Using Haiti’s Jacmel Namesake To Sell Jewelery

Jacmel Jewelry Inc. a New York-based company founded in 1977, is a manufacturer and distributor of affordable fine jewelry.

Recent research doesn’t indicate that the company provide any direct compensation or payments to the Haitian government for its use of “Jacmel.com”; the shortened version of its legal business name, which is Haiti’s third largest city. Jacmel Jewelery Inc was established long before e-commerce, and that name is simply its brand, not a licensing deal with the city or the country.

The situation, however, highlights cultural sensitivity and appropriation that arise when companies use names from culturally rich but economically disadvantaged places, to register their business. In Other words it highlights the inherent ethical complexities that entails when a company from a wealthy country use the name of a city in a place such as Haiti to market its products in the richest one in the world, without any royalties to the actual city.

Quick History of Jacmel

The City of Jacmel, the cultural capital of Haiti is renowned for its colonial architecture, enticing arts, especially paper macher; raucous carnival and spectacular beach and mountain sceneries. The name derives from the indigenous Taino name of Yaquimel, which was colonized by the Spanish in 1504 and repopulated by the French in 1698.

In 1925, Jacmel became the first Caribbean city to have electricity, earning it the nickname "City of Light". Its well-preserved colonial architecture was rebuilt after a fire in 1896 and later influenced the design of homes as far as in New Orleans.

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While Jacmel Jewelry Inc was founded in 1977, the specific registration date for its e-commerce website, Jacmel.com, is not publicly available. The domain registration history is made private for established companies and can only be obtained through paid searches, or a legal request.

Jacmel Jewelry Inc. And Its Online Presence:

* Company founded: 1977.

* Trademark filed: In 2014, the company filed a trademark for "JCM", with the registration confirmed in 2015. However, this relates to the trademark rather than the Jacmel.com domain.

* Recent membership: Jacmel Inc. became a member of the Responsible Jewellery Council in January 2022, which would have required an active website.   

* Long-standing e-commerce presence: Jacmel Jewelry Inc. has been involved in e-commerce for a while, as it is listed as a long-established distributor to major retailers and e-commerce platforms.

Since the company has existed for decades, the e-commerce site was likely created well after the company's founding. It would have appeared as the internet and e-commerce grew in the 1990s and 2000s, rather than being a recent development.

Continued searches has shown no evidence that the Haitian government has formally addressed the use of the name “Jacmel.com” by the New York based company Jacmel Jewelry Inc..

The branding predates the internet and e-commerce, making any challenge based on "discovery" less likely to succeed legally or politically, but it is possible for the Haitian government to address the website’s name, “Jacmel.com” which is the name of a Historic Haitian city.

While the issue of cultural appropriation is important, the capacity and priorities of the Haitian government prevent it from pursuing such a matter with a foreign company.

Formally addressing Jacmel Jewelry Inc.'s use of the name "Jacmel," the Haitian government would need to take diplomatic, legal, and intellectual property actions. A complex process, as legal protections against cultural appropriation are limited and the company's trademark was registered prior to the propagation of e-commerce.