Kibra-born rapper Stivo Simpleboy has gone big with the 'Freshi Barida' slogan that he started a month ago.
What started as a conversation in an interview has turned out to be a business opportunity for Stivo, who has since launched merchandises branded with the slogan.
First, Stivo announced that he will be selling hoodies with the slogan 'Freshi Barida'. The business quickly expanded with the singer introducing a new product, male boxers.
The 'Mihadharati' hit maker then released a song dubbed 'Freshi Barida' with a unique dancing style that has been taking the internet by storm.
The singer's management then announced that the slogan has been trademarked by Stivo Simpleboy.
"The Freshi Barida slogan has finally been trademarked under Stivo Simpleboy's name and he now owns the exclusive rights for the use of this slogan as per legal authorities," the management announced.
By trademarking the name, it means no person shall be allowed to use the 'Freshi Barida' slogan for commercial purposes since he owns the copyright to it.
A trademark is any word, phrase, logo, or combination that distinguishes the source of one product or service from another in the marketplace.
If one has to use the slogan in a song, artwork or any form of commercial communications such as advertising, they have to seek the permission of Stevo Simpleboy.
The perpetrators will be prosecuted under civil law.
However, for 'Freshi Barida' to be officially declared a trademark, Stivo must register it with the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI).
He should also provide 7 unique representations of the mark
According to KIPI, a registrable trademark must contain or consist of at least one of the following essential particulars-
- the name of a company, individual or firm, represented in a special or particular manner
- the signature of the applicant or some predecessor in his business
- an invented word or invented words
- a word or words having no direct reference to the character or quality of the goods, and not being according to its ordinary signification a geographical name or a surname
- any other distinctive mark, but a name, signature or word or words, other than such as fall within the descriptions in paragraphs (1), (2), (3) and (4) above, cannot be considered registrable except upon evidence of its distinctiveness.
At the moment, Stivo could have just started the process of trademarking and is not done with it.
This is because the application process takes months and after the process, a notice has to be published in the Kenya gazzette.
TID's warning to arbantone singers about using his songs