Democratic Voice of Vietnam

DAI DAO TAM KY PHO DO 
(94th Year) 
TOA THANH TAY NINH 
*** 
CAO DAI TAY NINH TEMPLES OF TEXAS

Trademark registration of Cao Dai Religion’s name by Vietnamese government-created sect canceled by US agency

Press Release by Cao Dai Tay Ninh Temples of Texas

August 26, 2019

Contact information: 5535 W. Ledbetter Dr., Dallas, TX 75236 | [email protected] | 469-879-5788

On July 25, 2019 the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the US Department of Commerce cancelled the trademark registration of the name “Dai Dao Tam Ky Pho Do Toa Thanh Tay Ninh” which the US Patent and Trademark Office had granted to Caodai Overseas Missionary, Incorporated. See: http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?qs=86361897

On May 18, 2018, Cao Dai Tay Ninh Temples of Texas filed a petition with TTAB to cancel this trademark registration on the basis that petitioner has been using the mark “Dai Dao Tam Ky Pho Do – Toa Thanh Tay Ninh” since 1995, when petitioner was incorporated with the State of Texas. Moreover, this mark belongs to the Cao Dai Religion, of which petitioner is a member of, since its foundation in 1926. Registrant Caodai Overseas Missionary was established only in 2012, by Mr. Canh Quang Tran, a U.S. citizen.

“The cancellation of the said trademark registration exposes the intention of the Cao Dai Tay Ninh Sect, which was established by the Vietnamese Communist Party in 1997: to exterminate the Cao Dai Religion by taking over its identity,” said Mr. Quan Bui, Board Chair of Cao Dai Tay Ninh Temples of Texas, following a press conference held last weekend in Orange County, California.

In 1978 the communist regime disbanded the sacerdotal council of the Cao Dai Religion. In 1996 the Vietnamese Communist Party’s Provincial Committee of Tay Ninh Province designated Communist party members to form a Steering Committee to oversee the formation of a new Cao Dai sect. On May 9, 1997, the Government approved the charter of the new sect under the name “Dai Dao Tam Ky Pho Do Cao Dai Tay Ninh.”

Before switching side to join this government-created sect in 2005, Mr. Canh Quang Tran had vehemently denounced the formation of this new sect as part of the Government’s plot to take over the entire Cao Dai Religion:

“We resolutely protest the brutal interference by the Vietnamese communist government in the internal affairs of the Cao Dai Religion, do not recognize the so-called Governing Council, do not recognize the documents issued by the Governing Council as they were directed by the government in order to eliminate Cao Dai Religion, and do not recognize the list of clergy members newly appointed or newly promoted that were selected or designated by the government so as to control the activities of 5 million Cao Dai followers.” (Article published in the official newsletter of Cao Dai Overseas Missionary No. 5, January 2000.)

Ironically, in 2011 Mr. Tran was appointed “student priest” by Tam Thanh Nguyen, Bishop of the 1997 Sect’s Governing Council that he had denounced. On July 19, 2012, Mr. Tran incorporated “Caodai Overseas Missionary” with the State of California. On August 8, 2014 he registered the name of Cao Dai Religion as the proprietary trademark of his organization.

“We, Cao Dai followers, view such action as grossly offensive because the words ‘Pho Do’ in our religion’s name means Universal Salvation,” said Mr. Quan. “Any attempt to trademark our religion’s name for their proprietary use is viewed as contradictory to its universality, which is essential to our religion’s doctrine.”

The cancellation petition also pointed out that Mr. Tran’s trademark registration disparages Cao Dai Religion and brings contempt and disrepute to its followers. Over the past two decades, the 1997 Sect had committed egregious human rights abuses against Cao Dai followers, including illegally expropriating their properties, physically assaulting or torturing them, desecrating their tombs, disrupting their funeral ceremonies, and obstructing their religious activities.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom’s report for the year 2018 described abuses committed by the 1997 Sect: “Of the more than 300 Cao Dai temples in Vietnam, all but approximately 15 have been seized by the government-sponsored 1997 Sect during the previous two decades. In November, authorities in Long An Province allegedly set fire to a storeroom on a farm owned by Sub-dignitary Hua Phi, which he believed was an act of retaliation for meeting with U.S. diplomats in Ho Chi Minh City. Between April 20 and June 30, the 1997 Sect demolished at least 15 graves at Cuc Lac Thai Binh Cemetery belonging to independent Cao Dai followers whose families refused to join the 1997 Sect.” See: https://www.uscirf.gov/…/defau…/files/Tier1_VIETNAM_2019.pdf

The US State Department’s 2019 International Religious Freedom report details the acts of persecution committed by the 1997 Sect: “There were several reports of registered Cao Dai adherents preventing adherents of the unsanctioned Cao Dai from performing certain religious rituals.” See: https://www.state.gov/…/2018-report-on-internation…/vietnam/

In June 2019, Cao Dai Tay Ninh Temples of Texas filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Dallas County, Texas against Mr. Canh Quang Tran, Caodai Overseas Missionary, the 1997 Sect, its leader Tam Thanh Nguyen, and a number of its operatives in the United States under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

A detailed report on the 1997 Sect can be found at: http://dvov.org/…/1997-Sect-non-state-actor-June-30-2018-fi…