Willis trademarked ‘Bazu’ which became popular during his time as ’10/10′ host on Citizen TV
L’Oréal East Africa Limited also filed a trademark application for the term ‘Bazu’ in February 2023
The term ‘Bazu’ is colloquially used to refer to a wealthy individual or a person of great influence
Raburu’s trademark is registered for advertising and telecommunication services, allowing L’Oréal to register the same trademark under different classes
Media personality Willis Raburu will now share the trademark “Bazu” with cosmetics manufacturing company L’Oréal East Africa Limited. This development follows a trademark application filed by L’Oréal in February 2023.
Raburu, who registered the trademark on 13 April 2021 under No. 116744, popularised the term ‘Bazu’ during his tenure as host of the ’10/10′ show on Citizen TV.
The term ‘Bazu’ is colloquially used to refer to a wealthy individual, a person of great influence, or someone of high social standing.
L’Oréal East Africa Limited which owns Nice and Lovely products applied to use the term ‘Bazu’ in their products, prompting a situation where both parties now share the trademark.
Why Willis Raburu cannot prevent the use of ‘Bazu’ by L’oreal
Under the Trade Marks Act, Cap 506 of the Laws of Kenya, trademarks can be registered under 45 different classes, each representing a distinct category of goods or services.
Raburu’s trademark, No. 116744, is registered under the International Classification of Goods and Services for advertising and telecommunication services.
Because trademarks are classified by specific categories, Raburu’s registration only protects the use of ‘Bazu’ within the advertising and telecommunication services class.
This means other entities, like L’Oréal, can register the same trademark under different classes without contest.
To prevent such occurrences, one must register the trademark across all relevant classes, thereby limiting its use exclusively to the registrant.
Recent legal victory for Raburu
In March 2024, a telecommunications company was ordered to pay Raburu Sh6.5 million for using the ‘Bazu’ trademark to promote one of its data bundle products.
Raburu successfully argued that his trademark registration granted him exclusive rights to the use of ‘Bazu’ within the realm of advertising and telecommunications services.
A trademark is a sign that distinguishes the goods or services of an industrial or commercial enterprise from those of others.
It can consist of distinctive words, letters, numbers, drawings, pictures, monograms, signatures, colours, or combinations of these elements.
The Trade Marks Act (Cap 506) Sec 2 describes a mark as a distinguishing guise, slogan, device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word, letter, numeral, or any combination thereof, whether in two-dimensional or three-dimensional form.
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