ATI’s most iconic chants are entering the trademark arena, turning cultural memory into intellectual property and forcing Botswana’s music scene to confront the business behind the bangers
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
The late Atlasaone ATI Molemogi is making headlines again. His signature phrases (Batho Bame, Mankalakaleng-Re tsamaela gone koo, Komirrsoo, Re betsa go utlwala, A.T.I, Khiring Khiring Khorong), are stepping into the legal spotlight, moving through the trademark pipeline like unreleased tracks waiting for clearance.
THREE MONTHS TO FOREVER
Publication in the Trademarks Patents And Industrial Designs Official Journal by the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) is not the victory lap, it’s the semi-final. The marks now sit in a three-month opposition window before they can be fully registered. If they make it through, the applicant, Julian Molemogi gains exclusive control: licensing, merchandising, digital exploitation, the works.
This is where art becomes infrastructure.
CIPA Awareness and Communications Manager Marietta Magashula explains that trademark registration delivers “the right to exclusive ownership of the mark” and the power to stop anyone else from cashing in.
THE AFTERLIFE OF A CATCHPHRASE
Once registered, ATI’s slogans could live on as official merchandise, curated tribute shows, brand collaborations and streaming-era collectibles. The mic may be silent, but the brand could be louder than ever. That reality reframes legacy — not just emotional, but economic.
But there’s a catch: enforcement is DIY. “Trademark rights are private rights, meaning the owner must monitor the streets, the internet and the pop-up stalls for infringement,” she said.
If knock-offs appear, the remedy runs through police reports, interdicts, damages and the destruction of counterfeit goods.
“A plaintiff in proceedings for infringement shall be entitled to relief by way of an interdict, destruction of any infringing product, article, damages or an account of the profits derived from the infringement,” said Magashula.
A MASTERCLASS FOR THE LIVING
For artists still on stage, this moment is a cautionary tale wrapped in a business seminar. Register early, or risk watching your lyrics become public property. Intellectual property is no longer a legal footnote, it is the revenue model.
Magashula said: “CIPA advises artists and anyone else who generates intellectual property to secure their rights through early registration. Intellectual Property is a valuable business asset which, when registered with CIPA can secure exclusive rights, prevent unauthorized use, strengthen commercial opportunities and enhance the long term value of a brand.”
Botswana’s creatives have long built movements without building balance sheets. ATI’s filings hint at a new template: the artist as brand, the brand as estate, the estate as enterprise.
CULTURE CAN’T BE TRADEMARKED — BUT THE NAME CAN
Here’s the paradox: the law can protect the phrase, but not the feeling. Fans will always own the memories of shouting those lines back at him. Still, by anchoring his words in law, ATI’s voice gains a different kind of immortality — one measured in contracts, not choruses.
And in an industry learning to monetise memory, that might be the loudest legacy of all.