Iceland have become known not just for their plucky, thrilling displays on the football pitch but also for their raucous fans, whose famous slow clap and chant is one of the things most loved about Icelandic football around the world.
Yet that chant is now the source of a trademark dispute in the Scandinavian nation.
Cartoonist Hugleikur Dagsson had begun selling T-shirts with a stick figure wearing an Iceland jersey and chanting “Hú”. However, the Iceland trademark office has ruled that a trademark on the word “Húh” also applies to this word, meaning Dagsson can now only continue to sell the T-shirts if he pays a royalty to the original trademark holder, whose trademark is registered until 2026.
Understandably, the cartoonist is upset at this turn of events, writing on Facebook that “The Grinch has stolen the Viking clap.”
Dagsson noted that the trademark is grammatically incorrect, as an “h” is never added to the end of words in Icelandic.
But as a deeper point, the cartoonist believes nobody should be able to own the word in any case, sayng”I thought we had plundered the clap from Scotland like real Vikings.”
He says he shall continue to sell the T-shirts, as half the profits go to the Icelandic Cancer Society.
The Facebook post is an attempt to reach the trademark holder.
Dagsson’s T-shirt is at the centre of a storm.
“The ball is in his court. So we decided to tell Facebook and see what happens,” Dagsson told the Reykjavik Grapevine.
Iceland made a stunning run to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 and followed that up by qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in their history.
Their fans will be descending upon Russia this summer – hopefully with as many of these T-shirts as possible.
*Image taken from Hugleikur Dagsson’s website.