Despite the phrase being popular and widely used in Kenya and East Africa the swahili Hakuna Matata has now been trademarked by Walt Disney Company and they legally own it, this means it is legally owned by the company.
This has come as a shocker for Kenyans considering that Walt Disney is not a Kenyan owned Company neither do they speak swahili, however, according intellectual property lawyer Liz Lenjo there is a logic behind the trademarking.
The company filed a federal trademark registration for “Hakuna Matata” under serial number 74558335. It was granted the trademark vide registration number 27006605 for use on clothing.
This means the phrase cannot be used by any other organisation in America without written permission from Disney.
Hakuna Matata has been used by most Kiswahili-speaking countries. Asked who owns “Hakuna Matata”, Liz said:
In addition Liz said, “Highly unlikely they registered in any East African countries because it’s a common phrase here, and they would not get exclusivity because of that. Nobody owns it and Kenyans need to move away from trying to own everything.“If we were to go that route, then we owe the Brits royalties for everyone who speaks English, or France for when we speak French.”
As a Kenyan creative, she said, you can use it in your music video, film and fashion designs without infringing their right.“It will most likely not infringe but it will depend on the context of the use of the phrase and territory,” Liz said.
Apparently the Walt Disney company has had the trademark “Hakuna Matata” since 1994, and it has since been renewed since they are renewed every 10 years. It is registered under Class 25 for Clothing, Footwear and Headgear.
Liz urged Kenyans to get informed about IP.
“We still harbour a lot of assumptions about trademarks and the IP rights system in general, and we are stuck with the misrepresented or misinterpreted information of how the IP system works.