A deep dive into how Bahati’s trademark is ‘married to fame’
Former gospel singer Kevin Kioko Bahati, who has since turned to secular music, content creation and brand influencing, has also applied to trade mark several phrases.
The artiste has parted with Sh20,000 to trademark five phrases associated with his brand.
The phrases are “Married to fame”, “Love and dance”, ‘The Bahati’s Empire”, “Bahati Bet”, and “The On”.
The singer, who boasts over 3.6 million followers on Instagram, has used the phrases (except Bahati Bet) interchangeably on his social media platforms to promote events, products, gigs or curate content.
In many cases, Bahati teams with his wife, Diana Marua, who is equally popular online with 2.7 million followers on Instagram, to collaborate on content creation and brand influence.
Mrs Bahati also runs one of the most watched YouTube channels, “Diana Bahati”, according to YouTube, which now has over one million subscribers. Mrs Bahati’s channel, which focuses on her daily life with her husband, averages 100,000 views per video upload.
Nairobi News understands that Bahati’s move to trademark “Bahati Bet” is in preparation for the launch of an online betting company sometime in August this year when the new football season begins.
Efforts to contact Bahati for clarification were unsuccessful, as our calls and text messages went unanswered.
Bahati made all five applications under the Entertainment and Cultural Activities class, one of the 45 classes available.
The application fee for registering a particular trademark is Sh4,000 for the first class and Sh3,000 for each subsequent class.
The singer will now have to wait 60 days from the date of the gazette’s publication (April 30) to get his trademark certificates, valid for 10 years each, should they all be approved.
Should anyone have grounds for opposing the registration of the phrases, they must write to the Registrar along with a fee of Sh5,000 for locals and Sh33,000 for foreign nationals.
If approved and certificates issued, no one will use the phrases in entertainment and cultural circles without the 32-year-old’s permission.
Similarly, businessman Simon Kabu, of “Jamboo Jambooo” fame, wants to register the slogan.
The owner of Bonfire Adventures, a tour and travel company, has forked out Sh22,000 to register the “Jamboo Jamboo” slogan in seven classes covering a wider range of areas.
If granted, the company will have to seek Mr Kabu’s permission to use the phrase in areas such as transport (by land, air or water), clothing and fashion, beverages, advertising, stationery, packaging and storage, scientific and technological services, travel events, research, among others.
Other names that companies have applied to register include “Hello Baby” by Top New Knitwear Manufacturing EPZ and “Scavenger” by Eurochem International Ltd.
Last year, singer and rapper KRG The Don obtained trademark rights for his phrase “Mambo Imechemka”.
In July 2021, the General Secretary of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) successfully applied for a trademark for his expression “Alaa”, which went viral as the country geared up for the 2022 General Election.