,” he says.
Last week, he reached out to the small group of friends whom he had passed some T-shirts and stickers to, and asked them to discard the merch. “There were very few of them; I can count on my two hands. They were shocked about what had happened, but they were very supportive. They said they didn’t want to make things difficult for me,” he explains.
While he admits that he was “a little worried because AP is a big international company”, Nizam reckons AP’s stance is a fair one. “They took the best position because I’m just a hawker and I didn’t use their logo as my company branding. I was just having some fun. It would have been a bit harsh if they summoned me to court,” he says.
It’s not the first time that AP has made headlines in 2020 for being linked to an F&B boss. Last July, homegrown Founder Bak Kut Teh’s second-gen owner, Nigel Chua, also caught massive flak online for wearing an expensive AP timepiece in a photo, which had accompanied his call for public support to save his ailing restaurants. Nigel later clarified in an 8days.sg interview that his watch was “second-hand”.
Nizam reckons that AP was forced to take action as they had gotten enquiries from their clients about the viral logo. “They told me their customers were curious about whether they had anything to do with my stall. So they had to make it formal with a lawyer’s letter to inform everyone that they had nothing to do with this. The company took it seriously maybe because this went out to many people,” he explains.
He also heard from his friends that there were AP watch collectors who were apparently unhappy about “being associated with ayam penyet”. An amused Nizam says, “I was like, come on! I just had a bit of fun linking ayam penyet to AP. In the US, people also change the Starbucks logo to something else.”
But this close shave with IP laws has not dampened Nizam’s love of watches. “I still like watches, AP being one of them,” he quips. While he dabbles in watch modifications on the side using OEM parts, he says he has since slowed down as business at his hawker stall — which he runs with his wife, also a former SIA leading stewardess — had “picked up after Phase Three started”.
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