An application has been made to register “The Yorkshire beekeeper” as a trademark across six classes, covering honey, bees, beeswax, retail and more. Yorkshire BKA is of the view that it is an ordinary descriptive phrase that every beekeeper in the county of Yorkshire should be free to use and is opposing the application on that basis. At least one Yorkshire beekeeper has already been threatened with legal action for using the words.

This application should be of concern to all beekeepers. If one person can own a phrase made up of a place and a trade, the same could happen in any other county, city or town.

It is for this reason that, at a meeting on 7th November, the BBKA Board of Trustees unanimously agreed to support the action being taken by Yorkshire BKA and asks that all members also lend their support to this campaign. This can be done in a number of ways:

• Sign the petition at ybka.org.uk/petition.  Simply enter your details and click ‘Sign the Petition’.  Please be careful not to click on any of the ads that may appear on the page. 
• Visit ybka.org.uk/the-yorkshire-beekeeper for information on how to submit a witness statement. Timing is important as Yorkshire BKA’s evidence has to be filed with the trademarks registry by 30th November. Please send any statements to Richard Senior (senior@ybka.org.uk) by 20th November so they can be collated and included in the evidence pack.
• In addition to general statements, any evidence that the county name followed by beekeeper is routinely used in your area, city or town and has been for many years would be extremely useful.  Ideally evidence should be supported by photographs of labels, websites, advertisements, newsletters or other materials. In addition, historical use of the name would be particularly helpful. Templates for these statements are available on the Yorkshire BKA website. Again, such statements should be sent to Richard Senior (senior@ybka.org.uk) by 20th November.

On behalf of Yorkshire BKA thank you for supporting this campaign