Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah is moving to lock down the one name WWE never owned. A trademark application for KOFI SARKODIE-MENSAH was filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on August 11, covering both wrestling services and clothing.
The application carries serial number 50045494 and sits on the Principal Register. USPTO records list it as live and pending, with the case awaiting assignment to an examining attorney. No registration number or publication date has been issued.
The classes tell the story. Class 041 covers entertainment services, the standard category for a working wrestler. Class 025 covers apparel, which is where merchandise lives. Filing both means protecting the name on a marquee and on a T-shirt.
He filed on more than one mark that day. A second application, serial number 50045489, covers KSM, the initials of his legal name, and carries the same August 11 filing date and the same live and pending status. That gives him a short-form brand to sit alongside the full one. Wrestlers rarely register initials unless they intend to put them on something.
He has been billed simply as Kofi since leaving WWE in May, because the company holds the registered trademark on Kofi Kingston. Registering his legal name sidesteps that problem rather than fighting over it, and it leaves him owning the mark outright instead of working under one his employer controls.
The Timing Points At Wembley
The August 11 filing date sits in the middle of everything else. Kofi and Austin Creed cleared their WWE non-compete periods at the start of the month, and Fightful Select reported this week that both are expected to join AEW, though sources stopped short of confirming that either man has signed. We covered that update on The New Day joining AEW earlier today.
AEW runs All In at Wembley Stadium on August 30. Nothing has been reported placing either man on that card, and the debut talk around the show remains fan speculation. The duo were also not planned for AEW Redemption last month, when their WWE deals had not yet formally expired.
Their only confirmed wrestling booking is Chris Jericho’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager at Sea, which sails from Miami to Bimini on November 7 through 11. That announcement, which we covered when the cruise lineup was revealed, arrived the same day as the trademark filing.
